The Eagles are not assured of continuing their Super Bowl title defense past Week 17, but they will add a key reinforcement going into their final regular-season game.
Mike Wallace will be activated from IR, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Eagles also promoted cornerback Josh Hawkins from their practice squad, and NFL reporter Geoff Mosher tweets Philadelphia waived corners De’Vante Bausby and Chandon Sullivan to make room on its 53-man roster.
The Wallace move is interesting considering he did not return to practice before this activation. Teams are given three weeks’ worth of evaluation time for IR-return candidates to practice in order to determine if they will return to the active roster or remain on IR for the rest of the season. With the Eagles in win-or-go-home (with help required) territory, they are moving fast to an all-hands-on-deck approach, it appears.
Wallace has only played in two games with the Eagles, his fifth NFL team. The veteran deep threat suffered a broken fibula in Week 2. He will join a team that now has Golden Tate in the fold, with the Eagles’ Tate-Wallace-Alshon Jeffery–Nelson Agholor–Jordan Matthews top five serving as one of the most experienced groups in the game.
The Eagles added Wallace on a one-year, $1.9MM deal that bumped up to north of $2.5MM thanks to at least one easily attainable incentive. However, Philly may end up getting three games from Wallace. The Eagles must beat the Redskins, who they defeated in Washington three weeks ago, and have the Bears topple the Vikings to make the playoffs.
