He may not be a name to sleep on for the Philadelphia Eagles , even though the last name sounds like Van Winkel, as in Rip Van Winkel. This would be Van Ginkel, as in Andrew Van Ginkel.
He is a linebacker who happens to be a free agent, who happened to play for new Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio with the Miami Dolphins last year.
Oh, and he just so happens to play linebacker, a position the Eagles need to build back up again with Nakobe Dean coming off a foot injury that limited him to five games and Nicholas Morrow and Zach Cunningham set to be free agents.
Fangio is reportedly bringing Joe Kasper with him from South Florida to be his safety coach, per NFL Media. Perhaps Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott could be a name to watch since the Eagles are in the market for safeties, too.
Elliott started 15 games last year. A former sixth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2018, he will turn 27 in April. He had 82 tackles and an interception a season ago.
As for Van Ginkel, Fangio personally recruited him to Miami after he became a free agent after last season. It wasn’t too difficult a sell for Van Ginkel since he was taken by the Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2019 draft out of Wisconsin.
Per SI All Dolphins, Van Ginkel drew interest in free agency last year by the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders but took less money to stay in Miami rather than uproot his family, accepting a deal for $2.6 million if he played every game.
The Eagles could have grabbed him going back to the draft.
Van Ginkel was the 151st player taken that year. Thirteen spots earlier, the Eagles took Shareef Miller, who never did anything. Of course, that Philly draft class didn’t do much, other than running back Miles Sanders. The other picks were Andre Dillard, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and Clayton Thorson.
Even though Van Ginkel will be 29 in July, Fangio may put the full-court press on him again. He was the glue of Fangio’s defense, though he suffered a foot injury in the regular-season finale and did not play in Miami’s playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Still, he made 11 starts and played in all 17 games, collecting 69 tackles, six sacks, and an interception.
