Well, that escalated quickly. The Philadelphia Eagles announced on Wednesday that they have waived LB Eric Wilson. This comes after Wilson was surprisingly listed as a healthy scratch prior to Sunday’s win over Detroit.
Wilson signed with the Eagles on a one-year deal this past offseason on the back of a big year for Minnesota. In 2020, Wilson racked up 122 tackles along with 3 INT’s, 8 pass breakups, and 9 QB hits. If we compare that to what the 27-year-old has done this year, you’d think he’s a totally different player.
With 43 tackles and 1 TFL through 7 appearances, it’s not that Wilson has struggled in wrapping up ball-carriers, it’s that he is often so far out of position to make a play that by the time he catches up, the damage has already been done. Part of this is schematic, but Wilson does not look like the coverage linebacker he once did. The instincts and reaction times were clearly rusting in this system for whatever reason.
It’s not like he was offering much more than what the younger guys could produce behind him. Giving players like Shaun Bradley, Davion Taylor, and T.J Edwards more exposure to snaps makes a ton of sense given that they figure to be in the picture past this season and have a higher ceiling.
It sucks that Wilson’s signing didn’t work out as hoped. He was a bargain bin addition after many assumed he would be poached within the opening days of free agency. After eight weeks of football, I guess we now know why.
Roseman did the right thing here in turning the page and allowing younger players a crack at starting reps. If they’re not going to invest substantially at the position, they have to at least let their unproven talent the develop.
Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire
