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Ryan Kerrigan

Commanders Add Ryan Kerrigan To Coaching Staff

September 5th, 2022 at 9:20am CST by Sam Robinson

Ryan Kerrigan announced his retirement this offseason, but the longtime Washington pass rusher will not spend too long out of the league. The Commanders are adding him to their coaching staff.

The franchise’s all-time sack leader is now signed on as assistant defensive line coach, the team announced Monday. While Kerrigan only played one season under Ron Rivera, the third-year HC brought him aboard.

“Ryan Kerrigan is one of the most accomplished players in this franchise’s history,” Rivera said. “Following his retirement, we had a great talk about his goals for life after playing. Ryan had an interest in coaching and we were able to allow him to shadow our coaching staff this summer.”

Kerrigan, 34, will work under Commanders defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina. This hire comes weeks after Rivera fired his previous D-line coach, Sam Mills III. That firing bumped Zgonina up to D-line coach. This will be a quick step for Kerrigan, who finished his career with the Eagles last season. The 10-year Washington edge rusher is moving straight to the position-coaching level.

Kerrigan’s 95.5 sacks are the most by a Washington rusher in the recorded sack era. He will now get to work on mentoring some former teammates.

Washington drafted Kerrigan in the 2011 first round, and he played out two contracts with the team. During Rivera’s tenure, Washington added Chase Young to a defensive line that already housed 2019 first-rounder Montez Sweat. This duo led Kerrigan to a rotational role in 2020, his final year as a player with the franchise. Former Kerrigan Washington teammate James Smith-Williams may now become a key pupil as well, with Young expected to be out until close to the midseason point.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/30/22

July 30th, 2022 at 5:55pm CST by Ben Levine

We’ll keep track of today’s minor transactions here:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Detroit Lions

  • Activated from non-football illness list: OT Dan Skipper

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

 

Ryan Kerrigan Announces Retirement

July 29th, 2022 at 12:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following an 11-year career spent entirely in the NFC East, Ryan Kerrigan is walking away. The longtime Washington pass rusher signed a ceremonial contract with the team Friday to announce his retirement.

Kerrigan, 33, will retire as Washington’s all-time sack leader. The former first-round pick collected 95.5 over the course of his 10-season run with the franchise. While Kerrigan did not add to his sack total with the Eagles last season, he played 16 games with the team after signing a one-year deal in May.

Chosen as part of a stacked 2011 draft, Kerrigan earned four Pro Bowl nods and finished with at least 7.5 sacks in each of his first eight seasons. Becoming one of the most durable players in modern NFL history, the Purdue product did not miss a game during that stretch was only sidelined for five during his career. The last came because of a COVID-19 contraction. Team success was fleeting during Kerrigan’s Washington run, but the 3-4 outside linebacker — a role he played for most of his career — remained one of the game’s more consistent edge rushers.

After trading down with the Jaguars in the ’11 draft, in order for Jacksonville to take Blaine Gabbert at No. 10 overall, Washington nabbed Kerrigan at 16. He broke into the team’s starting lineup immediately and did not play a game as a rotational sub until 2020, when the team’s current Chase Young–Montez Sweat D-end configuration formed. Kerrigan signed a five-year, $57.5MM extension seven years ago today and played out that deal. The Eagles gave him a one-year pact worth $1.425MM.

Illustrating how deep the the 2011 draft was for pass rushers, Kerrigan’s 95.5 sacks rank only sixth among that class. His 26 forced fumbles, however, are tied for second among 2011 draftees — matching Von Miller and J.J. Watt. Kerrigan’s five strips led the NFL in 2014. Kerrigan is unlikely to join Miller and Watt in the Hall of Fame, but he anchored the Washington rush for most of his career.

The team reduced his role upon drafting Young in 2020, but the elder edge defender broke Dexter Manley‘s franchise sacks record — though Manley’s 1981 rookie year came before sacks became an official stat — by recording 5.5 that year. The 2020 Washington D-line housed five first-round picks, and it played a major role in helping the team make a surprise playoff run. Kerrigan also added 1.5 sacks in the Eagles’ playoff loss to the Buccaneers in January.

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 12/29/21

December 29th, 2021 at 3:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

Several key players returned to practice Wednesday. Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: WR Rico Bussey

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/23/21

December 23rd, 2021 at 6:46pm CST by Ben Levine

We’ve compiled a list of players who were placed or activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list today. In some instances, players activated from the list remain on IR:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Details On Ryan Kerrigan’s New Eagles Deal 

May 20th, 2021 at 9:47am CST by Zachary Links

Ryan Kerrigan’s with the Eagles now and he’s going to make a whole lot less than he did with the Washington Football Team. The veteran’s deal with Philly includes just $1.425MM in guaranteed money, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 

The $1.425MM is already in the bank, by way of his signing bonus. Beyond that, he’ll earn a base salary of $1.075MM, plus the opportunity to earn more through incentives. If he hits all of those bonuses, the edge rusher could top out at $3.5MM (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The deal, Yates notes, includes four voidable seasons to spread out the cap impact. By deploying one of his favorite tricks, GM Howie Roseman will have Kerrigan on the books for just $1.36MM this year.

Meanwhile, Kerrigan’s last contract with WFT paid $11.5MM in base salary last year. It was non-guaranteed, but new head coach Ron Rivera kept him on board. Then, Kerrigan was hardly used. The team’s all-time leader in sacks was relegated to a reserve role and notched just 5.5 sacks in 2020.

