NFL roster cuts: Christian Hackenberg among group of players released by Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles have already begun to make their 2018 NFL roster cuts. As noted in BGN’s Eagles cuts tracker, NJ.com is reporting the Eagles have released the following players so far: quarterback Christian Hackenberg, tight end Billy Brown, tight end Gannon Sinclair, and center Jon Toth.

Hackenberg is obviously the most notable guy from this group. The 2016 second-round pick out of Penn State originally signed with Philadelphia less than three full weeks ago. The only preseason playing time he received was against his former team, the New York Jets, on Thursday evening.

Hack was predictably awful in his Eagles debut. He completed just seven of his 16 passing attempts for 69 yards, zero touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 16.9 passer rating. To his credit, Hack did try to make a case for himself in the fourth running back battle by rushing for 66 yards on five carries. But he even screwed that up with one really bad open field fumble. BGN’s Benjamin Solak had a fantastic breakdown on Hack’s night: THE HACKENSCALE.

Even though Hack is clearly awful, I can’t help but wonder if the Eagles might try to put him on their practice squad. It’s not like they signed him in mid-August knowing he was going to look great. I think they might try to see if they can develop the 23-year-old by having him stick on the scout team in 2018 and then give him a chance to push for a roster spot during the 2019 offseason. We’ll see.

As for the other cuts, none of them are surprising. Sinclair was a camp body. Toth spent some time on the practice squad in 2017 and took all the second team reps during spring drills with Isaac Seumalo missing time, but he was never seriously pushing for a spot.

Brown is the most disappointing cut from this group. He just didn’t take a step forward this year after spending the 2017 season on the Eagles’ practice squad. It’s not impossible he ends up back there this year but the team could just decide to move on.

Make sure you’re following along with BGN’s roster cuts tracker by CLICKING HERE.