The Eagles have made a handful of roster moves this morning, including releasing cornerback Greedy Williams (per ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Twitter). The team also released punter Ty Zentner and waived/injured wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland, defensive tackle Noah Elliss, and cornerback Zech McPhearson.
With five new roster openings, the Eagles have signed defensive tackles Robert Cooper, Marvin Wilson, and Caleb Sanders and linebackers Tyreek Maddox-Williams and Quinton Bell.
Williams spent the first four seasons of his career with the Browns. The second-round pick started all 12 of his appearances as a rookie, but after missing the 2020 season with a shoulder injury, the defensive back found himself in and out of the lineup following his return. He started eight of his 16 appearances in 2021, and he was limited to only one start in 11 games this past season.
The 25-year-old inked a one-year deal with the Eagles this offseason. As Pro Football Network’s Adam Caplan tweets, Williams is owed $600K of the $1.35MM contract he inked with Philly.
Zentner’s release doesn’t come as a huge surprise. The Kansas State product was added as an undrafted free agent during the offseason and was expected to provide some competition at the position. This move likely means that Arryn Siposs will serve as the Eagles’ punter for a third-straight season.
Among the team’s additions, Bell has the most NFL experience. The 2019 seventh-round pick got into five games with the Buccaneers in 2020, although he didn’t record a stat. He’s spent much of the past two years with the Falcons organization, getting into four games while splitting his snaps between defense and special teams.
As for the trio of waived/injured players, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that the Eagles expect all three players to clear waivers and revert to injured reserve. While Cleveland, Elliss, and McPhearson wouldn’t be able to play for Philly during the 2023 campaign, the Eagles would retain their rights.
Williams is 6’3” and very fast, so one would think that, despite his injury history, he could get picked up somewhere. It’s too bad that he couldn’t stick with Philly, but Williams is still young and could have a chance to latch on somewhere. He is built like a starting corner lengthwise, but I remember him being a bit stiff in the hips when transitioning, and being a bit easy to move off the line of scrimmage in press despite his size. That’s not to say that he can’t be a contributor somewhere, but Williams’ injuries really derailed any chance he had in Cleveland to become a full time starter. Hopefully he can get back on track with another team. I’m not sure what would suit him best scheme-wise, but perhaps a more man-heavy system would work best.
You must have a microscope you put all the players under. I draw the line at watching men’s hips but I sneak a few peeks at those of young women (when my wife can’t catch me doing it of course).
Different grading scale. Not concerned about playoff births. Unusually adept in press man.
He has the length and speed for sure but lacks the bulk and physicality to be a true shut down corner is a heavy man to man press cover scheme I think. I agree that if he can stay healthy he has a good chance to carve out a decent career as a #2/#3 corner though for a handful of years.
Agreed.