Five Overreactions To Eagles 53-Man Roster And Cuts Made To Get There

The roster was trimmed to 53 players, but it will be fluid over the next couple of days, including constructing a 16-player practice squad. Until then, here are five overreactions.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman (left) and head coach Nick Sirianni discuss their 53-man roster and cuts that were made to get there. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – Cuts have been made and what was left were 53 players. The Eagles made it to that number by Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline. Some names may still be subtracted and others from outside the organization could be added as the Eagles scan the waiver wire to see if they can upgrade.

“One of the worst parts of our jobs is telling 38 guys today that they don’t make the team,” said general manager Howie Roseman. "We’ll see what happens here in the next 24 hours. We have a lot of uncertainty. We have a lot of work here to do, too, as a staff with all the players that are available. Any upgrade, incrementally if it helps the team, is what we’re looking for, so we’ll get right back to work.”

The Eagles can begin filling out their 16-man practice squad at noon on Wednesday.

Util then, here are five overreactions from cutdown day:

No backup center. The release of Dylan McMahon was a surprise not only in that he is the first Eagles draft pick since JaCoby Stevens to be cut just months after being picked in the sixth round back in 2021, but who is the backup center? Right now, it’s Landon Dickerson. It won’t be when the Eagles go to Brazil for the Sept. 6 opener.

The Eagles will find somebody and either add him to the roster or stash the player on the practice squad. It could be Nick Gates or even Max Scharping, two vested veterans who were released.

Like Roseman said, the team is “incomplete.” And you could say the same thing about the tight end position, where the Eagles kept just the two obvious players, Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra, though they put Albert Okwuegbunam on injured reserve after core muscle surgery.

What’s with all the DBs?

The Eagles kept 11 of them – six corners and five safeties, which seems like a high number when you factor in that Roseman kept 28 defensive players and 22 on offense. One of those DBs was James Bradberry, who everybody thought would have been traded or released by now.

“He’s on the team because we think he can help our team,” said Roseman.

Eagles DB James Bradberry / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

The GM added that the secondary was a big offseason priority.

“I feel like I needed to take responsibility for not putting the coaches in a good enough spot with our defensive backfield last year and didn’t want to have it to happen again,” he said.

Youth is served.

This team has several young players on it, more than at any time in previous seasons. Roseman’s take was this: “I look at it because of how top-heavy we are from a contract perspective. We have a lot of players making well deserved money that we have to have the bottom of our roster on rookie deals as much as possible.

“…I think it is important as you build your roster to compete for championships that you have a growing core that you can build with along with the guys you are paying.”

Where are the UDFAs?

The Eagles have always kept at least one and they have made names for themselves, players such as T.J. Edwards, Reed Blankenship, and Britain Covey come immediately to mind. Not this year, though the Eagles did keep Darian Kinnard, a player they signed to a futures deal from another team, which in this case was the Kansas City Chiefs. Julian Okwara was signed to a futures deal from outside the organization – the Lions - but he was released.

“We were a little bit more aggressive in the futures market and we knew the undrafted market would be different just for this year, but we did have a bunch of undrafted guys that did well, but as we looked at the competition for the 53 at first glance didn’t make it, but some guys we’d be interested in bringing back," said Roseman.

Two undrafted rookie free agents come to mind who could join the practice squad: safety Andre Sam and offensive lineman Gottlieb Ayedze.

Summer reward. Kudos to the Eagles for keeping safety Tristin McCollum and defensive tackle Thomas Booker. Both earned their way onto the team. Booker and McCollum spent last year on the practice squad and that time served clearly helped them, and that may be one of the best stories of day that, like Roseman said, is one of the hardest in his profession.

More NFL: Eagles Trim Roster To 53 Players; Here Are The Moves They Made To Get There