Eagles A.J. Epenesa adds mystery to weird situation that led to Browns pulling $5 million offer

The Eagles took advantage of an apparent Browns mishap.Philadelphia stole linebacker/EDGE rusher A.J.Epenesa over the offseason despite having agreed with the Cleveland Browns on a one-year, $5 million contract before the team reneged on the deal due to a failed physical.Epenesa did not reveal why the Browns chose to back out of their contract after he played a legitimate role with the Bills over the past six seasons.Epenesa eventually signed with the Eagles for $1.4 million, a significant pay cut compared to the deal that he had agreed to with Cleveland.“Cleveland, you know, it was a weird situation,” Epenesa told reporters of why the Browns deal went belly-up.

“But I don’t necessarily want to go back and talk on that in just a weird sense, but I’ll just leave that in the past and just be happy that I’m not a Brown and that I’m an Eagle.”Epenesa has been pretty healthy throughout his career, playing in at least 14 games in each of the six seasons and appearing in 16 games last year and 17 the year before.He missed Week 10 last year due to a concussion and has one other reported concussion in Nov.2020 during his NFL career.

He revealed that he’s ready to go for this season.“Very healthy,” Epenesa said.“Feeling good, and happy to be here.”A second round pick in 2020 by Buffalo, Epenesa is currently ranked third on the depth chart and expects to play a complementary backup role in Philadelphia behind starter Jonathan Greenard.In Cleveland, Epenesa had hoped to compete with Alex Wright and Isaiah McGuire for the defensive end slot opposite Jared Verse with the Browns....