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The Eagles have signed free-agent defensive end Chris Clemons to a five-year. ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reports that the deal is worth $18.5 million.

ESPN.com reported Friday that Philadelphia and Clemons, who had eight sacks in a reserve role with Oakland last season, had reached an agreement. The move came one day after the Eagles lured cornerback Asante Samuel away from New England with a six-year deal worth $57 million.

The 26-year-old Clemons began his career with Washington in 2003 as an undrafted rookie from Georgia. He had five sacks in 20 games with the Redskins in 2004-05, but didn't play in 2006.

An outside linebacker in the Raiders' 3-4 defense, Clemens was on the field for just 37 percent of the team's defensive plays but still tied Derrick Burgess for the team lead in sacks.

-- The Associated Press and Len Pasquarelli, ESPN.com

DE Clemons Has Fresh Start, 5-Yr. Deal
March 1, 2008 | Last Updated: 3/1/08 5:56 PM ET | Comments (0)
By: DAVE SPADARO

Chris Clemons took the hard road to finding a team that wanted him as much as the Eagles. Clemons, who signed a five-year contract with the Eagles on Saturday, wasn't drafted after his collegiate seasons at Georgia, just the beginning of some tough times in his professional career.

After signing with Washington in 2003, Clemons spent his rookie season on injured reserve. Two years with the Redskins brought glimpses of success, but then an injury in 2005 and one in 2006 KO'd Clemons from the league for all of that '07 campaign.

Then Clemons put it all together last year in Oakland, recording eight quarterback sacks after making a successful transition from sometimes-linebacker to full-time defensive end, and just like that, he was a hot player on the free-agent market.


DE Chris Clemons poses outside the NovaCare Complex

"I've always had it in me, but I just had a couple of bad breaks," said Clemons. "When I got my opportunity, it all came together."

The Eagles expect it to continue to come together for Clemons, who plays with anywhere from 240 to 245 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame. They see him as a rotational part of their pass rush from the end positions, another "fastball" as head coach Andy Reid put it on Saturday during his NovaCare Complex press conference introducing Clemons as the newest Eagle.

"We would like to welcome Chris Clemons to the Philadelphia Eagles," said Reid, beginning the press conference. "Chris will be playing defensive end for us. Obviously, you know he's coming off of a great season with eight sacks and a bunch of hurries thrown in there. He had a tremendous year for the Oakland Raiders.

"I'd like to thank (Clemons' agents) Don and Brooks Henderson and (Eagles President) Joe (Banner) and (Vice President of Football Administration) Howie (Roseman) for the great job they did of putting this thing together and the aggressiveness of their approach over the last day here of really knocking this thing out and adding another fine football player to our team.

"Again, (we strengthened) the defensive personnel for (defensive coordinator) Jim (Johnson). He can use Chris in a lot of different ways, and I'm sure he's thinking about those now."

Clemons was a 'tweener coming out of Georgia and the linebacker-heavy Redskins liked enough of what they saw from him as a rookie to keep him around even after his injury-ruined rookie season. With his range and speed, Clemons had a chance to rush the quarterback a little bit (he had three sacks in six games in 2004) and to drop back in coverage a little bit.

By the time 2005 rolled around, Clemons was more of a defensive end than a linebacker. He played in 14 games in 2005 before suffering a knee injury. Then, he hurt his other knee in 2006 and lost another year.

"I didn't get down about it," said Clemons. "I just worked hard, kept my faith and knew that things would work out. I'm blessed that they worked out."

The Eagles think they got themselves a gem in Clemons, who played in only 37 percent of the snaps last season with the Raiders. He recorded eight quarterback sacks, and, as the numbers say, did a lot more.

The best, says Clemons, is yet to come.

"I feel that way," he said. "I can't wait to get into the playbook here and get started. I'm excited. It was like I was recruited again, so this is a new home and a new start."

Jake wrote:I still don't know why we ever let him go. Now we have to face him twice a year, unfortunately.

This guy was was a very talented situational pass rusher that shouldn't have been let go by us.

The Eagles have signed free-agent defensive end Chris Clemons to a five-year. ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reports that the deal is worth $18.5 million.

ESPN.com reported Friday that Philadelphia and Clemons, who had eight sacks in a reserve role with Oakland last season, had reached an agreement. The move came one day after the Eagles lured cornerback Asante Samuel away from New England with a six-year deal worth $57 million.

It is painful to think we could have had him starting for us.

The 26-year-old Clemons began his career with Washington in 2003 as an undrafted rookie from Georgia. He had five sacks in 20 games with the Redskins in 2004-05, but didn't play in 2006.

