Philadelphia Eagles News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/17/23

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: OT Trevor Reid

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: WR Tyler Adams

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Released from IR: WR D.J. Turner

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Players placed on injured reserve during training camp or the preseason can’t be activated during the 2023 campaign. However, if they’re released from IR (often via an injury settlement), they’re free to sign and play elsewhere. For instance, Anthony Averett will surely be a player who can catch on with a new squad. The cornerback has seen time in 51 games (27 starts), collecting 114 tackles, three interceptions, and 23 passes defended. He had a career season in 2021 with the Ravens, starting all 14 of his appearances while chipping in 54 tackles, 11 passes defended, and three picks. He spent the 2022 season with the Raiders, starting six of his seven appearances while dealing with a pair of IR stints. He caught on with the 49ers earlier this month.

Among today’s signings, Davion Taylor is an intriguing addition to the Bears linebackers room. The former third-round pick spent the first two seasons of his career with the Eagles, including a 2021 campaign where he started six of his nine appearances while compiling 41 tackles and a pair of forced fumbles. A knee injury ended that breakout campaign early, and he spent most of the 2022 season on the Eagles’ practice squad.

Haason Reddick To Undergo Thumb Surgery

Haason Reddick suffered a thumb injury recently, and the setback will require surgery. The Eagles pass rusher will undergo surgery in an effort to be ready by Week 1, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

The standout linebacker suffered the injury during the Eagles’ Monday practice, and it does not appear he will be practicing again for the foreseeable future. The Eagles will prioritize Reddick’s regular-season availability. Reddick, who has enjoyed a breakthrough stretch upon being moved back to an edge role, did not miss a game during his Eagles debut season.

Reddick led the Eagles’ push for the single-season sack record last season, tallying a career-high 16. He has now recorded double-digit sacks in three straight seasons — for three different teams. After the Cardinals tried the Temple product as an off-ball linebacker early in his career, Reddick was reborn as a pass rusher following a Chandler Jones injury in 2020. The Panthers then gave him a one-year deal, and he registered 11 sacks in 2021. The former first-rounder parlayed that into a three-year, $45MM Eagles contract — one that already looks team-friendly after the season Reddick produced.

The Eagles fell two sacks shy of the 1984 Bears’ sack record, finishing with 70. That still led the league by a considerable margin, and Reddick tied for the league lead with five forced fumbles as well. The ex-Cardinals draftee helped secure the Eagles’ Super Bowl LVII berth as well, adding 3.5 playoff sacks.

While it sounds like the seventh-year veteran is expected back by Week 1, as The Athletic’s Zach Berman indicates (via Twitter), this does form an early hurdle for the ascending sack artist and the defending NFC champions’ pass rush.

If Reddick were to miss early-season time, the Eagles would obviously be impacted. But the team remains deep on the edge. Josh Sweat is signed long term, and the Eagles reupped Brandon Graham in March. While Robert Quinn is no longer on the roster, the Eagles still have Derek Barnett — who was lost with an ACL tear in Week 1 of last season — and drafted Nolan Smith in the first round. Smith received Reddick comps coming into the draft. Reddick’s thumb malady should give the Georgia product more opportunities ahead of his rookie year.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/14/23

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: DB Teez Tabor
  • Waived: S Aaron Maddox
  • Released from IR: RB Zavier Scott

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: T Chim Okorafor
  • Waived: T Jacky Chen

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Bartch started the Jaguars’ first five games last season but went down with a knee injury in October. The fourth-year veteran will give the Jags an option at left guard, where he started last season. A former fourth-round pick, Bartch also started 11 games in 2021. This marks a return for Tinker, whose NFL entrance came as a Jaguars UDFA in 2013. Tinker spent the first four seasons of his career with the Jags but did not see action in 2017, 2019 or 2020. He worked as the Seahawks’ full-time long snapper last season. Ross Matiscik has been Jacksonville’s deep snapper for the past three seasons.

Austin spent last season out of football but has 17 starts to his credit. Used as a regular Jets starter from 2019-20, Austin caught on with the Seahawks in 2021. Seattle used Austin as a backup. The young cornerback could not make the Broncos’ 53-man roster last summer. While a member of the 2022 Seahawks, Tabor converted from cornerback to safety. The former second-round pick played 10 games for the team last season.

Eagles LB Shaun Bradley Done For Season

Eagles linebacker Shaun Bradley suffered a season-ending injury in last night’s preseason loss to the Ravens, as Bradley himself noted on Instagram (h/t Zach Berman of The Athletic on Twitter). Per EJ Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bradley sustained an Achilles tear while handling punt-blocking duties.

Bradley, a sixth-round pick in 2020, has primarily worked as a special-teamer during his tenure with the Eagles, and in fact saw no defensive snaps in 2022 after at least getting a cameo at linebacker during his first two professional seasons. However, his abilities in the third phase would have guaranteed him a roster spot in 2023.

The Temple product appeared in 80% of Philadelphia’s ST snaps last season, and most of his 45 career tackles have come on special teams. In the wake of the offseason departures of T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White, Bradley was also getting LB reps in this year’s training camp, as Smith tweets. However, the recent additions of veterans Myles Jack and Zach Cunningham may have again relegated Bradley exclusively to an ST role.

