A former fan favorite with the Eagles, Connor Barwin is coming back to the NFC East. He'll be signing with the rival Giants, Barwin announced Monday.
I'm excited to announce I've agreed to terms with the New York Football Giants. Let's go G-Men! #GiantsPride— Connor Barwin (@ConnorBarwin98) July 23, 2018
After piling up 31½ sacks in four seasons with the Eagles, Barwin went out west in 2017, spending the year with the Los Angeles Rams. He was injured and missed the game when the Eagles beat the Rams to wrap up their division title in December.
Barwin, 31, played for the Rams on a one-year deal in 2017 and has been a free agent since March.
"We've had interest from a number of teams all off-season. The offers I have, I think I'll make my decision before camp starts. I'm not going to go somewhere that I don't think can win a Super Bowl"
Free Agent @ConnorBarwin98 pic.twitter.com/25TYVKkMRy— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) July 10, 2018
Philadelphia Eagles
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
So apparently, Barwin thinks the Giants can win the Super Bowl in 2018.
That would be something.
The Giants went 3-13 last year to finish in the basement of the NFC East and fired their head coach along the way. For what it's worth (not much) that same coach who was fired thinks the Giants will win the division this year (see story), but it's hard to imagine them making that kind of leap or taking down the Eagles, who should be well-positioned to repeat as division champs.
Barwin's heading to the Giants makes some sense. He'll reunite with linebackers coach Bill McGovern, who was the Eagles' outside linebackers coach during the Chip Kelly years. He also is plenty familiar with Giants head coach Pat Shurmur, who was Kelly's offensive coordinator and eventually interim head coach after Kelly got canned. Aside from that, Barwin will still get to play in a 3-4 scheme, in which he seems better suited. He played in Jim Schwartz's 4-3 for one season in 2016, but it wasn't a perfect fit.
The real question is: How will Eagles fans respond to Barwin when he comes to town on Nov. 25 as a member of the Giants? Because even after Barwin was released and then went out to L.A., he continued his incredible charitable work back in Philly. His Make the World Better Foundation continues to excel in creating parks in the City of Philadelphia, where Barwin really felt at home.
He probably deserves to be cheered, but if that game means something, you can forget about it. Good for Barwin to find a new gig, but as far as fans are concerned, he's the enemy now.
