The Eagles have officially announced 21 cuts ahead of the NFL’s 4PM deadline for the submission of the 53-man roster.
ROSTER MOVES: #Eagles have released 21 players to trim roster to 53. pic.twitter.com/0Obc2qvcjG
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 3, 2016
The main surprises here are sixth round pick Blake Countess, who will likely be signed to the practice squad if still available and Ed Reynolds who despite a big preseason finale, will not make the final 53-man roster.
With Chris Pantale and M.J McFarland released, the Eagles won’t carry four tight ends on the final roster (unless they claim one off waivers) which would also mean a fullback would not be implemented into the Offense just yet. Although, Trey Burton has seen some action at the position previously.
Cayleb Jones and Marcus Johnson fail to make the 53-man roster, but the one undrafted rookie who did, was Paul Turner. The Louisiana Tech standout soared in preseason and earned himself a spot on the final 53.
Interestingly, Najee Goode and Quentin Gause were waived..meaning depth at Linebacker is still worryingly thin regardless of Stephen Tulloch’s presence.
JaCorey Shepherd failed to make the final roster just one season after being drafted. A poor showing against the Jets followed another injury hampered preseason for the former Jayhawk setting him back quite some way.
Undrafted rookie C.J Smith and Steven Means have both made the roster, as did Marcus Smith.
Cody Parkey ultimately lost the kicker battle to Caleb Sturgis and as a result, was waived by the team.
Aziz Shittu has also been released, but Destiny Vaeao made his way onto the final roster, along with Beau Allen and Taylor Hart at the backup DT spots.
The Eagles also retained a lot of depth on the Offensive line, releasing only Darrell Greene and Barrett Jones.
I’ll be fully analyzing the Eagles 53-man roster in a coming article.