Still, the Eagles will feel Bradley’s absence, and it is a particularly brutal blow for the player, who is eligible for free agency next year.

“Not how I wanted the season to end for me, but I believe that God truly does give his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers,” Bradley wrote on his Instagram post. “I’ve been beating the odds my entire life, I’m not even supposed to be here. Just another chapter in my story. I will be back better than I ever was. I can promise that.”

NFC East Notes: Eagles, Pinnock, Cowboys

The Eagles both signed five-year starter Terrell Edmunds and used a third-round pick on Sydney Brown. Both safeties factor into the team’s plans, but they are not outflanking Reed Blankenship thus far through training camp. Blankenship has been a first-team mainstay, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, who adds Edmunds and Brown have rotated at the other safety spot. Indeed, The Athletic’s Zach Berman notes Blankenship — a 2022 UDFA out of Middle Tennessee State — has been the Eagles’ top safety in camp (subscription required).

This reminds of Marcus Epps‘ rise last year. Despite the Eagles re-signing Anthony Harris and adding Jaquiski Tartt in 2022, Epps earned a starting job — one that eventually led to a two-year, $12MM Raiders payday. The Eagles brought in C.J. Gardner-Johnson via trade just before last season. That transaction could signal none of Philly’s safeties should be too comfortable, but Blankenship — Gardner-Johnson’s injury sub last year who played 291 defensive snaps — looks like the best bet to start among the in-house group.

Here is the latest from the NFC East:

  • Staying on the subject of safeties in this division, the Giants may be moving toward giving Jason Pinnock the starting job alongside Xavier McKinney. A Jets fifth-round pick in 2021, Pinnock started five games for the Giants last year, operating as McKinney’s injury fill-in. He has received consistent first-team work in camp, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan notes. Pinnock has distanced himself from Dane Belton and veteran Bobby McCain, having been Big Blue’s first-teamer since the fourth training camp practice. The Giants, who lost Julian Love in free agency, claimed Pinnock shortly after the Jets waived the converted cornerback on cutdown day last year. Two seasons remain on Pinnock’s rookie contract.
  • Malik Hooker‘s 2023 Cowboys cap hit climbed from $4.32MM to $4.57MM as a result of his recent extension, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. The incentives in the three-year, $21MM contract include $500K bumps involving playing time and INT production. Five picks and the Cowboys making the playoffs would result in a $500K increase, Archer adds, noting the other incentive requires Hooker to play 85% of Dallas’ defensive snaps and the team to make the postseason (Twitter link).
  • The Cowboys, who turned Micah Parsons from an off-ball linebacker to a fearsome edge rusher, are giving Leighton Vander Esch some reps on the edge, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News notes. While the sixth-year linebacker received sparse edge work in games last season, Gehlken adds this is the first time he has received extensive instruction in a defensive end role. Rostering Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler and Sam Williams, the Cowboys are much deeper on the edge than at linebacker. It would stand to reason LVE’s role will likely remain mostly as an off-ball defender.
  • The Giants recently added longtime safety Mike Adams to their coaching staff, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan tweets. A 16-year veteran, Adams will replace Anthony Blevins as the Giants’ assistant defensive backs coach, the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard adds (on Twitter). Adams, 42, hung up his cleats after the 2019 season. Blevins left the Giants during the summer to accept an XFL HC position.
  • While Devon Allen did not see any game action for the Eagles last season, Berman writes the two-time Olympian hurdler is in play to make the team as a backup this year. Allen, 28, has not played in a game since working as an Oregon slot receiver in 2016. Shifting to track full-time proved beneficial for Allen, who is one of the best 110-meter hurdlers in U.S. history. But he opted to give football another try last year. He suffered an injury at the U.S. Championships last month, exiting the 110 hurdles competition before the finals in order to preserve his body for his second Eagles camp. The Eagles activated Allen from the PUP list Tuesday.
  • Given a reserve/futures deal along with Allen in February, Matt Leo landed on the Eagles’ reserve/retired list last month. The team hired the former practice squad defensive end a defensive and football operations assistant.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/8/23

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: WR Johnny King
  • Waived: T Chim Okorafor
  • Activated from active/PUP list: WR Devon Allen

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Waived/injured: CB Andrew Whitaker

Washington Commanders

Flowers, who agreed to terms with the Patriots earlier today after a workout, suffered a foot injury in October of last season. That setback cut short a Dolphins run after four games. Flowers, who will turn 30 next week, last played for the Patriots in 2018.

McNichols joined Duke Johnson, Brian Hill and Jason Huntley at a recent 49ers workout. The 49ers are without Elijah Mitchell for what is expected to be a short stretch. A five-year veteran, McNichols most recently saw action for the Titans in 2021, helping the team as a pass-catching back (28 grabs for 240 yards) while Derrick Henry missed time with a foot fracture.