Kerrigan will likely see similar responsibilities with the Eagles, with Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and Josh Sweat in their DE group.

Eagles Sign Ryan Kerrigan

May 17th, 2021 at 9:13am CST by Zachary Links

Ryan Kerrigan is staying in the NFC East. On Monday morning, Kerrigan bid farewell to the Washington Football Team. And, minutes later, we learned that he’s agreed to join up with the Eagles (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Eagles have since confirmed the signing as a one-year deal. 

“I’ll never be able to sum up what these past ten years have meant to me in an Instagram post, but what I can say is that they have been some of the best of my life,” Kerrigan wrote (Instagram link). “I hope you had as much fun watching me as I did playing for you. Thank you, Washington, for everything.”

Up until now, the former first-round pick had spent his entire career in D.C. Along the way, he collected four Pro Bowl nominations and 95.5 sacks to top Dexter Manley for the franchise record. Kerrigan started every game for his first nine seasons with the club. But, last year, he was mostly relegated to a reserve role and notched just 5.5 sacks for Ron Rivera. As a result, it was widely expected that he would move on.

Now, the 32-year-old (33 in August) will suit up for his longtime rival. The Steelers and Bengals (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter) also showed interest, but he felt that the Eagles would be his best fit. Currently, he profiles as the Birds’ No. 4 DE, likely behind Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and Josh Sweat.

With Kerrigan off the board, other edge-needy teams can still consider the likes of Melvin Ingram, Justin Houston, Everson Griffen, Olivier Vernon, Ezekiel Ansah, Dion Jordan, and Adrian Clayborn.

Latest On Ryan Kerrigan, Potential Return To WFT

May 8th, 2021 at 10:39am CST by Ben Levine

While Washington may have selected a pair of seventh-round edge rushers, they still lack reliable depth behind Chase Young and Montez Sweat. Thanks to the shallow depth chart, plenty of pundits have wondered whether Ryan Kerrigan would re-sign with the team. When asked about the chances of signing the franchise sack leader, GM Martin Mayhew refused to explicitly mention anyone by name. However, he did hint that the team could look to add a veteran in the coming weeks.

“There will be guys who are released and we’ll keep an eye out for guys on the streets,” Mayhew said (via NBC Sports Washington). “We’ll probably have some try-out guys during our mini camps. We definitely plan to upgrade that position through the offseason.”

Kerrigan would be a natural fit for the role; he already served as a backup in 2020, so it’s not like the fan favorite would put up a stink about not starting. Despite only starting one game last season, the the 32-year-old still had a productive season, finishing with 5.5 sacks and six QB hits. It’s obviously been a while since Kerrigan was a Pro Bowl-caliber player, but his pass-rushing prowess and versatility would still be an asset to any defense.

Of course, Mayhew doesn’t have any true connection to Kerrigan, so it wouldn’t be a shock if he looks elsewhere for reinforcement. The GM also seemed to be a fan of his two late-round picks, Baylor’s William Bradley-King and Penn State’s Shaka Toney.

“We drafted these guys with the idea that these guys can contribute this year,” Mayhew said.

Bengals To Meet With Ryan Kerrigan

March 24th, 2021 at 10:14am CST by Zachary Links

Ryan Kerrigan will meet with the Bengals on Wednesday (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). If things go well, Washington’s all-time sack leader could be the latest addition to Cincinnati’s revamped defense.

[RELATED: Bengals Release Geno Atkins]

The Bengals recently dropped Geno Atkins – one of their own all-time sack leaders — leaving the door open for a veteran like Kerrigan. Kerrigan’s playing time dropped considerably in 2020 — the former Pro Bowler played on just 38% of the team’s snaps and finished with 5.5 sacks. After the season, Kerrigan made it known that he wants an opportunity to start.

“I definitely want to be a starter,” Kerrigan said in January. “I mean, I think any player would say that. I don’t think anybody just wants to settle for being a role player or a reserve player…I’ve got to really be open-minded to several factors and open-minded to all teams, and that’s kind of what I plan to do. I definitely feel like I’ve still got a lot of ball in me, a lot of good productive years ahead.”

Kerrigan, 33 in August, could still return to Washington, though he’ll probably want some assurances when it comes to his role.

Ryan Kerrigan Wants To Start In 2021

January 12th, 2021 at 9:43am CST by Zachary Links

After ten years with WFT, Ryan Kerrigan is likely to play elsewhere. Where ever he lands, the veteran wants to be a first-stringer, as Sam Fortier of the Washington Post writes.

“I definitely want to be a starter,” Kerrigan said. “I mean, I think any player would say that. I don’t think anybody just wants to settle for being a role player or a reserve player…I’ve got to really be open-minded to several factors and open-minded to all teams, and that’s kind of what I plan to do. I definitely feel like I’ve still got a lot of ball in me, a lot of good productive years ahead.”

Kerrigan’s playing time went gone down considerably in 2020, ending the year with just 5.5 sacks in 38% of the team’s snaps. He’ll turn 33 in August, but he believes he has a year or two of good football left. It’s hard to see Kerrigan anointed as a starter for an otherwise healthy contender, but there are plenty of teams that could use his veteran guidance.

Kerrigan is Washington’s all-time leader in sacks, but he’ll be happy to get a fresh start. WFT couldn’t find a trade for him before the deadline — now, he’ll get to pick his own club.

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