Eagles promote Bruce Hector from practice squad

The Philadelphia Eagles filled their vacant roster spot by promoting Bruce Hector from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, according to an official announcement from the team.

This move was expected. The Eagles only had three defensive tackles on the team prior to this promotion: Fletcher Cox, Anthony Rush, and Albert Huggins.

Of those three, Cox is the only player to ever play an NFL regular season snap. Rush and Huggins are undrafted rookie free agents who were only added to the roster earlier this week. Hector offers slightly more experience given that he played 82 snaps last season.

Hector originally signed with the Eagles as an undrafted rookie free agent following the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent some time bouncing between the roster and the practice squad last year before signing a futures contract with the Eagles once the season ended.

Hector played well in the preseason this year to the point where the Cardinals were willing to trade Rudy Ford for him. Arizona then waived Hector during final cuts and he ended up back on Philly’s practice squad.

Here’s what Doug Pederson had to say about Hector:

“He’s a guy that obviously has been in our system. Knows the defense. Knows the front. If given -- I know he’s excited, if given the opportunity. It’s something that you can see him in practice and he’s been talking to the guys about it, like, “Man, hopefully this is my time,” and if he does [play], he’ll do well for us, but just, again, it gives us the added depth we need at that spot until we get some guys back.”

The Eagles are extremely thin at defensive tackle heading into this week’s game against the Buffalo Bills.