Eagles poach Hakeem Butler from Panthers’ practice squad, place Dallas Goedert on injured reserve

The Philadelphia Eagles signed Hakeem Butler from the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad, according to an official announcement from the team. In order to make room for Butler on the roster, they placed Dallas Goedert on injured reserve.

Butler, 24, has previously played at wide receiver but the Eagles are listing him as a tight end. He’s certainly on the bigger size for a receiver at over 6’5” and 227 pounds:

Butler was getting a lot of hype heading into the 2019 NFL Draft. Bleeding Green Nation’s own Ben Natan had Butler as his No. 3 wide receiver from that year’s class:

Hakeem Butler averaged 22 yards per catch in 2018… What?! The redshirt junior is the closest thing in this class to a power forward playing wide receiver. Standing nearly 6’6” and over 225 pounds, Butler astounded with a sub-4.5 40 at the combine. Butler is a dominant athlete with the skill to be a dangerous red zone threat in the NFL. He’s not a “sudden” player but makes up for it with pure size, strength and long speed.

Butler was getting some first-round buzz so it was a surprise when he fell to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 103 overall in the fourth round. Many thought the Cards got a steal but Butler suffered a broken hand and missed his entire rookie season. Butler clearly failed to impress in training camp this year with the Cards waiving him before he ever played a single game for them. Our friends over at Revenge Of The Birds wrote about why he fell out of favor so quickly. Butler remained a free agent until the Panthers added him to their practice squad 11 days ago.

It’ll be interesting to see if a position change will do Butler any good in Philly. He’ll have to learn on the fly as the No. 3 tight end on the 53-man roster behind Zach Ertz and Richard Rodgers. Then again, he might not be the actual third option if the Eagles opt to elevate the newly added and more experienced Jason Croon from the practice squad on game days. It’ll be interesting to see how the team handles this.

Getting back to Goedert, there’s hope he can return down the line. But he’s automatically going to miss at least three games now that he’s been placed on injured reserve due to a fractured ankle. As a reminder, Philly’s next three matchups are: at San Francisco 49ers, at Pittsburgh Steelers, and vs. Baltimore Ravens. Not ideal for the Eagles to be missing their leading receiver for those games.