Roster Announced

The Eagles made their cuts official so we know who made it and who didn’t. As always, this is a very fluid time of the year so none of the fringe players can completely relax.

From the Eagles:

Released: WR Kamar Aiken, DE Steven Means, WR Markus Wheaton

Waived/Injured: CB D.J. Killings, TE Gannon Sinclair, T Toby Weathersby

Waived:

RB Josh Adams
CB De’Vante Bausby
LB Asantay Brown
TE Billy Brown
QB Joe Callahan
DT Winston Craig
WR Rashard Davis
TE Anthony Denham
G Aaron Evans
DE Danny Ezechukwu
S Ironhead Gallon
G Darrell Greene
QB Christian Hackenberg
T Taylor Hart
RB Matt Jones
DE Joe Ostman
WR Darius Prince
RB Donnel Pumphrey
DT Elijah Qualls
S Jeremy Reaves
DT Aziz Shittu
CB Chandon Sullivan
C Jon Toth
WR Bryce Treggs
WR Greg Ward
LB Jaboree Williams
LB Kyle Wilson
WR Tim Wilson

That means the roster looks like this:

QB – 3 – Wentz, Foles, Sudfeld

RB – 4 – Ajayi, Sproles, Clement, Smallwood

WR – 6 – Jeffery, Agholor, Wallace, Hollins, Gibson, Carter

TE – 4 – Ertz, Goedert, Rodgers, Perkins

OL – 10 – Peters, Wisniewski, Kelce, Brooks, Johnson, Vaitai, Seumalo, Mailata, Pryor, Warmack

DE – 5 – Graham, Barnett, Long, Bennett, Sweat

DT – 4 – Cox, Ngata, Vaeao, Hector

LB – 5 – Hicks, Grugier-Hill, Gerry, Reynolds, Walker

S – 4 – Jenkins, McLeod, Graham, Sullivan

CB – 5 – Darby, Mills, Jones, Douglas, Maddox

ST – 3 – Elliott, Lovato, Johnston

So what were the surprise moves?

Cutting Steven Means – I didn’t see this coming. I thought they would trade him or keep him. My guess is that they tried to trade him and just couldn’t work anything out. Josh Sweat then got Means spot. It is possible the Eagles have a deal with Means where they will re-sign him if he doesn’t go to another team.

Keeping Chance Warmack – I don’t understand keeping him around unless it is to see if the Eagles can work out a trade. Jeff Stoutland is a Warmack fan, but roster spots are too precious to give to position-specific projects like Warmack.

Keeping Josh Perkins – This was due to the Richard Rodgers injury. The Eagles need 3 TEs. Means has flashed this summer, but was hurt recently. Obviously he impressed the coaches enough to get a spot. Nigel Bradham is suspended for the opener and doesn’t count as a roster spot. That made it easier to keep Perkins.

Keeping DeAndre Carter – I’m very happy for Carter. He was a late addition to the team, but hit the ground running and played his butt off. Made plays in each preseason game. Didn’t matter who was at QB or who was playing D. He got open and made catches. Showed good return ability as well. Love seeing guys rewarded for playing well.

*****

Other moves of note…

Smallwood over Adams – I predicted this, so not a surprise to me. There are two issues here. Let’s start with Adams. The bottom line is that he didn’t do enough to win a spot. He averaged 3.8 ypc in the preseason. He averaged 2.2 yard per catch. He was hurt. He was inconsistent in pass pro and offered nothing in the return game. I like his potential and hope the Eagles can put him on the practice squad, but Adams just didn’t do enough to WIN a job. You don’t give those out. They have to be won.

As for Smallwood, he had a good showing in Week 3, both as a runner and receiver. He has a track record. The Eagles have seen him run for 70 yards in a win over a playoff team (twice). They have seen him return a KO for a TD. He’s caught 19 passes in his career. I know Smallwood has had durability issues and is far from a compelling player, but he deserved the job over Adams.

If the Eagles find someone better than Smallwood, they could make another move.

Cutting Donnel Pumphrey – Couldn’t stay healthy and failed to stand out when he did play. Simple as that. We’ll see if he is a PS target.

Cutting De’Vante Bausby – He was great in the OTAs. Played well in TC. Was good in the first preseason game. Then he slowly faded. Never played poorly, but again…didn’t do enough to win a spot. Won’t shock me to see another team claim him. Has talent. Everyone in the organization seems to think highly of him. Got hurt by the fact CB is so deep this year.

Keeping Hector over other young DTs – Watch the tape. Hector outplayed Qualls, Shittu and the other young DTs. Hector deserved the job.

Keeping Mailata – I’ve been telling you this would happen for a while so it didn’t surprise me at all. He has made great strides, but still needs a ton of work. Practicing during the season will help him get ready for next year.

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