Eagles make 12 moves to cut roster down to 53 players

The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced a slew of roster moves on Saturday afternoon in order to cut down to the regular season 53-man limit. Here’s a look at what they did.

INJURY DESIGNATIONS

CB Jalen Mills to reserve/physically unable to perform (PUP)

RELEASED

The following player was not “waived” because he’s a vested veteran and is now free to sign with any team.

OG Stefen Wisniewski

WAIVED

The following players will be subject to waivers.

RB Josh Adams

TE Alex Ellis

DT Treyvon Hester

OG Sua Opeta

TE Joshua Perkins

RB Boston Scott

RB Wendell Smallwood

QB Clayton Thorson

T Brett Toth

WR Greg Ward

ANALYSIS

• Mills going on PUP means that he can’t be activated to the 53-man until Week 7 at the earliest.
• Stefen Wisniewski is obviously a notable cut considering he was the Eagles’ starting left guard in the Super Bowl. Wis really struggled this summer and got demoted out of the backup center spot. The Eagles cutting Wis clears $1.58 million in cap space with just $250,000 in dead money. It’s always possible the Eagles re-sign Wis after Week 1 so his 2019 salary won’t be fully guaranteed.
• The Eagles kept two undrafted rookie free agents on the roster: T.J. Edwards and Nate Herbig. Those were the two UDFA who received the most amount of guaranteed money from Philly.
• The Eagles cutting both Perkins (!) and Ellis means the team is down to just two tight ends: Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Howie Roseman must be planning to claim a third tight end on waivers.
• The Eagles are keeping six defensive ends: Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Vinny Curry, Daeshon Hall, Josh Sweat, and Shareef Miller.
• The Eagles decided to keep Mack Hollins over Greg Ward, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Hollins is the superior special teams contributor, which matters for a fifth receiver. It’s also entirely possible Ward makes it through waivers and signs with Philly’s practice squad. Save the outrage.
• The Eagles cut 2019 fifth-round pick Clayton Thorson. They’ll probably try to bring him back to the practice squad. Not the best pick in a year where you only had five selections!
• The Eagles kept Rudy Ford — whom they acquired from the Cardinals in exchange for Bruce Hector — on the 53-man roster. That’s five safeties in total on the 53.
• The Eagles didn’t keep a fifth running back. Good. That would have been a waste.
• Toth seems like a lock for the practice squad, assuming he clears waivers.
• The Eagles can easily free up a roster spot by placing Cre’Von LeBlanc on injured reserve. Strap will be eligible to be activated back to the 53 after Week 8.