New Eagles DT Javon Hargrave discusses leaving Steelers: ‘It was real tough’

Of course, Javon Hargrave said, he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers were the team that brought him into the NFL with the No. 89 overall pick in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He felt he was part of a “winning” culture, and he had developed into a formidable defensive linemen over his four seasons there.

But Hargrave was not naive to the realities of free agency. His contract expired after the 2019 season. The Steelers faced a tight salary cap situation after placing the franchise tag on pass rusher Bud Dupree. Hargrave knew there was a decent chance the next stage of his career wouldn’t happen with the Steelers.

Hargrave made that official when he agreed to a three-year contract with the Eagles that’s worth up to $39 million. After beginning his career in Western Pennsylvania, Hargrave is heading to the southeast corner of the state to suit up in Philadelphia. And it wasn’t an easy departure.

“It was real tough, just mostly because of my teammates,” Hargrave said. “I’m real close with a lot of my teammates, so it was kind of hard to be leaving them and going on. I can’t say I thought fully I was going to leave Pittsburgh, but in the back of my mind, I knew it was a big chance I was, just from seeing a lot of things and them being tight on the cap space, I was kind of ready knowing that it was a chance I would be gone.”

There will be plenty of changes for Hargrave during this offseason, aside from moving and learning a new defensive system amid a global pandemic. With the Steelers, Hargrave was a nose tackle tasked with filling up space along the defensive line to free up his teammates to make plays.

Under defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz in Philadelphia, Hargrave will line up next to fellow defensive tackles Fletcher Cox, Malik Jackson and Hassan Ridgeway with the opportunity to get after quarterbacks and make plays himself. Schwartz wants to generate pressure on quarterbacks with just four rushers. Even playing in the Steelers system, Hargrave flashed that ability with 10 1/2 sacks over the past two seasons.

That was an opportunity that appealed to Hargrave. And the Eagles made it a tantalizing one, too. The 27-year-old doesn’t expect to have a difficult transition to his new team, even with a truncated offseason, because of the similar cultures between the franchises and the quality of defensive linemen on both teams.

Still, Hargrave wouldn’t have minded staying with the Steelers, but the realities of the NFL didn’t allow for it. He entered free agency with an open mind and fielded offers. In the end, Philadelphia was where he was wanted, and it was where he wanted to be in 2020.

“I think when you get in this league — I’ve seen a lot in this league — it’s a great feeling when a club that’s really interested in you and really wants you to feel a part of their program,” Hargrave said. “So for me, it seemed like the Philadelphia Eagles were the team that was most interested in (me). They really showed it, and I’m really happy to be a part of this now.”