Eagles Sign Punter Durant Brooks

Watch your back, Sav Rocca. A new punter just landed in Philadelphia. Earlier today, the Eagles announced that they had signed former Redskins punter Durant Brooks. Here is a bit of background on the newest member of the Eagles, courtesy of PE.com's Chris McPherson:

Brooks was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft after winning the Ray Guy Award for best collegiate punter in his senior year at Georgia Tech.

In addition to winning the award, Brooks has also been tutored by Guy.

The 6-foot, 204-pound Brooks played in six games with the Redskins his rookie season and had a gross average of 39.6 yards per punt and a net average of 32.1 yards per punt. The Redskins replaced him midseason with Ryan Plackemeier.

Brooks finished his rookie season on the practice squad of the Green Bay Packers and signed a future contract with the Packers at the end of the season, but was released at the end of training camp. It was reported that Brooks had a tryout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in December, but he did not play with a team during the 2009 season.

While Brooks doesn't exactly sound like the superstar punter that the Eagles need, his signing should at least encourage Rocca to bust his butt this offseason. At 36, Rocca certainly isn't getting any younger. He would do well to learn everything he can from new special teams coach Bobby April and develop a better consistency with his punts if he intends to stay for a fourth season. In the end though, Brooks will likely act as just another training camp/preseason leg for the Eagles (something the team has done almost every year now), but you never know. Stranger things have happened.