Eagles Decision Day: Examining Monday's Cuts And The Toughest Calls Remaining
It’s D-day, decision day for the Eagles and 31 other NFL teams has they have to have their 53-man rosters submitted by Tuesday at 4 p.m. That doesn’t mean the 53 that submitted will be the one the Eagles open the season with when they raise their Super Bowl championship banner on Sept. 4 when the Dallas Cowboys visit.
Here is a recap of the cuts they made on Monday:
QB Kyle McCord
G Kenyon Green
CB Eli Ricks
WR Terrace Marshall
WR Elijah Cooks
RB ShunDerrick Powell
RB Montrell Johnson
TE E.J. Jenkins
TE Nick Muse
S Maxen Hook
S Andre Sam
The Toughest Decisions Still Looming
Here’s is a deeper dive into what the early cuts could mean:
-The release of a pair of tight ends probably paves the way for Kylen Granson to be the third tight end, if the Eagles keep three. Cam Latu is still in the running as well. He showed up on special teams this summer, and, well, he is from one of the schools general manager Howie Roseman is smitten with – the University of Alabama.
-Sam deserved a better fate after spending last year on the practice squad. It would be a surprise if he goes unclaimed when teams can hit the waiver wire on Wednesday.
-Hook is a good developmental player who will likely return to the practice squad, and didn’t show enough during the summer to make another team stand up and take notice.
-Green never had a chance, especially getting hurt so early in camp, and his passion for the game never really revealed itself this summer. The 15th overall pick of the Texans in 2022 is at a crossroads in his career.
-Cooks and Marshall had good summers and it would not surprise if they are claimed by other teams. If not, they may return to the practice squad.
-Powell and Johnson are also good best to be on the practice squad, though Lew Nicholas, who spent time with the Eagles, was waived by the Steelers and maybe the Eagles lean toward adding him instead.
Here are the tough decisions still to be made:
-The fifth receiver spot appears to be between Ainias Smith, Darius Cooper, and maybe, just maybe, Taylor Morin. Of course, the Eagles could keep six. They need a punt returner – neither Jahan Dotson nor John Metchie III has done it in an NFL game. Smith can do it. So can Morin. The Eagles could always revert to Cooper DeJean, but they would rather not do that with him likely to play every defensive snap this season.
-What to do with Kelee Ringo, who fell down the depth chart toward the end of camp. Keep him for his special teams prowess or move on and cut him.
-Do the Eagles keep a fifth linebacker, who would be Lance Dixon, whom they like a lot, and perhaps only five defensive tackles? In that scenario, either Gabe Hall or Byron Young could be the odd man out.
-Do the Eagles keep both rookie offensive tackles, Myles Hinton and Cam Williams?
