TUESDAY, 7:51am: The Eagles have made the pair of kicker moves official, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed Sturgis and placed Parkey on IR. Within the announcement, the club notes that Parkey’s groin injury was separate from the one he dealt with during the preseason.
MONDAY, 4:16pm: After bringing in several kickers for tryouts today, the Eagles have decided to place injured kicker Cody Parkey on injured reserve, and will sign free agent Caleb Sturgis, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
Sturgis, 26, was the Dolphins’ kicker in 2013 and 2014, but was a little shaky for Miami, missing eight field goals in each of his first two seasons, and recording an overall conversion percentage of just 77.5%. Sturgis lost his job to Andrew Franks this year, but has found a new gig just several weeks later, taking over in Philadelphia for Parkey.
Parkey, who earned a Pro Bowl nod in his rookie season last year, re-aggravated a preseason groin injury during Sundayâs game, raising doubts about his availability going forward. It’s not clear yet whether he’ll miss the entire season — the Eagles will work out an injury settlement and release him from their IR list if and when he gets healthy in the coming weeks.
Nick Novak, Billy Cundiff, Shayne Graham, Kai Forbath, and Carey Spear joined Sturgis at today’s audition in Philadelphia, and the Eagles ultimately opted for the ex-Dolphin over Forbath, who was the other finalist, per Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link).