Over the next few weeks leading up to training camp, we’ll be counting down the top 25 most important Eagles for the 2025 season.
25. Andrew Mukuba
24. Jahan Dotson
23. Tanner McKee
22. Tyler Steen
21. Azeez Ojulari
The Eagles were pretty quiet in free agency this offseason but their biggest acquisition was Azeez Ojulari. While the Eagles mostly played the compensatory pick game this offseason, they were willing to lose one in order to sign the former Giants pass rusher.
Ojulari, who just turned 25, has played four seasons in the NFL, all for the Giants, who took him with the No. 50 overall pick out of Georgia back in 2021. When Ojulari has been healthy, he has been productive with 22 sacks and 37 QB hits in 46 career games.
But the injuries have piled up. Ojulari played every game as a rookie second-round pick in 2021 but since then has played just 29 of 51 possible games from 2022-24. That’s why a productive edge rusher was available on a one-year, $4 million deal.
“In my past, I’ve had ups and downs with injuries and (I am) trying to put that behind me this year,” Ojulari said in March. “Continue to do everything I can to stay on the field and be 100% healthy … I’m just trying to focus one day at a time and keep attacking that every single day just to prove myself and know I can be out there for all 17 games. Just do whatever I can to stay out there for the long run.”
It’s probably unfair to expect Ojulari to show up and suddenly play all 17 games plus playoffs, but he is expected to be the third edge rusher after Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt in the rotation. So maybe he’ll be able to stay healthier as a rotational player instead of a starter.
Last season, Ojulari played in 11 games (5 starts) and had 6 sacks for the Giants. His QB pressure rate of 12.2% was the second-highest percentage of his four-year NFL career.
And after losing Josh Sweat to free agency and Brandon Graham to retirement, it was important that the Eagles replenish at the position. They did that by signing veterans Ojulari and Josh Uche and by drafting Antwaun Powell-Ryland on Day 3.
The Eagles have had a close look at Ojulari over the past four seasons. In fact, of Ojulari’s 22 career sacks, 5 of them have come against the Eagles in 6 games. That’s double the amount he has against any other teams.
Ojulari has been on the Eagles’ radar for several years, according to GM Howie Roseman.
“It’s fairly apparent that we spent a lot of time scouting the SEC players and certainly Georgia defensive players,” Roseman said at the 2025 owners meetings. “So this is a guy that we felt like we were very familiar with from college, competing against him in the NFC East. It’s a position that we obviously lost a couple of guys that are hugely important to our success and as free agency went on, felt like it was a good opportunity for both parties.”
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