When the Philadelphia Eagles signed linebacker Zach Brown this past offseason, fans were pumped to welcome a veteran force to the middle of the defense. After all, he averaged over 120 tackles for the past three seasons and even made the Pro Bowl in 2016. Handing him a one-year deal worth $3 million was easy at the time, but nobody expected him to last just six games with the team.
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Brown, a 6-foot-1, 250-pound linebacker, isn't injured. He's not taking a leave of absence from the NFL, either. Simply put, he opened his mouth, didn't back it up, and Philly released him following Sunday afternoon's loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
That's what happens when you talk trash against Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, apparently.
So what happened? What did Zach Brown say about the Minnesota quarterback? Well, it wasn't exactly nice, via ESPN.
"Cousins, I think every defense is going to want that guy to throw the ball. For me, that's probably the weakest part of their offense is him. Everything else is good. They've got a good running game, probably one of the best in the league. They have real good receivers. You just want them to pass the ball. You want Kirk Cousins to get it in his hands."
— Zach Brown
Those words backfired in a big-time way. Cousins completed 22 of 28 passes for 333 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Most importantly, the Vikings got the 38-20 home win at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Vikings' offense was explosive. The Eagles defense was exposed. This happens in the NFL all of the time, but seldom do you see a player talk so much trash and then get released the day after he couldn't back it up.
The Vikings, of course, had fun with it on social media.
Cousins and Brown played together with the Washington Redskins before the Pro Bowl quarterback signed with Minnesota. Maybe there is some history there. However, it doesn't change the fact that Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and the front office wasn't messing around after what happened last week.
LB Zach Brown, now a free agent, lasted just six games with the Philly franchise, recording 31 tackles. He will likely be signed by another team soon, but it will mark the veteran linebacker's fifth team in five seasons since his rookie deal expired with the Tennessee Titans.
For Minnesota, it was a great time for Cousins to have his best game of the season. For Brown, well, it couldn't have gone any worse.
