According to a report from NFL insider Mike Garafolo, the Philadelphia Eagles are signing free agent defensive end KJ Henry to their practice squad.

Henry, who turns 26 in January, was originally selected by the Washington Commanders with a fifth-round pick (No. 137) in the 2023 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he played 282 defensive snaps in 10 games (three starts) and recorded 19 total tackles, four TFLs, two pass deflections and 1.5 sacks.

There seemed to be some optimism about Henry’s outlook after the 2023 season. The following is from a Hogs Haven articles already published in June:

KJ Henry was drafted by the Commanders out of Clemson in the 5th round of last year’s draft. He was inactive for the first eight weeks of his rookie season, but after the trades of Montez Sweat and Chase Young and the injury to Efe Obada, Henry became more of a fixture in Washington’s defense over the final nine games.

As you can see, Henry started three games from Week 11 to Week 18 and played between 43% and 67% of the defensive snaps. At the end of the season, he played 41% of the defensive snaps for which he was active and available.

His best performance may have come in Week 11 against the Giants when Efe Obada was injured in the opener. Henry finished the game with 4 tackles, 2 passes defended and 2 sacks in 37 defensive snaps. His other standout game came in Week 14 on the road against the Rams, when he made 4 solo tackles (5 total tackles; 1 tackle for loss) in 42 snaps.

Henry, a 5-year college player, is a 25-year-old second-year player who appears to be on the rise as a rotation defensive end. At 6 feet tall and weighing 220 pounds, he is a fast and explosive player with a promising NFL future.

Henry reportedly had a good training camp. He recorded a sack and two TFLs in the Commanders’ preseason games. Pro Football Focus credited Henry with 10 total pressures on just 51 pass-rush snaps, ranking him as their 13th-best edge defender of the preseason.

Despite this relative success, the Commanders waived Henry ahead of the 2024 season. He was likely the victim of a regime change that saw Adam Peters and Dan Quinn take power in Washington.

Henry was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Bengals and was claimed off waivers again, but rejoined Cincy on their practice squad. He appeared in just two games and recorded 11 defensive snaps.

The Dallas Cowboys then signed Henry from the Bengals’ practice squad in early October. He played 40 defensive snaps and recorded one sack and one TFL. Dallas then waived him last weekend. Kind of strange that Henry keeps getting cut, even though he’s showing some promising signs. Seems like his run defense could be an issue.

Now in Philly, Henry expects to give the Eagles more defensive depth following Brandon Graham’s season-ending injury. For Henry’s signing to be official, the Eagles must open a practice facility for the team. The team can clear a roster spot by placing Graham on injured reserve and then promoting a practice squad player to the 53rd list.

Highlights:

Scouting report from Lance Zierlein of NFL.com:

Very athletic edge defender with good size. Henry has an upfield burst but is more of an open forward and needs to improve his hand use to make more effective turns. A mobile figure on the defensive front, he can be dynamic as he pivots and blitzes, and he does well at creating a buttery inside attack that is often too quick for tackles. As a one-gapper he can shoot and disrupt with his hand in the ground, but as a run defender he has more difficulty than expected setting clear edges. Henry’s strengths and weaknesses are clearly defined, with the advantage of becoming a starter.

Spider diagram via Mockdraftable: