May 21, 2024

Report: Eagles WR DeVante Parker retires from the NFL

DeVante Parker, who played with the Patriots the last two seasons, had signed with the Eagles in free agency back in March.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Gregory Fisher/USA TODAY Sports

DeVante Parker (1)

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVante Parker is retiring, according to a report from ESPN. Parker had previously signed with the team during free agency in March, and was only on the team's roster for a little over two months.

Parker, 31, was a Dolphins first-round pick (14th overall) in 2015. He was a big receiver (6'3, 215) with 4.45 speed who was heading into his 10th NFL season before deciding to retire. He had one big season in 2019, but has otherwise been disappointing, at least as far as first-round receivers go.

DeVante Parker	Rec	Yards	YPC	TD
2015	26	494	19.0	3
2016	56	744	13.3	4
2017	57	670	11.8	1
2018	24	309	12.9	1
2019	72	1202	16.7	9
2020	63	793	12.6	4
2021	40	515	12.9	2
2022	31	539	17.4	3
2023	33	394	11.9	0

Since that 1200-yard season in 2019, Parker has found it difficult to get open, to put it mildly:

this is hilarious

WR separation using Next Gen Stats player tracking data

DeVante Parker rankings by year:

2020: #132 out of 132
2021: #127 out of 127
2022: #122 out of 122
2023: #115 out of 115

impressively dead last in separation for 4 straight years pic.twitter.com/Rx2wlxqpR5
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 7, 2024

Had Parker continued his NFL career, he would have had a chance to compete for a role in Eagles training camp, but wasn't a lock to make the 53-man roster.

The loss of Parker certainly isn't a big blow to the team, but his retirement serves as a reminder of how thin the Eagles are at wide receiver after A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Their depth at wide receiver now probably looks something like this:

Offense	1	2	3	4
WR	A.J. Brown	Johnny Wilson	Joseph Ngata
WR	DeVonta Smith	Parris Campbell	Austin Watkins Jr.	Shaquan Davis
WR	Britain Covey	Ainias Smith	Jacob Harris

The Eagles should have an interesting battle for the WR3 job in training camp. Britain Covey and Ainias Smith best fit the profile of the classic slot receiver, in that they're smaller, shifty guys. They're also both inexperienced. Smith is a fifth-round rookie and Covey has just four career receptions in two seasons.

Because A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are both weapons out of the slot in addition to the outside, it's not imperative that the WR3 fits the classic slot receiver profile. When the Eagles signed a big receiver in Julio Jones last season, for example, he quickly became the WR3, even if that didn't exactly pan out. Parker might've filled that role, but obviously now he will not. Rookie sixth-round pick Johnny Wilson (6'6, 231) is the lone remaining big receiver of the backups.

The Eagles also signed sixth-year veteran Parris Campbell earlier this offseason. He is a speedster (4.31 40 once upon a time) who does not play like a speedster (career 9.3 yards per catch).

If Brown or DeVonta Smith get hurt, the Eagles' offense could be in serious trouble. I would imagine Howie Roseman and the Eagles front office will continue to look for ways to add to this group.