July 15, 2025
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Lewis Cine #38 of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on during the Philadelphia Eagles training camp at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
From now until July 22, PhillyVoice will be previewing 2025 Eagles training camp by choosing a topic question for the staff to debate. This series will run from Monday, July 7, through Monday, July 21, as all players are expected to report to the NovaCare Complex by July 22. The first session is July 23.
Today's preview topic question is: Which veteran newcomer will be most exciting to watch at training camp? Our writers made their selections and wrote about the players they felt best fit the category.
Geoff told me that it was okay to cheat a bit with this one, and frankly, it was a stretch to even do that. Which Eagles free agent signee is exciting to you — Terrace Marshall, Harrison Bryant, Kylen Granson, AJ Dillon, Kenyon Green, Dorian Thompson-Robinson?
The Eagles shopped in the bargain bin, saw several key contributors walk in free agency and still have probably the best top-to-bottom roster in the NFL.
Anyway my pick is Lewis Cine, who technically isn't "new" but he hasn't played yet for the Eagles, nor much at all at the NFL level. Cine was a first-round pick in 2022 by the Vikings out of Georgia, where he was a tackling machine for one of the nation's best defenses. He spent one year in Buffalo before the Eagles signed him off the Bills practice squad in January. He played just 10 snaps on defense in total as he tried to adjust to the pro game and stay healthy. He suffered a gruesome compound leg fracture on a special team snap his rookie season and really hasn't looked good since.
Philadelphia is one of the best reclamation project teams in recent memory. The safety competition is wide open and it's possible a good camp by this one-time highly touted prospect could earn him a role on Vic Fangio's defense. It's the kind of feel-good story Philly fans live for.
It's a little weird that most accomplished edge rusher on the roster still hasn't played a down of football for the Eagles, used to play for the Eagles' rivals, and is projected to be a backup who isn't 100 percent guaranteed to make the roster.
But these are weird times for the state of the team's edge rush, as projected starters Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt have combined for 11 total starts and 8.5 career sacks. Still, the promise and potential these young guns showed in the postseason means the Eagles just needed to make sure they had quality depth at the position.
Enter Ojulari, who's six sacks last season with the Giants were just 2.5 fewer than Hunt and Smith combined. Ojulari, a second-round pick from Georgia, should fit in just fine on a defense loaded with former Georgia standouts. He has 22 career sacks in 46 games, which means he averages around .5 sacks per game, which in a 17-game season would pace him for more than 8 sacks – plenty for a rotational pass-rush piece.
The long-armed Ojulari – he has an 82 1/2-inch wingspan, almost 7 feet long – is really fun to watch. He's explosive and bendy, like most good edge rushers. He just hasn't stayed healthy. In his four seasons with the Giants, he played 46 games and hasn't played more than 11 in any of his last three.
That makes him a perfect rotational piece for the Eagles, who shouldn't need him to take on a heavy workload as long as Hunt and Smith are developing at the expected rate. Ojulari could very easily be a less-is-more kind of addition, with fewer snaps leading to less injuries and more production.
His talent isn't a question. He'll be a fun watch this summer, for sure.
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