PHILADELPHIA — Chris Long took free agency and turned it upside down the same way he often does opposing quarterbacks. Rather than wait for a call from an NFL team last year, he pinpointed where he wanted to go and made sure it happened.
The defensive end revealed this week how the process went down just months after he won a ring with the team the Philadelphia Eagles are playing next Sunday in Super Bowl LII, the New England Patriots.
Incapable of sitting and waiting for things to unfold, Long proactively cold-called Eagles exec Howie Roseman. He wanted to play in Philadelphia after a conversation with former Eagle and current Los Angeles Ram Connor Barwin.
“That is true,” Long said. “Where I was last year there were a bunch of people who were like, ‘You’re crazy, you’re leaving the Patriots and you suck. You’re old, you’re washed up.’
“I’m like, ‘Man I need to get on a team.’ … I was antsy to get on a team and I saw the team I wanted to be on. It was real simple for me.”
It was an unorthodox free-agency process, needing both parties to accept unusual roles.
It rarely works this way.
“For the record, Howie could have easily — I’m not trying to take the credit away from Howie — he could’ve been like, ‘Nah, dude, you’re too old. We looked at your tape last year,’” the 32-year-old Long said. “He was like, ‘Yeah, awesome. You’ll be great.’ And we just made it work from there.”
It has paid off for Long and the Eagles. He has been an invaluable addition in the locker room and on the field, where he provides depth for a defensive line whose never-ending waves overwhelm most opposing offensive lines.
Long had five sacks and four forced fumbles this season. He made two impactful plays in Sunday’s NFC championship rout of the Minnesota Vikings.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick conceded this week that Long probably made the right move in leaving New England, even though his one season there ended with his first ring.