Nick Piccone
Bennie Logan wants to remain an Eagle. Nolan Carroll wants to remain an Eagle. DeSean Jackson wants to be an Eagle again, apparently. And now, the question of whether Connor Barwin will remain an Eagle come next season will be asked on the airwaves and the interwebs until the Eagles decide to make a move, whether it be releasing Barwin or restructuring his deal. The defensive end has four sacks, one forced fumble and 19 solo tackles [33 combined] this season.
To say his season has been less than impressive would be an understatement. Some players would get defensive about that when asked about their lack of production, but not Barwin. In fact, he takes the criticism head on and agrees with the sentiment that he hasn’t had a good season.
The newly-engaged Barwin spoke about his season and lack of production on the defensive side of the ball to the media today, and may have played his hand a little bit in terms of letting people know where he wants to play next season.
“I expect to be here. I know it’s something everybody’s talking about. And hopefully we work something out … I go against the best guy every single week, so if you want to talk about lack of productivity, the last three years, I’ve been on the left, going against not the best offensive lineman.”
The change in defensive scheme from Billy Davis’ 3-4 to Jim Schwartz’s 4-3 could be attributed to Barwin’s struggles this season. Barwin said it was a big change for him this season and hopefully he can move back to the left side were he was comfortable and going against the “not best” offensive lineman.
Barwin mentioned he was never told why he was moved from the left to the right, but pretty much knows why.
“I think what happened was Vinny (Curry) became a starter after he signed his contract and Vinny played on the left with me. I played on the left and Vinny played left 3-technique … When Vinny signed that deal, he became a starter, so Vinny gets put to the left and I got bumped to the right, and then B.G. (Brandon Graham) bumps Vinny and B.G. goes to the left and then we just kind of roll with it. And no real competitor is going to say, ‘Hey, move me back to the left.’ You’re going to play where they put you. There was never any talk about it, it just kind of happened. The depth chart just kind of came.”
So it sounds like Barwin sort of knew he was going to struggle, but if it made Vinny Curry a force on defense [it hasn’t] then he would just let it go. But, of course Barwin wants to face the guys on the O-Line who aren’t the best, inasmuch as it would help his numbers, and not necessarily the team. In fact, Barwin admits he’d rather face the guys who aren’t that good to get more sacks. Who wouldn’t?
“I’d rather face guys who aren’t that good and get more sacks, if I’m going to be completely honest,” he said with a laugh. “But when we made the switch, the competitor in me … I was like, ‘Bleep, I’ll take this challenge,’ because that’s how competitors think and how you want to think.
“Even next year if I stay on the right I’ll still try to take advantage of that opportunity. But it is a whole different element.”
Barwin’s already looking ahead to next year, but there are still many questions to be answered as to what players and what coaches will return for the 2017 campaign. Doug Pederson and Carson Wentz are as good as gold to stay, and guys like Fletcher Cox, Zach Ertz, Lane Johnson, Mychal Kendricks and Vinny Curry who signed new deals last offseason don’t appear to be movable at this point. So that leaves Barwin in a precarious situation as his future is up in the air.
“I obviously know there’s a lot of room for improvement and there’s definitely going to be growth from my first year in the defense to the next, like there should be for everybody,” Barwin said. “Like there was from my first year in Billy Davis’ 3-4 to my second year. I went from five sacks to almost 15 sacks … So I’m very excited about the growth that can happen from Year 1 to Year 2. There are little nuances in the defense and even the way (defensive coordinator) Jim (Schwartz) calls the game, just kind of understanding the way he calls the game and what teams are going to do … It’s something that I think even in the last couple weeks I’ve been a lot better at. And that takes time.”
There’s no saying Schwartz will be back with the Eagles next season, but he hasn’t done himself any favors in terms of head coaching searches throughout the league. If I had to bet, I’d put money on Schwartz returning to the Eagles as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2017. Hopefully, he’ll figure out how to put Barwin in the best position possible to make plays … if Barwin is still here. Barwin knows how his season has sputtered, and offered the following:
“Well, I think there were a couple games I’d want back that I didn’t play as good as I think I could have played. And I would probably say that for about every year I’ve ever played in my career. There’s always one or two games you’d want back. But the season as a whole, I think I’ve improved as the season’s gone on, I’ve done my job for the most part, and I’m excited to see what I can do in Year 2 in this system.”
Barwin leaving Philadelphia wouldn’t be easy for him, and it won’t be an easy decision for Howie Roseman to make. He’s done tons of community work and even Barwin said himself his $4 million invested into park projects makes him wish he never leaves the city. But he also wants to stay here when the team wins. Wins what? Well, hopefully, a Super Bowl. Soon.
Do you think the Eagles should bring Barwin back next season? Should they re-structure his deal and make the salary cap more flexible for Roseman to work with in free agency?