What You Need To Know About The Eagles Signing Shaq Leonard

The Philadelphia Eagles are not being complacent with their roster after the deflating loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.  Less than 24 hours after the 49ers' Offense shredded their defense on their home turf, the Eagles have help on the way.

The Eagles are signing Lineback Shaquille Leonard to a one-year deal, early enough in the week that he can begin practicing as Philadelphia prepares to play the Dallas Cowboys.  Leonard also visited with the Cowboys last week and was deciding between the NFC East rivals over the weekend.

Leonard was the 2018 NFL AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and received three All-Pro First Team Selections during the first four seasons of his career.  Leonard had offseason Back Surgery that delayed his return to the field in 2022 and he would miss part of the season after sustaining a Concussion.  Complications from Back Surgery limited him last season but he rebounded with 34 Solo Tackles and Two Tackles For Loss in Nine Games this year.

Despite playing 455 Snaps for the Indianapolis Colts Defense this season, the team that drafted him in the Second Round of the 2018 NFL Draft decided to release the 28-year-old Linebacker after downgrading his role on Defense this year.  The only Colts' Linebacker that has played more Defensive Snaps this season is EJ Speed (491) who has played three more games than Leonard for the Colts.

Shaq Leonard is joining an Eagles roster that had several injuries they are dealing with this season.  Second-year Linebacker Nakobe Dean is out indefinitely after he sustained a Lisfranc Foot Sprain.  Veteran Linebacker Zach Cunningham is dealing with a Hamstring Injury after starting nine games for Philadelphia's Defense.  The Eagles' defense struggled against the high-powered 49ers Offense that exposed their weaknesses in a big way in front of their home crowd.

The Eagles' defense is 24th in the NFL in Points Against (24 Points Per Game Allowed) and they are bottom five in the league rankings of Passing Yards along with the bottom five Passing Touchdowns.  Remember last season, Philadelphia added Veteran Defensive Tackles Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph after their ugly loss to the Washington Commanders, so adding players late in the season is nothing new for General Manager Howie Roseman.