The Roster is 100 Percent Locked in Forever

The Eagles cut their roster down to 53 players on Tuesday, choosing only the finest gridiron heroes to defend the honor of the City of Brotherly Love. Well, that’s what I hoped for, but the actual roster had some odd choices.

First, let’s look at who made it.

QB (3)

Hurts, Flacco, Minshew

RB (3) 

Sanders, Scott, Gainwell

WR (5)

Smith, Watkins, Reagor, Ward, Arcega-Whiteside

TE (4)

Ertz, Goedert, Jackson, Stoll

OL (10)

Mailata, Seumalo, Kelce, Brooks, Johnson
Dillard, Toth, Dickerson, Herbig, Driscoll

DE (6)

Graham, Barnett, Sweat, Kerrigan, M. Williams, T. Jackson

DT (3)

Cox, Hargrave, Tuipulotu

LB (7)

Wilson, Singleton, Taylor, Edwards, Bradley
Avery, Johnson

S (4)

Harris, McLeod, Wallace, Epps

CB (5)

Slay, Nelson, Maddox, McPhearson, Scott

ST (3)

Lovato, Siposs, Elliott

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Now let’s talk about some of the surprises. A lot of people are fired up over Travis Fulgham getting cut. He simply didn’t earn a spot this summer. Fulgham was great last October, but then disappeared and he’s never reappeared. Two coaching staffs. Regular season games. Training Camp. Preseason games. He never showed back up. I thought the Eagles would take a chance on him because of the upside, but the coaches had to be incredibly frustrated with his poor play. The worst thing a new staff can do is reward bad play.

That will lead many of you to wonder why the Eagles kept DT Marlon Tuipulotu. He was awful in the preseason opener. Tui got better the next week, but still didn’t impress. In the preseason finale, he took a big step forward. He was in on 5 tackles. He hustled. He got pressure on the QB. He got better against the run. I still don’t think Tui did enough to earn a roster spot, but he was worlds better by Game 3. He is at least headed in the right direction.

I think we’ll see a lot of Milton Williams at DT in sub-packages. Tui will be rotated in when needed, if he sticks. It won’t shock me if the Eagles eventually cut him to add a veteran DT. T.Y. McGill got put on the Covid list and that might have given Tui the roster spot.

JJAW did keep his job. Many people hate this move, which is understandable after the past two years. “This has gotta be Howie keeping his 2nd round pick!”. I disagree with that. JJAW was better than Fulgham this summer and John Hightower was hurt too much. JJAW got the spot by default. I’m sure the Eagles will look at cuts to see if they can find an upgrade. JJAW did play well vs the Jets so there was a case for keeping him.

Jordan Howard got cut. He could be brought back after the opener so the Eagles don’t have to pay his salary for the whole year. They would be on the hook on a weekly basis and could cut or add him as needed.

The Eagles went heavy at TE, keeping four guys. Tyree Jackson will go on IR on Wednesday afternoon so that will open up a roster spot for Richard Rodgers or at another position. I’m sure the team is still talking about trading Zach Ertz so that could also open up a spot.

I didn’t project DE Tarron Jackson to make the roster. I loved his effort and toughness this summer, but simply didn’t see enough of a pass rush to make him worth keeping. Jackson does have long term potential so I’m okay with this. He just needs work to develop his game.

The Eagles went heavy at LB with seven. These guys played well this summer. They all deserved to make it. Davion Taylor could go on short term IR, which would open up a spot.

The Eagles went light at safety and kept five corners. I wasn’t sure if Josiah Scott was healthy enough. There were some interesting guys who got cut today so it wouldn’t shock me to see the team make a move here. Depth at safety is still a concern.

The Eagles still have moves to make. This roster is hardly set. It won’t change drastically, but it will be fine-tuned for sure.

*****

There was one deal.

Trade: Eagles have acquired a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft from Indianapolis in exchange for G/T Matt Pryor and a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/etNkCQpz95

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 31, 2021

I’m glad Pryor is gone. I hope he works out in Indy, but I was ready for him to be gone. It is impressive that Howie was able to swing something for him.

Will he be the last OL to get dealt? You would think other teams will call the Eagles about Andre Dillard. For now he’s an Eagle, but that is hardly set in stone. The question is whether any team will offer enough.

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