August 28, 2021

Eagles final 53-man roster projection

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

With the Philadelphia Eagles' third and final preseason game in the books, let's go ahead and project the Birds' final 53-man roster. And this time, we're playing for money and pride (mostly pride), as I square off against the other Eagles beat writers.

Quarterback (3): Jalen Hurts, Joe Flacco, Gardner Minshew

Cuts (0)

In case you missed it, the Eagles traded for Minshew Saturday morning, and cut Nick Mullens. Flacco isn't getting released, since he signed a fully guaranteed $3.5 million contract.

Running back (4): Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, Kenny Gainwell, Jordan Howard

Cuts (2): Jason Huntley, Elijah Holyfield

I don't see whatever it is the team sees in Howard, who was among the cool kids who didn't have to suit up last night, but the team clearly views him as roster-worthy.

I also believe that the Eagles would really like to keep Huntley, however, they can probably safely get him through waivers and then stash him on the practice squad. They claimed him last year at 53-man cutdowns and they were near the end of the waiver order, which means that there wasn't a lot of interest in him then, so why would there be more interest in him now after not having done anything during the regular season last year? He also only played 10 total snaps in the preseason games, so it's not as if other teams around the league will have much to evaluate.

So they'll roll the dice there a bit, I think, because it's just going to be too hard to keep five running backs.

Wide receiver (6): DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, Quez Watkins, Greg Ward, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Travis Fulgham

Cuts (3): John Hightower, Marken Michel, Andre Patton

If the head coach had more of a say in who makes the final 53, I'd say that Fulgham's roster spot is in severe danger, because the new staff wasn't here for his impressive stretch last season. But because Howie Roseman is making the decisions, and Fulgham was the only receiver who showed anything at all during the 2020 season, he'll get to stick despite a poor summer.

As for Arcega-Whiteside, he too has the benefit of Roseman making the final decisions on the 53-man roster, since he was a recent second-round pick. During his post-game press conference, Nick Sirianni said that he talked to the team prior to the Jets game about five players in his past travels who had impressive performances in their final preseason game, and went from the outside looking in, to making the team. If there's a player who may have done that against the Jets Friday night, it was JJAW.

Tight end (3): Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, Tyree Jackson

Temporary cuts (1): Richard Rodgers

Cuts (1): Jack Stoll

For the eleventy billionth time, there's no good reason to keep Ertz on the roster this season at $8.25 million. But he's still here, and while I do think he'll be dealt at some point this year, if I'm putting my money where my keyboard is, I just can't leave him off my final 53 on the premise that a deal will happen between now and Tuesday.

Losing Jackson for 8-10 weeks (projected return somewhere around Weeks 5-8) with a broken bone in his back makes the rest of this positional group a tougher one to figure out. The Eagles have three options with Jackson.

They can put him on injured reserve before cutdowns, which would end his season immediately. They would save a roster spot, and Jackson would be back with the team in 2022.
They can keep him on the roster through cutdowns, and he would count initially as one of the 53 roster spots. They could later place him on short term IR, where he would be required to stay for at least three weeks.
They can cut him, hope he makes it through waivers, and add him to the practice squad.

In my opinion, you can go ahead and eliminate option No. 3. That's not happening. Jackson showed too much this summer to expose him to the rest of the league. He is unquestionably a player you want to develop.

There's logic to going with option 1, however, once he goes on season-ending IR, he can no longer practice with the team, and obviously, he's not playing in any games. My feeling is that Jackson has shown enough (more so than your garden variety intriguing prospect) to want to keep him practicing with the team all year, particularly because he's learning a new position, and I think he could be good enough already to eventually get into games this season. Continuing to allow him to progress in-season — especially if he can get real-game action under his belt — is worth more to me in this case than whatever other borderline roster guy you'd get to keep at initial cutdowns instead.

The team could also temporarily cut Rodgers, a vested veteran who would not be subjected to waivers, and then sign him back to the team whenever Jackson goes on short-term IR.

Offensive line (10): Jordan Mailata, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, Jack Driscoll, Nate Herbig, Sua Opeta, Andre Dillard, Brett Toth

Cuts (4): Kayode Awosika, Le'Raven Clark, Matt Pryor, Ross Pierschbacher

PUP (1): Landon Dickerson

I haven't re-watched the Eagles-Jets preseason game, and if I'm being perfectly honest, I probably won't. But when I focused in on Andre Dillard during the game last night, I thought he was OK, albeit against backups on a team with already weak pass rushers. That's the only tape other teams around the league will have of him, which... great! Sell high! (Roseman won't, because he overvalues his own players.)

And so, the guess here is that Dillard will occupy a roster spot.

• As for Dickerson, the Eagles have enough depth along their offensive line that they should have no reason to rush him back to the lineup before he's truly 100 percent ready.

• My 53rd roster spot came down to Awosika vs. Toth. Awosika had a strong camp, and I would not chance losing him on waivers with the back of the roster being as bad as it is. In other words, if you don't have a deep roster, you may as well keep the player with better long-term upside. But, Toth can play LT, and the Eagles will need one of those if they are actually able to trade Dillard for something decent.

Defensive line (8): Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat, Ryan Kerrigan, Milton Williams, T.Y. McGill

Cuts (6): Tarron Jackson, Marlon Tuipulotu, Hassan Ridgeway, Raequan Williams, JaQuan Bailey, Matt Leo

We're a little light here at DT, though Milton Williams and Brandon Graham both have some inside-outside versatility, and the team should be able to keep at least one of Raequan Williams or Ridgeway on the practice squad.

Linebacker (7): Eric Wilson, Alex Singleton, T.J. Edwards, Shaun Bradley, Patrick Johnson, Genard Avery, Davion Taylor

Cuts (2): JaCoby Stevens, Rashad Smith

Like with Tyree Jackson above, the Eagles could place Taylor on short-term IR after cutdowns, and then re-sign a vested veteran back to the team after cutting him.

Avery and Johnson are the dedicated SAM backers.

Cornerback (4): Darius Slay, Steve Nelson, Avonte Maddox, Zech McPhearson

Cuts (4): Josiah Scott, Craig James, Michael Jacquet, Kevon Seymour

We've consistently had James making the roster, until it sort of hit me this morning. Why? He was hurt almost all of last year, and he has missed a huge chunk of camp this year. Who's going to be lining up for a player like that whose biggest appeal is on special teams?

Safety (5): Anthony Harris, Rodney McLeod, K'Von Wallace, Marcus Epps, Elijah Riley

Cuts (3): Andrew Adams, Grayland Arnold, Blake Countess

Riley has been a core special teamer throughout camp, and he was a rare positive standout on the Eagles' third-team defense against the Steelers. He's my new Craig James.

If there's one position I think the Eagles are likely to claim a player off of waivers, it's at safety.

Specialists (3): Jake Elliott, Arryn Siposs, Rick Lovato

All of the Eagles' specialists are running unopposed, and have played well enough.

Practice squad (16 + Matt Leo)