Roster Cuts – Lots of Curve Balls

The Eagles kept us waiting until the 6pm deadline before announcing their roster moves. Then they threw several surprises at us. This is just the initial roster so there will be changes to come, but they made some interesting moves.

Here is the roster.

QB – 4 – Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, Andy Dalton, Cole Payton

RB – 3 – Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley

WR – 6 – DeVonta Smith, Dontayvion Wicks, Makai Lemon, Darius Cooper, Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore

TE – 4 – Dallas Goedert, Johnny Mundt, Eli Stowers, EJ Jenkins

OL – 10 – Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson, Fred Johnson, Markel Bell, Drew Kendall, Willie Lampkin, Micah Morris

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DL – 5 – Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young, Ty Robinson

ED – 5 – Jonathan Greenard, Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith, AJ Epenesa, Arnold Ebiketie

LB – 4 – Zack Baun, Jihaad Campbell, Jeremiah Trotter Jr, Smael Mondon

SAF – 3 – Drew Mukuba, Marcus Epps, Michael Carter

CB – 6 – Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Riq Woolen, Jonathan Jones, Mac McWilliams, Kelee Ringo

ST – 3 – Braden Mann, Jake Elliott, Rocco Underwood

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Let’s talk about the notable moves.

Keeping 4 QBs – Howie seems determined to trade Dalton or McKee rather than just cutting them. I just don’t know that a market exists. We’ll see if Howie knows something we don’t or if this is just wishful thinking. I’m not a fan of the move, but we’ll see if Howie can work his magic.

Heavy at WR – The Eagles surprised us by keeping 6 WRs. Elijah Moore had a good summer so it was good to see his performance rewarded with a roster spot. Moore also has value as the punt returner.

IPP Gone – Both Uar Bernard and Josh Weru got cut. They are taking the chance that the players go unclaimed and can be brought back to the practice squad. I think that will happen with Bernard since he’s such a project. It won’t surprise me at all to see a bad team claim Weru because he could be worth a spot. He’s shown enough that you could see him as a contributor next season.

DBs – Jonathan Jones was signed to be CB4. He spent much of camp watching due to an injury. The Eagles feel he’s worth keeping because he’s a veteran and they want experience behind the starters. Kelee Ringo and Mac McWilliams are talented, but you wouldn’t want them to play major snaps in a big game. The Eagles seem light at safety, but remember DeJean will play some snaps there. Expect multiple PS spots to go to safety.

4 TEs – The team went with EJ Jenkins as the fourth TE. I was impressed with his blocking in the preseason games. He’s not as good on STs as Cam Latu, but is more of a true TE, which is needed in this offense. Jenkins might be just a temporary move. Multiple TEs were traded over the weekend. The fact the Eagles weren’t involved tells me they have something else planned. That could be sticking with Jenkins. Or maybe they sign Zach Ertz. We’ll keep an eye on this position.

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While a lot of people have questions on some of these moves, it is important to note that the Eagles have one of the best rosters in the league. We’re discussing the fringe guys at the bottom of the roster.

The backup QB situation remains confusing. If the team gets that sorted out in the coming days, it could be a good thing. It will help if someone can be the clear #2 and focus on that role, not competition. As long as Jalen Hurts stays healthy, this isn’t time sensitive. Backup WBs have mostly been needed late in the season. You can’t count on that, but it is worth noting.

I’ve talked about how Howie does a good job of building rosters with one eye on the present and one on the future. This roster feels more like it was built for the present. There are 5 rookies (Lemon, Stowers, Bell, Morris and Payton), but a couple of them could be playing this season. Keeping guys like Moore and Jones makes this feel more about today than tomorrow.

Practice squad moves will start on Monday. We’ll also get to hear from Howie and figure out some of his thinking on today’s moves.

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