One of the Eagles strengths coming into the 2018 season was the team's depth at defensive end. Players like Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Chris Long, Michael Bennett, and Josh Sweat were all going to rotate into the lineup and wreak havoc on offensive lines. Unfortunately, Barnett and Sweat are both on injured reserve now, which has caused the team to look elsewhere to find new depth at the position. One of those players the Eagles wanted to bring in was Vikings practice-squad defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo
According to Chris Tomasson, yesterday Odenigbo said the Eagles were "heavily interested" in signing him to their 53-man roster. To prevent him from wanting to leave, the Vikings in turn increased Odenigbo’s salary from $7,600/week to $28,235/week, which is what he would have made if he joined the Eagles. Odenigbo decided to turn down the Eagles offer and remain in Minnesota. Assuming this was happening right after the team placed Josh Sweat on injured reserve, this meant that when Odenigbo told the Eagles he was staying with the Vikings, the Eagles decided to sign Daeshon Hall instead.
It's a pretty bold move for Odenigbo to decline a chance to basically audition himself for all NFL teams and possibly land a contract in 2019. He seems confident though that the Vikings will keep their promise when they told him they look at him as part of their future. The Eagles can possibly get their revenge on Odenigbo by overtaking the Vikings for the final wildcard spot. They'll need to get off on the right foot by beating the Texans on Sunday first before that becoming a possibility.
