Eagles waive Andrew Sendejo, preserve 2020 compensatory pick

The Philadelphia Eagles waived veteran safety Andrew Sedenjo on Tuesday afternoon, according to an official announcement from the team.

This move shouldn’t come as a surprise. We’ve previously written about the compensatory pick implications regarding Sendejo’s spot on the roster like a billion times by now, including as recently as two days ago.

Sendejo had a dumb penalty where he hit a sliding Mitchell Trubisky late on the Bears’ final drive of the first half. The flag allowed a struggling Bears offense to get out to their own 35-yard line. Ultimately the drive stalled out but there was no need to give Chicago any hope there.

I’m not suggesting the Eagles should cut Sendejo just because of that play, to be clear. It’s the recklessness that he plays with that has hurt this team — quite literally in the case of Avonte Maddox.

Would you have traded a fourth-round pick to add Sendejo to this roster at the NFL trade deadline? No, you wouldn’t have.

The Eagles have until Saturday, November 9 to cut Sendejo to prevent themselves from losing a 2020 fourth-round compensatory pick. It’d be a waste to lose that pick just to keep Sendejo around.

The Eagles did the right thing by cutting Sendejo, who only played 11 defensive snaps in Philadelphia’s win over the Bears. The 2020 fourth-round pick is more valuable than a 32-year-old safety who’s set to be a free agent after this year.

The downside to cutting Sendejo is that the Eagles no longer have a clear cut safety behind starters Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod. Special teams contributor Rudy Ford is the only other formal safety on the roster. Perhaps the Eagles believe in Avonte Maddox’s ability to play safety since he did some of that in an emergency situation last year. The Eagles’ defense did utilize more dime packages against the Bears.

The other downside is that Sendejo is just the latest flop from Howie Roseman. His 2019 offseason isn’t looking so hot.

Sendejo is now subject to waivers since the NFL trade deadline has passed. We’ll soon see if any team out there puts a claim in on him.

The Eagles are now projected to have 10 selections in the 2020 NFL Draft. For perspective, the Eagles made 10 total selections over the past two years combined.

EAGLES 2020 NFL DRAFT PICKS

1st round

2nd round

3rd round

(3rd round - projected compensatory pick)

4th round

(4th round - projected compensatory pick)

(4th round - projected compensatory pick)

5th round

5th round (from New England Patriots)

6th round (from Atlanta Falcons)