Eagles Take Old-School Approach on Cutdown Day

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman went heavy at tight end after making a trade, but light at receiver

PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Eagles went old school with their final 53-man roster, echoing the words of the immortal Moses Malone when the Philadelphia 76ers went into the playoffs in 1983: “Four, four, four,” as in predicting sweeps in all three rounds.

Malone was close. They went four, five, four on their way to the NBA title.

The Eagles went four, four, four at three of their skill positions – receiver, running back, and tight end while keeping only one undrafted free agent from this past spring in cornerback Eli Ricks.

It’s a high number of tight ends and a low number of receivers. It’s probably the right amount of running backs, with Trey Sermon being waived/injured. 

Still, the Eagles likely won’t dress all four on game day so somebody among Kenny Gainwell, D’Andre Swift, Boston Scott, and Rashaad Penny will likely take a seat when the Eagles open the season against the New England Patriots on Sept. 10.

The tight end count went up after general manager Howie Roseman swung a deal to acquire Albert Okwuegbunam from the Denver Broncos.

“The first thing you talk about Albert, you talk about the physical ability,” said Roseman. “He’s 6-5, he’s almost 260 pounds, he runs a 4.4, he’s got a huge wingspan, he’s got really good lower-body flexibility for a big guy.

“That’s not a slight on the tight ends we have. We think Dallas (Goedert) is one of the best players at his position in the league, and we have two young players in Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra we brought in here that we really like.”

The receiver position was sliced and diced, with the Eagles releasing Britain Covey, Devon Allen, Greg Ward, and Joseph Ngata as the clock neared the deadline of 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

All that remains of the receiver room are A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, and Olamide Zaccheaus.

It’s likely that Roseman could add a receiver after looking at the waiver wire or the Eagles could play the practice squad game on a weekly basis, where two players are able to be elevated on a weekly basis and each player is allowed to be elevated three times over the course of the season.

“We’ll look at everything over the next 24 hours,” said Roseman. “Obviously, the roster situation is fluid. Obviously, we’re going to be aggressive.

“We don’t necessarily think we’re thin there (at receiver). Obviously, we’d like to get some guys back there (on the practice quad) and see who’s available, but when it shakes out and you look at the numbers, they’ll be the same as they always have been.”

Covey was the punt returner last season. He’s out, as are other special team players such as K’Von Wallace and Kyron Johnson and, of course, punter Arryn Siposs.

Roseman said that he hopes to get some players back to the practice squad and the waiver wire will also be scanned to see if somebody is out there.

The Eagles went heavy along the defensive line, keeping seven tackles – Fletcher Cox, Milton Williams, Jordan Davis, Kentavius Street, Marlon Tuipulotu, and rookies Jalen Carter and Moro Ojomo - and six edge rushers – Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, Patrick Johnson, Derek Barnett, and rookie Nolan Smith.