Eagles Awarded 2023 Third-Round Pick Off Waivers

The Eagles claimed former Alabama DT Byron Young off waivers from Las Vegas.

Alabama defensive lineman Byron Young (DL18) participates in the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - On paper the Philadelphia Eagles looked pretty deep at defensive tackle with starters Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Milton Williams buttressed by capable backups Moro Ojomo, Marlon Tuipulotu, and Thomas Booker.

Philadelphia is never averse to adding talent, however, and put in a waiver claim for second-year DT Byron Young, who was waived by the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday.

Young was the 70th overall pick by the Raiders out of Alabama in 2023, just five slots after the Eagles took his Crimson Tide teammate Tyler Steen at No. 65 overall and four slots after Philadelphia selected safety Sydney Brown at 66 overall.

Young, 23, played only 99 defensive snaps in six games as a rookie, recording four tackles so this is a projection for Philadelphia. He made the Raiders' initial 53 this season before being waived to make room for Las Vegas' own waiver claims at the deadline.

Since drafting Young, the Raiders have had a regime change, moving from GM Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels to Tom Telesco as the GM and Antonio Pierce as head coach.

The Eagles will need to make a corresponding roster move to make room for Young and that likely means bad news for one of the trio of backups at the position.

At 6-foot-3 and 292 pounds, Young is more suited to play the 3-, 4i- or 5-techniques in the Eagles' defense rather than the nose or shade. In theory that would point to Ojomo or Boorker being the odd man out rather than Tuipulotu.

That said, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has said the interior backups need to be versatile and the veteran coach is comfortable playing undersized players for limited reps at nose tackle.

The Eagles then confirmed that Tuipuloto, a 2021 sixth-round pick of the Eagles out of Southern California, was indeed the odd man out on Thursday afternoon.

Tuipulotu played 28 games with one start over three seasons with the Eagles, accumulating 43 tackles, including four for loss, three sacks, four quarterback hits, and six QB pressures while playing sparingly.

Tuipulotu's career-high snap count was 232 in 2022, 21% of the defense's total that season.

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