By Michael McCarthy
Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin flies under the radar, though his 14 1/2 sack in 2014 earned him a place in the Pro Bowl.
And so it is with contract extension.
Barwin tweeted Wednesday with a picture of him signing a contract while saying he isn’t going anywhere and thanking Chip Kelly, Howie Roseman and the Eagles for their support.
Connor Barwin @ConnorBarwin98I’m not going anywhere! Thanks Jeffrey, Chip, Howie and everyone in the @Eagles organization for their support.
Barwin wasn’t a free agent — he signed a six-year deal with the team last season — and there wasn’t any talk of the Eagles parting ways with him after a 14.5-sack season in Philly, so it left some room for explanation. The answer came when Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com reported that the Eagles and Barwin have agreed to a restructured contract.
The restructuring won’t be for cap purposes this year, but will add some money to Barwin’s contract over the remainder of the deal. Barwin was set to make $6.4 million in 2015 under the terms of his original deal.
The timing of the move makes sense on a couple of fronts. The Eagles just re-signed linebacker Brandon Graham to a deal with an average value of around $6.5 million. Bumping Barwin’s salary up would reflect the season he had in 2014 by keeping his salary at the top end of Eagles players at the position.
It also comes after the Eagles have said goodbye to several productive members of the team, including LeSean McCoy, Todd Herremans and Trent Cole. That’s led to some criticism of Kelly and giving Barwin a small raise could be a way to show that players who play well for the Eagles will be rewarded by the team.
