Why former 1st-round pick Rashaan Evans turned down other offers to sign with the Eagles – NBC Sports Philadelphia

He could return to the Titans, the team that drafted him in the first round in 2018.

Nah.

He could have returned to the Falcons, the team he started 17 games with last year.

Nah.

Then the Eagles called.

“It was a no-brainer,” Rashaan Evans said.

Evans, who has started 67 games for the Titans and Falcons over the past five years, arrived in Philadelphia Monday night and was signed to the Eagles’ practice squad.

Safe bet a place in 53 is coming soon.

“For me in this situation, it’s about finding the right place for me,” he said at his locker on Tuesday. “Being on a winning team, being part of a very good organization, this is the place. When I got the call, I was ready to go. I packed my bags.”

With Nakobe Dean already on Injured Reserve and required to miss at least four games, the Eagles are in dire straits at off-ball linebacker. Dean’s injury leaves undrafted Christian Elliss and training camp pickup Zach Cunningham as the only healthy linebackers on the roster.

With a short week and the Vikings coming to town, the Eagles promoted Nicholas Morrow from the practice squad and signed Evans, who missed a training camp this summer.

The Eagles’ opening day linebackers last year were TJ Edwards, Kyzir White, Shaun Bradley, Kyron Johnson and Dean along with Davion Taylor and Elliss on the practice squad.

Elliss is the only one left, and he will make his first career start on Thursday night. Cunningham didn’t play well against the Patriots and the Eagles thought enough of Morrow to cut him two weeks ago.

So now Evans is waiting in the wings for a chance that will likely come when he’s ready to play. He was working out in Fort Lauderdale when the Eagles came calling on Monday.

“They were like, ‘Look, we want you to come on the team,'” Evans said. “I was like, ‘Shoot, let’s do it.’ Got on the plane right away.â€

If it seems strange that a guy who started 17 games and had 159 tackles, two sacks, four pass breakups and six tackles for loss hasn’t even been in training camp, well, it is .

Evans was one of only five linebackers to reach those benchmarks last year, a list that also includes the Eagles’ Edwards.

Why isn’t he in a camp? Evans has a good answer.

“I mean, you have to (ask) the team,” he said with a laugh. â€œI think when teams know who they want, they want certain guys, they usually go with them.

“For me, I don’t really take it personally, I don’t really look at it as a hindrance to my game or anything like that. I look at it more as an opportunity thing for other guys. In At the end of the day, I’m just glad the Eagles saw something they needed to bring me on board.

Evans is now one of 13 former 1’s^St-round picks on the Eagles’ 69-man roster â€“ seven on defense.

We all know the Eagles haven’t drafted a linebacker in the first round since Jerry Robinson in 1979, but they still don’t have 1.^St-round linebacker on the field since Ernie Sims in 2010 and before Takeo Spike in 2007.

Where is Evans? He said the defense is similar to what Kirby Smart ran at Alabama. Eagles assistant special teams coordinator Joe Pannunzio was with Evans in Tuscaloosa and called Evans when he signed to fill him in on the details.

“He introduced me to how things are done here,” Evans said. “Some of the same things I did back at ‘Bama, even maybe a little bit of things I did in the league already. It’s a little familiar.”

The locker room was a bit familiar too. He played at Alabama with Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith, at Tennessee with AJ Brown and at Atlanta last year with Marcus Mariota and Olamide Zaccheaus.

Now it’s just a matter of getting the playbook and showing the coaches he’s ready to play.

“There’s always a chance,” he said. “Injury is 100 percent guaranteed in this league. You’re either the guy that gets hurt or you’re the guy that’s working to try to get a starting job.

“For me, I just look at it like the best guys are going to play. If I’m the guy then I’m going to play. If not, I have to play my role like that. I’m really excited about the opportunity. I’m just happy I saw the Eagle in me to bring it home.