Julian Okwara’s tenure as a Detroit Lion officially ends with the Philadelphia Eagles.

After four seasons as a Detroit Lion, Julian Okwara never quite found his footing and is now out of the team. The Philadelphia Eagles announced their signing of him on Wednesday.

Okwara was reinstated to the practice squad after being cut late in the previous campaign. When the season concluded, he was not signed to a futures contract, nor was he added to the active roster for any of the Lions’ playoff games. After that, he was free to join any team at any moment, including the Lions, as a street-free agent.

Okwara, a Notre Dame player whose collegiate career was cut short by injuries, was a third-round selection in the 2020 draft and looked like a high-upside pass rusher with perfect length and physicality. However, his potential was never realized in Detroit since he was frequently sidelined by injury. He recorded nine sacks and sixteen quarterback hits in 38 games (four starts) with the Lions. This past season, he earned two sacks in nine games.

With the departure of Julian Okwara, the Lions’ edge rusher group is undergoing a makeover.

Apart from Aidan Hutchinson, the Lions’ edge rusher group produced almost nothing in the previous campaign. When the new season begins on March 13, Charles Harris and Romeo Okwara will be free agents, and it is almost a given that they will be traded. After finishing the season on the practice squad, Julian Okwara’s future with the team was hinted at when he was not signed to a futures contract. He wasn’t even on the Lions’ 90-man roster for the offseason.

To complement Hutchinson, the Lions need to find more pass rushers off the edge. But a revamp of the remaining edge rusher group should be on the horizon, whether through free agency, a trade, or the draft.

Now that Okwara is no longer with the Lions, the only player remaining from Bob Quinn’s final draft class as general manager is guard Jonah Jackson, a potential free agent.