Matt Leo

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/15/23

Here are Wednesday’s reserve/futures contracts:

Kansas City Chiefs

Philadelphia Eagles

The Chiefs will likely enter into extension talks with Creed Humphrey when the Pro Bowler becomes eligible in 2024, but they are also retaining their Super Bowl LIV and Super Bowl LV center starter. Reiter, 31, played for the Dolphins in 2021 but did not see any action for the Chiefs this season. The Chiefs cut Shelton after training camp but kept the veteran defensive tackle around on their practice squad. Shelton, 29, played in one game for the Super Bowl champions this season and will be set to collect a second Super Bowl ring; his first came in 2018 with the Patriots.

Allen, 28, put his track and field career on pause to attempt a football comeback, and the two-time Olympic 110-meter hurdle finalist resided on the Eagles’ practice squad all season. While the Paris Games are not until 2024, Allen ran 2022’s top 110 hurdle time (12.84 seconds) — which doubled as the third-fastest time in history — and will be on the radar to claim his first world championship in the event. This year’s World Track and Field Championships are slated for Aug. 19-27 in Budapest, so it will be interesting to see if Allen puts track aside for the time being or if the Eagles greenlight dual participation. The Bears did so for long jumper/wide receiver Marquise Goodwin in 2021, but that was for an Olympic Trials competition that did not conflict with training camp.

Eagles Finalize 53-Man Roster

Here is how the Eagles reached the 53-man limit Tuesday:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

The Eagles added two veteran receivers this offseason, with one of them (A.J. Brown) bumping Jalen Reagor down the depth chart. Zach Pascal, who has played for Nick Sirianni previously (in Indianapolis), may also be a factor. But the Eagles, despite their moves at receiver and offseason trade rumors that engulfed Reagor, still have the 2020 first-round pick rostered. The TCU product is also coming off a solid preseason.

Howie Roseman said the Eagles, who have two QBs on their active roster, are planning to add a third — either a practice squad arm or a legit third-stringer — soon, and The Athletic’s Zach Berman and Bo Wulf note running back remains on the radar. The team kept three — Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, Kenneth Gainwell — but Sanders has been dealing with a hamstring injury.

Philadelphia’s receiver setup and a long football layoff did not leave much room for Allen, who has a rather notable career on which to fall back. A two-time U.S. Olympian in the 110-meter hurdles, Allen came to Eagles training camp after a controversial false-start infraction denied the medal favorite the opportunity to vie for gold on his home track at the World Track and Field Championships. The Oregon alum, whose 12.84-second time at a meet this summer is the third-fastest clocking ever in the 110 hurdles, caught a deep touchdown during the preseason but may well move back to his primary sport soon.

Ward became needed during the Eagles’ injury-plagued receiver seasons of 2019 and ’20; he caught 53 passes in the latter campaign. The ex-college QB was not used as much last season, catching seven balls in 17 games. The Eagles kept three rookie UDFAs (cornerback Josh Jobe, safety Reed Blankenship and offensive lineman Josh Sills).

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/18/22

Here are Tuesday’s reserve/futures deals:

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC East

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These CowboysEaglesGiants and Washington moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s NFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Dallas Cowboys

Signed to practice squad:

New York Giants

Placed on IR:

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Philadelphia Eagles

Signed to practice squad:

Washington Football Team

Placed on IR:

Signed:

Signed to practice squad:

Eagles Cut 20+ Players, Down To 53

The Eagles are ready to fly into Week 1. On Tuesday, they made a series of moves to get down to the 53-man roster max. Here’s the full rundown:

Released

Waived

Placed on IR

Placed on Reserve/COVID List

The Birds also freed up a spot earlier today by trading offensive lineman Matt Pryor (and a 2022 seventh-round pick) to the Colts for a sixth-round choice.

The release of wide receiver Travis Fulgham was one of today’s more notable moves. Fulgham played a big role for the Eagles last year as the team was decimated by WR injuries. However, they didn’t see enough this summer to keep him on the 53-man roster. With Fulgham gone, the Eagles are left with J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Jalen ReagorDeVonta SmithGreg Ward, and Quez Watkins as their Week 1 receivers.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/5/21

We’ll keep track of the latest reserve/futures deals here:

Carolina Panthers 

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Eagles Sign Josh McCown To Practice Squad

Well this is an unusual arrangement we didn’t see coming. The Eagles are signing veteran quarterback Josh McCown to their practice squad, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Thanks to a new COVID-19 exception veterans will be able to serve on practice squads, making this possible. As Schefter notes, he’ll easily be the oldest practice squad player in NFL history. Making the situation even more unique, McCown won’t even be reporting to the team. Instead McCown will continue to live in Texas, earn a $12K weekly salary, and serve as Philly’s emergency quarterback remotely.

McCown’s lovable journeyman career has taken him all over the football world, so it feels right for him to blaze this unheard of trail. We had heard back in January the Eagles were talking about adding him to the coaching staff, and this is the next best thing.

After originally announcing his retirement in June of last year, he signed with Philly last August after they had a couple of injuries. After serving as Carson Wentz‘s backup and not starting a game he was suddenly thrown into the spotlight when Wentz went down in the Eagles’ first round playoff game against Seattle.

McCown came into the game cold off the bench and nearly led them to a miracle victory, tearing his hamstring in the process and playing through the injury.

The Eagles have Nate Sudfeld and Jalen Hurts behind Wentz now, but in these uncertain times it can’t hurt to have too much insurance. McCown has turned into a fan favorite over the course of his career that started in 2002 with the Cardinals, and this is a nice feather in his cap.

Here is Philly’s full practice squad:

* = international player

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/4/20

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Waived: DT Hinwa Allieu, FB Mikey Daniel, T Evin Ksiezarczyk, RB Craig Reynolds

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Released: DE Caraun Reid
  • Waived: RB Nathan Cottrell, TE Matthew Flanagan, OL Blake Hance, OL K.C. McDermott, OL Garrett McGhin, LS Matthew Orzech, OL Ryan Pope, OL Austen Pleasants, WR Marvelle Ross

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC East Teams Sign Players Via International Player Pathway Program

As part of this year’s International Player Pathway program, each team in the NFC East will be allowed to carry an extra, international player on their practice squad. The four organizations quickly filled these spots (via David Helman of DallasCowboys.com):

  • Dallas Cowboys: OT Isaac Alarcon (Mexico)
  • New York Giants: RB Sandro Platzgummer (Austria)
  • Philadelphia Eagles: DE Matt Leo (Australia)
  • Washington Redskins: DE David Bada (Germany)

These players will remain on their teams’ roster through training camp. At that point, each organization can sign the player to their practice squad via the “international player practice squad exemption.” This means NFC East squads can hold 11 practice squad players throughout the 2020 campaign. However, under these circumstances, the international players can’t be activated to the active roster during the 2020 season.

The International Player Pathway program was first introduced in 2017. As Helman notes, three players from last year’s program – fullback Jakob Johnson (Patriots), defensive tackle Durval Queiroz Neto (Dolphins), and running back Christian Wade (Bills) – are still with their original teams.