Report: Eagles Scalp Rookie CB Mac McCain III off Broncos' Practice Squad

That makes three players outside teams have swooped out from the clutches of the Broncos' practice squad.

This early in the season, NFL rosters are in a constant state of flux, including the practice squad. The Denver Broncos will always seek to churn the bottom of the roster in an effort to find the best possible players. 

Sometimes the Broncos come out ahead in such churnings, while other times, it's an outside team who snatches a player from the clutches of the Mile High practice squad. Such was the case on Tuesday afternoon as the Philadelphia Eagles swooped a rookie cornerback off of Denver's practice squad. 

The Baltimore Sun's Aaron Wilson reported that Philadelphia signed rookie corner Mac McCain III to its active roster, leaving a spot open on the Broncos' practice squad. 

Eagles signed Mac McCain to active roster off Broncos' practice squad

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 7, 2021

"Eagles signed Mac McCain to active roster off Broncos' practice squad," Wilson tweeted. 

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In a corresponding move, the Broncos re-signed corner Saivion Smith to their practice squad — a player who competed this past summer in Denver before finding himself on the cutting-room floor at the final roster deadline. 

McCain went undrafted out of North Carolina A&T and signed with the Broncos as a college free agent. In his limited exposure, the rookie impressed the team brass, but playing at a position as stacked as Denver's cornerback depth chart is, he wasn't transcendent enough to find his way onto the active roster. 

McCain now gets to collect regular-season checks from the Eagles and presumably, get more of a chance to ply his NFL wares. Meanwhile, Smith went undrafted himself out of Alabama in 2019, catching on with the Jacksonville Jaguars before a brief stint with the Houston Roughnecks of the short-lived XFL in 2020. 

Smith later signed with the Seattle Seahawks, then the Dallas Cowboys, before finding himself adrift in the NFL once again. The Broncos signed him a week into training camp and the 6-foot-1, 200-pound corner made enough of an impression to be the first guy Vic Fangio called after McCain was head-hunted by the Eagles. 

The Broncos also waived safety Trey Marshall and running back Royce Freeman in hopes of sneaking them onto the practice squad but both were claimed off waivers by outside teams last week. McCain makes the third player lost to such competition. 

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