Eagles work out former Temple kicker, waive Daeshon Hall from PUP

There were two noteworthy appearances by the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday’s NFL official transaction wire. The team tried out former Temple and Alabama kicker Austin Jones in addition to waiving Daeshon Hall from their reserve/physically unable to perform list.

AUSTIN JONES

The Jones workout is certainly noteworthy with Jake Elliott struggling recently. Not to mention them also working out a former CFL kicker last week.

The Eagles’ kicker missed a 29-year-old goal against the New York Giants on Thursday evening. Further, Elliott has only made 19 of his 26 attempts (73% — would rank 27th out of 33 kickers last year) since signing a November 2019 contract extension that made him the NFL’s ninth highest paid kicker annually. His deal also contains the third highest guarantee of any player at his position.

The Eagles can’t even realistically move on from Elliott until 2022 at the earliest. So, it’s not like they’re going to cut him anytime soon. Working out Jones, who has no NFL experience, is different than bringing in a veteran ready to immediately take over.

Jones kicked for Temple from 2014 through 2017. His kicking stats from that span via Sports Reference:

Jones tore his ACL as a junior and got replaced as a senior. He then transferred to Alabama after graduating early. He began 2018 as the Crimson Tide’s kicker but struggled and got replaced two games in to the season.

The Eagles could look to sign Jones in the offseason to have him push Elliott heading into 2021. Or maybe this tryout was simply about the Eagles updating their emergency list of kickers.

DAESHON HALL

The Eagles originally waived Hall with a failed physical designation back in July. He reverted to Philly’s reserve/PUP list after going unclaimed. We wrote at the time that Hall was expected to be waived when he eventually got healthy. Now we’ll see if another team gives Hall a chance. They should. He’s shown some promise in limited playing time. If Hall remains available, maybe the Eagles might look to bring the 25-year-old back on an offseason contract. Or maybe they’ve just moved on from him for good following his ACL injury.