EAGLES NOTEBOOK: A New Punter and New Name in Coaching Search

Eagles expected to interview Dallas OC Kellen Moore for head coaching job while Cameron Johnston could be on his way out the door, and more

The Eagles continue to stray from the main board of hot names like Arthur Smith, Joe Brady, Brian Daboll, and Robert Saleh, among others, with a report on Thursday morning that Kellen Moore will interview for the team’s vacant head coaching job.

Moore is the offensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys and is 32 years old.

On Wednesday, the Eagles interviewed 31-year-old Joe Brady, the OC of the Carolina Panthers.

Owner Jeffrey Lurie said earlier in the week he wants to retool his roster and get younger, and he apparently means it.

Moore was the Cowboys’ QB coach in 2018 and has spent the last two years as the OC. He was fourth in the Heisman balloting in 2010 when he quarterbacked Boise State and had a short-lived NFL career that lasted three years with two starts.

Interviewing Moore might be the Eagles’ way of simply finding out how an NFC East opponent views their team.

While the so-called big-ticket names on the team's radar, they also went under the radar with Moore and New England Patriots linebacker coach Jerod Mayo, who is set to interview with the Eagles on Friday.

PERSONNEL STUFF

The Eagles made an interesting move on Wednesday, signing a punter.

With Cameron Johnston now a restricted free agent, the Eagles could have found his replacement when they inked Arryn Siposs to a futures deal.

Siposs, 28, was a rookie free agent in 2020 out of Auburn, signing with the Detroit Lions. Jack Fox won the job and became a Pro Bowl punter, but Siposs spent the year on the Lions’ practice squad.

He played in the Australian Football League and is 6-2, 210 pounds.

Johnston struggled late in the season and ended with just a 40.6-yard net average on 71 punts. It is the lowest net of his three seasons with the Eagles and ranked 26th in the league.

The Eagles also signed Khalil Tate to a futures deal. Tate was signed as undrafted rookie free agent last year but didn’t last long. He played quarterback at the University of Arizona, but the Eagles are trying to turn him into a receiver.

NO FINE

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that the Eagles will not be fined for their perceived “tanking” shenanigans against the Washington Football Team in the regular-season finale on Jan. 3.

Doug Pederson said afterward his intent was to win the game when he removed Jalen Hurts after three quarters and put Nate Sudfeld into a game still very much up for grabs, with the Eagles trailing 17-14 at the time.

A victory would have seen the Eagles go from the sixth overall pick in the draft to No. 9.

The Eagles’ brass, namely Lurie, is insistent that it wasn’t his idea to put Sudfeld into the game.

Lurie said earlier in the week that he had “nothing to do with it whatsoever.”

Then he went on to praise Sudfeld and for the only start he made in his career, which was the regular-season finale of the 2017 season, a game that meant nothing with the Eagles having already locked up the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

Lurie called Sudfeld “unstoppable” in that game and did so with a straight face. Sudfeld completed 19 of 23 throws for just 134 yards in an Eagles shutout loss to the Cowboys.

As for the optics of the 20-14 loss to the WFT earlier this month, Lurie said:

“Doug had said we were going to use as many young players as we could. Jalen had the injury in the Dallas game in the second quarter. He, of course, wants to play, but you know, significant hamstring.

“I think Doug just wanted to give Nate a chance. He deserved it. He's been part of our Super Bowl-winning team. He contributed to the scout team. He contributed so much. I think it was just with good intentions. The circumstances weren't the best, maybe the communication wasn't the best, but we would have loved to have eliminated Washington.”

HURTS THE MAN

Troy Aikman went on Michael Irvin’s podcast this week and said it was his belief that Pederson was ready to move on from Carson Wentz and go with Jalen Hurts as his starter in 2021, and that may have been a part of why Pederson was fired.

“I gathered it came down to was a difference of opinion as to how they’re moving forward at the quarterback position... It’s my belief that Doug Pederson felt that Jalen Hurts is probably the quarterback going forward,” Aikman said.

It’s only conjecture, but interesting nonetheless.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of EagleMaven. Check out anything you may have missed pertaining to the Eagles by going to www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.