It feels like the Washington Commanders have everything they need to stretch the streak of no repeat NFC East champions to 21 years and maybe take that next to the Super Bowl after making a move the Eagles probably should have, which is to sign Von Miller.
Forget T.J. Watt. That was never going to happen no matter what anyone says or writes. The Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t letting go of their future Hall of Fame pass rusher and arguably the best defensive player in the NFL. Not even the copious amounts of pixie dust Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has stockpiled would have been enough.
Miller was the one the Eagles missed on. Think what you want about Miller being 36. He certainly isn’t the same player who has collected 129.5 career sacks, but the future Hall of Famer was good enough to sack enemy quarterbacks six times last season, and he did it in just 33 percent of the Buffalo Bills’ defensive snaps.
That would have tied for third among Eagles sack leaders last year, and two of those three are no longer on the team – Josh Sweat (8.5 sacks) and Milton Williams (5). The other is Nolan Smith (6), who is rehabbing his way back from a torn triceps in the Super Bowl on Feb. 9.
Tell me that Miller wouldn’t have helped that rotation, even after it was bolstered with the free-agent additions of Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche.
Maybe those are the two reasons Roseman didn’t shower Miller with a one-year deal (the contract's value has yet to be released) the way the Commanders did. Maybe defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw what he needed to see during the spring to not knock on Roseman’s door.
Because if Uche and Ojulari do what they were signed to one-year contracts to do, then the Eagles will have enough on the edge with Smith and Jalyx Hunt, with some potential curveballs on the outside like Jalen Carter, Moro Ojomo, and even rookie Ty Robinson.
Still, Miller would have delivered experience to a young Eagles team, whose average age of 25.40 is the second-youngest roster in the league. Even better, had the Eagles signed him, Washington wouldn’t have been able to get him.
