Eagles open up roster spot by placing Chris Long on reserve/retired list

The Philadelphia Eagles placed Chris Long on the reserve/retired list today, according to the NFL’s official transaction wire.

This development obviously comes as no surprise given that Long announced his retirement on Saturday evening.

Placing Long on the reserve/retired list is essentially like cutting him, except for the fact the Eagles still own his rights. Long is no longer taking up a spot on the Eagles’ 90-man roster. The team is also now clearing $5.3 million in cap space compared to $300,000 in dead money. The savings bring the Eagles up just over $27 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap.

In the event that the Eagles suffer some defensive line injuries and try to coax Long out of retirement this year, that option is open. Such a scenario would require the Eagles activating Long to the roster.

As of right now, though, Long won’t be playing this year and this latest transaction reminds us of that sad fact.

It remains to be seen how the Eagles will fill their open roster spot. They might look to sign one of their rookie minicamp tryout players ahead of their first OTA practice on Tuesday. Or maybe they’ll add a veteran defensive end. Or maybe they’ll just keep the roster at 89 players for now.