The Philadelphia Eagles have signed former Colts wide receiver Zach Pascal to a one-year contract. The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and later confirmed by the team. The exact terms of the deal have yet to be revealed.

Breakdown

Pascal is a 27-year-old wide receiver who is entering his fifth season out of Old Dominion. He was originally signed by Washington as an undrafted free agent in 2017 but did not appear in an NFL game until 2018 with the Indianapolis Colts. In four seasons, Pascal has 150 catches for 1,888 and 15 touchdowns. Pascal finished 2021 with 384 yards on 38 catches with three touchdowns. His best season came in 2020 when he racked up 629 yards and five touchdowns under then Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni. 

Pascal has become known as a very good blocking wide receiver despite his pedestrian offensive production. He has mostly lined up in the slot over his career and has special teams experience. 

Fit with Eagles

Head coach Nick Sirianni is a big fan of Pascal, going so far as to mention him by name in his introductory press conference (21:09 mark) with the Eagles when naming players he built special relationships with. Pascal posted the two best years of his career under Sirianni in 2019 and 2020. He seemed to have been improving as a receiver until Sirianni left and Carson Wentz became the Colts quarterback. Therefore, it’s no surprise that Pascal was targeted by the Eagles. After all, general manager Howie Roseman has shown that he allows his coaches to have some say in personnel. Under the previous regime, head coach Doug Pederson and especially defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz brought in numerous players that they knew well from previous stops.

On the field, Pascal will most likely not be the WR2 fans are clamoring for beside DeVonta Smith. Pascal’s best role is as a WR3/4 and depth who does the hard work and contributes every now and then from the slot. His run blocking is no doubted coveted by the Eagles who were a heavy rushing team last year and will continue to be so assuming Jalen Hurts is still at QB. However, Pascal doesn’t really move the needle much in terms of production. The Eagles will still have to look to upgrade their WR corps that finished near the bottom of the NFL in yards. 

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