Eagles Bring In Former Penn State Star For Practice Squad

The Eagles brought signed cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields to the practice squad.
Jan 7, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) runs past Washington Commanders cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields (26) .
Jan 7, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) runs past Washington Commanders cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields (26) . / Brad Mills-Imagn Images
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PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles made a couple of practice squad moves on Monday, placing veteran receiver John Ross on the Practice Squad Injured list, and signing cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields to fill the spot.

Castro-Fields was originally a sixth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers out of Penn State in 2022 and continues a weird Eagles trend of taking flyers on 2022 Niners' draft picks.

Both of San Francisco's third-round picks that year -- running back Ty Davis-Price (No. 93 overall) and wide receiver Danny Gray (No. 105) -- are currently on the Eagles' practice squad.

Philadelphia also attempted to claim cornerback Samuel Womack, a fifth-round pick of the Niners in 2022, off waivers back in August but the Indianapolis Colts were awarded the Toledo product.

Castro-Fields, 25, has played in 12 NFL games with one start in stints with Washington and Carolina after being waived by San Francisco. He was waived by the Commanders at the initial cutdown to 53 this season before being claimed by the Panthers, who had top priority on the waiver wire.

Castro-Fields was waived by the Panthers on Oct. 1.

At 6-foot and 197 pounds who ran a 4.38 coming out of Happy Valley, Castro-Fields is more of an outside CB option and joins A.J. Woods and Parry Nickerson, who are both better suited for nickel work, as CBs on the Eagles' practice squad.

Six-time Pro Bowl selection Darius Slay and star rookie Quinyon Mitchell are the Eagles' starting outside cornerbacks with rapidly ascending rookie Cooper DeJean taking over the slot work against Cleveland in Week 6.

The backups outside are Isaiah Rodgers, Kelee Ringo and Eli Ricks, with Maddox serving as a backup both in the nickel and at safety.

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John McMullen
JOHN MCMULLEN

John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen