Philadelphia Eagles 53 man roster by the numbers

by JasonB on Sep 6, 2009 1:35 AM EDT in News Comment 13 comments

The Eagles have made their cuts and whittled their roster down to 53 men. However, just because those guys survived cut day, doesn't mean they'll actually be on the team come September 13th. Let's look at some positions where changes are still likely to be made.

Wide Receiver - The Eagles currently have 7 WRs on their roster and are only likely to start the season with 6. Desean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant, & Jeremy Maclin are all locks. The guys not guaranteed a spot are rookie Brandon Gibson, Reggie Brown, and Hank Baskett. Since Gibson wasn't cut with the first round and wouldn't be valuable trade bait, it may actually be safe to assume that he made the team. It's likely that the Eagles held onto Reggie and Hank(esp the former) since those guys may have some trade value to fill another spot.

Tight End - The Eagles currently have just two TEs on the roster. That will not be the case for very long as the Eagles will carry a 3rd TE on their roster. Whether it's through trade or free agency, I'm guessing we'll find out who that guy is before the weekend is out. Considering that Tony Curtis was signed just before the preseason game against Jacksonville, the Eagles will go into this season with just one TE(Celek) that was on the roster at least 3 weeks before the season.

Defensive Tackle - After cutting loose Dan Klecko, the Eagles DTs are Broderick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, & Trevor Laws. Two starters and one backup. That said, there's a decent chance that they may not add another DT. The Eagles love rotate DEs inside to DTs on passing downs. Darren Howard, Victor Abiamiri, & Juqua Parker have all done it in the past. Those guys, especially Howard and Abiamiri, could be defacto backup DTs. Last year, it seemed that Darren Howard played more inside than he did outside... I'd look for the Eagles to add a couple DTs to their practice squad just in case.

Quarterback - The Eagles currently have 4 QBs on their roster, but due to an exemption Michael Vick does not count against the 53 man roster. While Vick is on the exempt list he can't practice with the team, so obviously the Eagles will be looking to take him off as soon as possible. I'm sure that over the next day or so they'll be trying to trade A.J. Feeley to make room for Vick. If they can't swing a deal, they'll probably just outright release him.

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or we could trade AJ

after week two too a team that has a bad QB injury problem

Let's get it.

by homestar2281 on Sep 6, 2009 2:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

the problem with that is...

vick will be unable to practice unless they cut somebody else. having vick go that long without practice and then making him the no. 2 would be insane,

by awd777 on Sep 6, 2009 8:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I doubt...

they keep Vick on this exemption roster spot. Expect a deal to be done by tuesday. AJ or Brown/Baskett is traded. Or AJ is dropped.

by Regal Eagle on Sep 6, 2009 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Feeley

I doubt they ‘drop’ him. QB position is still unsettled but if they get a valuable piece (5th Rd pick) then I think they make the trade.
Vick can attend all meetings and workout. He just cannot play with the team. It is like he is rehabbing an injury. He cannot play anyway so how much practice does he need? Plus we have a bye after week3 for him to get more practice. We better be able to beat KC with anyone at QB.
Lots of teams only have 2 QB’s on their entire roster. If McNabb is hurt then Kolb comes in and Vick is also ‘out’ for the rest of that game. No big deal.

by phxphilly on Sep 6, 2009 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well they 'dropped' him

so I guess it’s safe to assume they called around and everyone knew what they were doing and called their bluff, in that they weren’t in love with AJ enough to surrender anything worthwhile, and were just content to hope he falls to them on the open market

Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome

by D3Keith on Sep 6, 2009 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Unless they are able to get Alex Smith or workout a trade, I won’t be surprised if we keep just Celek and Curtis on the main roster since we will most likely put Myers on the practice squad and we could sign him if there is a serious injury and if we need a emergncy TE in a game we can use Weaver or Baskett.

fightlockdown.com

by The Legend on Sep 6, 2009 10:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

TE Spot

I guess I would still like a better backup than Curtis. I agree there is no reason to keep a bad player on the roster at the third TE since they will just be deactivated. Practice squad will serve the same purpose. Also agree that emergency backups exist:
TE (pass catching) = Baskett
TE (moving blocker) = Weaver
TE (inline blocker, short yardage) = Peters

by phxphilly on Sep 6, 2009 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Brown

Everyone is so eager to cut him, but he’s #3 on the depth chart, and would cost millions to cut or trade. Baskett or Curtis are more likely to be gone.

by Andrew B on Sep 6, 2009 2:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd like to hear your reasoning

Baskett does things/fits a mold none of the Eagles’ other receivers do (big, blocks on run plays, etc.) and Curtis is productive, but makes considerably more than most.

Brown, for all the speculation about what he has left in the tank, clearly is not favored on this roster, based on how he’s utilized and how often. He might well be a plenty valuable NFL player, but it doesn’t seem the Eagles think so. Which would lead me to believe that he’s the one being shopped over the other two, even if logically trading one of them makes more sense.

Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome

by D3Keith on Sep 6, 2009 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wideouts

Baskett vs. Brown – the big difference is Baskett is taller and should be better in the redzone, but isn’t.

When Baskett and Brown were on the field together starting certain games in 2006 and 2008, Brown clearly outshone Baskett.

Brown (27 years old) vs. Curtis (31 years old):

Curtis – 28 games with Eagles (27 staerts) – 4 100 yard games and 8 70+ yard games, 6 games with TD, 122 receptions, 1711 yards, 8 TD’s

Brown – 61 games with Eagles (43 starts) – 4 100+ yard games and 20 70+ yard games, 17 games with TD, 180 receptions for 2585 yards, 11 rushes for 84 yards, 18 TD’s

Basically, Curtis has been living off the legacy of the 2007 Lions game with the Eagles. He only gives you a quality start (70+ yards and/or a TD) about 25% to 30% of the time. Brown is actually the more consistent of the two, giving 70+ yards and/or a TD about 50% of his starts. Brown is younger, bigger, able to break tackles, more versatile (better blocker, can be used on wideout rushing plays), more yards per catch, and signed long term for cheap, and more expensive to cut or trade (Curtis saves $1M from his $2.3M charge against the cap to cut or trade, Brown costs $3.8M more than his current $3M).

There’s really no upside to keeping Curtis except for continued mediocre wideout play. Better to move on to the future now, because Curtis will not be here next year with his current contract ($2M salary+ roster bonus in 2009, $4.5M in 2010, $5.4M in 2011, $7M in 2012). Brown on the other hand, is here cheap thanks to his large still to be pro-rated signing bonus (salary+bonus is $720K in 2009, $1.2M in 2010, $2M in 2011, $2.6M in 2012, $3.2M in 2013, $3.8M in 2014).

by Andrew B on Sep 7, 2009 2:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs