Official: Eagles waive Mack Hollins, promote Sua Opeta

The Philadelphia Eagles waived Mack Hollins, according to a report from PhillyVoice writer and my BGN Radio co-host Jimmy Kempski. UPDATE: Eagles confirm the news and also announce they’ve promoted offensive guard Sua Opeta from their practice squad.

The target of a lot of Eagles’ fans ire is gone.

Hollins wasn’t always so unpopular. The 2017 fourth-round pick actually showed some promise as a role player and special teams contributor as a rookie.

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Hollins’ career was then derailed by a weird injury situation that took, like, 18 months to recover from. Hollins failed to impress upon returning from injury. He had several bad drops in training camp practices and he was outplayed by Greg Ward (on offense, at least) in the preseason. Despite these developments, the Eagles kept Hollins on their 53-man roster as a fifth receiver who could contribute on special teams.

But then Hollins was suddenly forced into an offensive role with DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery both suffering injuries in Week 2. Hollins, who even said he’d rather play on special teams than offense, struggled to step up as he committed multiple drops and penalties.

After seeing 17 targets from Week 2 through Week 4, Hollins only saw five total targets and zero receptions in his final eight games with the Eagles. The team clearly lost trust in him, despite (laughable) comments made by wide receivers coach Carson Walch that suggested otherwise:

“Yes, he does not have the catches. But at the end of the day when Mack Hollins grades out for us, he’s one of our top graders every week because he aligns right, he assigns right and he plays with great effort. We believe when the ball comes Mack’s way he’s going to make the play for us.”

Despite having a special teams reputation, Hollins wasn’t even really contributing there. Just look at his weekly snap counts via Pro Football Reference:

With Hollins gone, the Eagles are down to four wide receivers on their 53-man roster: Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Greg Ward. The Eagles also have Robert Davis and Marcus Green on their practice squad. Oh, and the team worked out two free agent wide receivers on Monday afternoon. The Eagles could open up another roster spot for, say, Marken Michel by cutting Joshua Perkins.

As for Opeta, the Eagles originally signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent following the 2019 NFL Draft. He’s spent the entire season on the practice squad until now. Jimmy reports another team was trying to sign Opeta away from the Eagles, hence the promotion. Opeta is the 10th offensive lineman on Philly’s roster.

The Eagles currently have two vacant practice squad spots after promoting Perkins and Opeta within the past several days. UPDATE: Make that ONE practice squad spot since the Eagles re-signed Kevin Wilkins.

Wilkins signed with the Eagles as an undrafted rookie free agent before being waived in final cuts. The Eagles had a need for an extra defensive tackle body after waiving Albert Huggins over the weekend. Fletcher Cox, Timmy Jernigan, and Anthony Rush are the only players at their position on the roster.

Current Eagles practice squad

DT Kevin Wilkins

S Chris Johnson

TE Scott Orndoff

DT Bruce Hector

C Keegan Render

RB De’Angelo Henderson

WR Robert Davis

QB Kyle Lauletta

WR Marcus Green