The city of Philadelphia He may not be a name to overlook for the Philadelphia Eagles, despite the fact that his surname sounds like Van Winkel, as in Rip Van Winkel. This is Van Ginkel, as in Andrew Van Ginkel. He is a free agent linebacker who previously played under new Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio with the Miami Dolphins last year. Oh, and he happens to play linebacker, a position the Eagles need to rebuild with Nakobe Dean returning from a foot injury that restricted him to five games and Nicholas Morrow and Zach Cunningham ready to become free agents.
According to NFL Media, Fangio will bring Joe Kasper from South Florida to serve as his safety coach. Perhaps Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott is worth keeping an eye on, given that the Eagles are also looking for safeties. Elliott started 15 games last season. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 and will be 27 years old in April. Last season, he recorded 82 tackles and one interception. Fangio personally lured Van Ginkel to Miami after he became a free agent at the end of last season. Van Ginkel was an easy sell when the Dolphins selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 draft out of Wisconsin.
According to SI All Dolphins, Van Ginkel garnered interest in free agency last year from the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders, but chose to stay in Miami rather than uproot his family, taking a $2.6 million contract if he played every game.
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Explaining Early Eagles’ Draft Hype at OT: ‘Best Bet’ at No. 22?
The city of Philadelphia Howie Roseman, general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles, believes that the NFL Draft is all about timing, location, and prospect. The purpose is to align valuation and appraisal to find the best possible fit for the Eagles. Everyone who watches the Eagles knows which positions they respect in the contemporary game and which have been devalued, but there are always outliers. For example, despite the perception that Roseman will not take running backs in the first round, the Eagles would have taken Christian McCaffrey with the 14th overall choice in 2017 (he went 8th to Carolina).
At the time, the Eagles believed McCaffrey was more than just a running back, a belief that has been proven over the years, and were ready to go against the grain for the player. In principle, the same may be true for off-ball linebacker, a position the Eagles haven’t drafted at the top since Jerry Robinson in 1979, a stretch that has spanned numerous managerial regimes.
Roseman does admit that when things are equal in his mind, Philadelphia will default to the offensive and defensive fronts, as he did most recently when the Eagles chose Cam Jurgens at No. 51 in the 2022 draft over the far sexier Nakobe Dean (and Philadelphia ended up getting both players).
“When we were on the clock in the second round, these guys will tell you that we had two players: Cam and [Eagles third-round pick] Nakobe Dean. Unfortunately for our fans at the time, Roseman said, “I’m always going to go [offensive line], [defensive line].” “That is how we roll. That’s how we construct this thing.”