An outside linebacker in the Raiders' 3-4 defense, Clemens was on the field for just 37 percent of the team's defensive plays but still tied Derrick Burgess for the team lead in sacks.

-- The Associated Press and Len Pasquarelli, ESPN.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3272227

DE Clemons Has Fresh Start, 5-Yr. Deal
March 1, 2008 | Last Updated: 3/1/08 5:56 PM ET | Comments (0)
By: DAVE SPADARO

Chris Clemons took the hard road to finding a team that wanted him as much as the Eagles. Clemons, who signed a five-year contract with the Eagles on Saturday, wasn't drafted after his collegiate seasons at Georgia, just the beginning of some tough times in his professional career.

After signing with Washington in 2003, Clemons spent his rookie season on injured reserve. Two years with the Redskins brought glimpses of success, but then an injury in 2005 and one in 2006 KO'd Clemons from the league for all of that '07 campaign.

Then Clemons put it all together last year in Oakland, recording eight quarterback sacks after making a successful transition from sometimes-linebacker to full-time defensive end, and just like that, he was a hot player on the free-agent market.


DE Chris Clemons poses outside the NovaCare Complex

"I've always had it in me, but I just had a couple of bad breaks," said Clemons. "When I got my opportunity, it all came together."

The Eagles expect it to continue to come together for Clemons, who plays with anywhere from 240 to 245 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame. They see him as a rotational part of their pass rush from the end positions, another "fastball" as head coach Andy Reid put it on Saturday during his NovaCare Complex press conference introducing Clemons as the newest Eagle.

"We would like to welcome Chris Clemons to the Philadelphia Eagles," said Reid, beginning the press conference. "Chris will be playing defensive end for us. Obviously, you know he's coming off of a great season with eight sacks and a bunch of hurries thrown in there. He had a tremendous year for the Oakland Raiders.

"I'd like to thank (Clemons' agents) Don and Brooks Henderson and (Eagles President) Joe (Banner) and (Vice President of Football Administration) Howie (Roseman) for the great job they did of putting this thing together and the aggressiveness of their approach over the last day here of really knocking this thing out and adding another fine football player to our team.

"Again, (we strengthened) the defensive personnel for (defensive coordinator) Jim (Johnson). He can use Chris in a lot of different ways, and I'm sure he's thinking about those now."

Clemons was a 'tweener coming out of Georgia and the linebacker-heavy Redskins liked enough of what they saw from him as a rookie to keep him around even after his injury-ruined rookie season. With his range and speed, Clemons had a chance to rush the quarterback a little bit (he had three sacks in six games in 2004) and to drop back in coverage a little bit.

By the time 2005 rolled around, Clemons was more of a defensive end than a linebacker. He played in 14 games in 2005 before suffering a knee injury. Then, he hurt his other knee in 2006 and lost another year.

"I didn't get down about it," said Clemons. "I just worked hard, kept my faith and knew that things would work out. I'm blessed that they worked out."

The Eagles think they got themselves a gem in Clemons, who played in only 37 percent of the snaps last season with the Raiders. He recorded eight quarterback sacks, and, as the numbers say, did a lot more.

The best, says Clemons, is yet to come.

"I feel that way," he said. "I can't wait to get into the playbook here and get started. I'm excited. It was like I was recruited again, so this is a new home and a new start."

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/ ... y_id=15178

tj123456 wrote:More of that home grown stuff I was talking about.
We signed him as an undrafted free agent, he played two years for us as a pass rush specialist. He showed promise as he played along side at times with his brother, Nick Clemens.
Anyways, he had 8 sacks last year in Oakland and was just signed to a five year free agent deal in Philadelphia. How many sacks did Daniels have last year again?

tj123456 wrote:More of that home grown stuff I was talking about.
We signed him as an undrafted free agent, he played two years for us as a pass rush specialist. He showed promise as he played along side at times with his brother, Nick Clemens.
Anyways, he had 8 sacks last year in Oakland and was just signed to a five year free agent deal in Philadelphia. How many sacks did Daniels have last year again?

fleetus wrote:Too many people look at sacks only. A DL plays about one thousand snaps a season. So who cares if he gets 5 sacks or 10 sacks? What about the other 1,000 plays? Did he consistently penetrate? Could he tackle anything? If all he does is speed-rush the passer around the outside then he's not all that helpful in winning games is he? You could run draw plays, inside run plays, screen passes, roll out to the other side and pass, on and on. Not too hard to get around that. But a guy like P. Daniels is strong enough to stand his OL up and back him into the pocket and make a tackle or force the play to his teammates. Sacks are OVERRATED.