Allen suffered an injury while competing in the opening rounds of the 110-meter hurdles competition at the USA Track and Field Championships in July. The two-time Olympian owns the sixth-fastest hurdle time this year (13.04 seconds) but missed a key chunk of Eagles camp. This marks his second bid to make Philadelphia’s 53-man roster. Allen, 28, spent last season on the Eagles’ practice squad and stayed with the team via a reserve/futures contract in February.

The Panthers’ regular kicker, Eddy Pineiro, is battling a groin injury. Carolina gave Pineiro, their 2022 kicker, $2.25MM guaranteed earlier this offseason. The Jaguars’ primary kicker in 2021, Wright kicked in four Steelers games and two Chiefs contests last season.

A rookie UDFA, Whittaker suffered a torn patellar tendon in a recent Seahawks practice, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Matthews also sustained a season-ending injury — a torn ACL — during a Texans workout, Wilson adds (on Twitter).

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/7/23

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: OL LaColby Tucker
  • Activated from active/PUP list: DL Calais Campbell
  • Waived: DL Matthew Gotel

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Placed on IR: DT Devonnsha Maxwell

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Waived: OL Trevor Reid

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: LB Jordan Ferguson

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Streveler is currently dealing with an injury, ESPN’s Dianna Russini tweets. The Jets used Streveler as their top backup QB to close last season, inserting him into a Week 16 game ahead of Joe Flacco. Streveler stuck around via reserve/futures contract in January. But the Jets have since traded for Aaron Rodgers and signed Tim Boyle, marking a new era at quarterback. With Zach Wilson still around, the team does not appear to have any room — potentially even on the practice squad — for Streveler, who has played for the Jets and Cardinals in a three-year NFL career.

Apke has been with Washington since being chosen in the 2018 fourth round. He re-signed with the team in 2022 and stayed via reserve/futures contract in January. A shoulder injury, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, will move Apke to IR, which will end his chances of playing a sixth season with the Commanders this year. Kalu started five games for the Titans last season, playing 494 defensive snaps. Over his first three seasons, Kalu had never cleared the 100-snap barrier on defense.

Schoonmaker suffered a foot injury, a plantar fascia tear, during his final year at Michigan. The Cowboys’ top post-Dalton Schultz tight end investment will aim to make a push for a regular role to begin the season.

The Dolphins made Blackman part of their UDFA class this year. The former Florida State starter spent six years in college, finishing up with Arkansas State. The Dolphins swapped out Teddy Bridgewater for Mike White this offseason, but Skylar Thompson has made a push to be Tua Tagovailoa‘s backup. Regardless of that competition’s outcome, Blackman’s ceiling appeared to be practice squad QB in Miami. But the Dolphins may be looking into outside help for that developmental role — provided the team plans on stashing a fourth passer on its taxi squad.

Eagles Add Zach Cunningham, Myles Jack

The Eagles expanded their roster at linebacker a bit today, signing free agent linebackers Zach Cunningham and Myles Jack, according to the team’s Twitter account. After working out the two veterans today, according to ESPN’s Field Yates, they were brought onto the roster on identical one-year deals worth up to $2.5MM.

Philadelphia did a similar dual-action deal last year with defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh, both of whom played sparingly as rotation depth pieces. This time, the two players signing deals have a bit more of a chance of making an impact during their one-year terms. Over their careers, Cunningham and Jack have both served as starters for their respective teams.

Cunningham has stuck in the AFC South for the first six years of his career, playing with the Texans and Titans until now. Serving as a starter essentially from the start, Cunningham made a name for himself as a tackling machine. The Texans rewarded him with a four-year, $58MM extension before the final year of his rookie contract. He rewarded them right back by leading the league in tackles that same year.

He was a strong run defender and pass rusher but struggled in coverage, keeping him from being an all-around top player at the position. Eventually, his one-way style of play, his big contract numbers, and a reported disciplinary issue led to Houston waiving the veteran, allowing him to be claimed by their division rivals in Nashville. Injuries marked Cunningham’s time with the Titans, contributing to him missing 14 games over the last two seasons. When he was available, though, he started in the box for Tennessee.

Jack has spent the majority of his career in Jacksonville after being drafted by the Jaguars in the second round back in 2016. After turning into a full-time starter in Duval, Jack earned a second contract in the form of a four-year, $57MM extension. Unfortunately, the following year saw Jack miss five games with a number of different issues. After falling out of the first round of the draft due to injury concerns, this was the first game time Jack would miss. Over the following years, he would miss more games, but ultimately, he was able to suit up for 88 of 97 possible games in Jacksonville, starting 82.

The Jaguars attacked the free agent market at its opening last year and, as a result, released Jack to make some room in their cap space. The Steelers jumped on Jack’s availability, signing him the next day to a two-year, $16MM deal. Jack didn’t have a stellar season in Pittsburgh, but he logged his fourth 100-tackle season at only 27 years old. Pittsburgh ended up releasing him during a complete revamp of their linebacking corps, making him available for the Eagles to sign today.

On their way to the Super Bowl last year, the Eagles relied on T.J. Edwards (now with the Bears), Kyzir White (now with the Cardinals), and Haason Reddick to start on defense. Reddick returns to reclaim his role as a starter, but with Edwards and White gone, Philadelphia was looking to second-year second-round pick Nakobe Dean and free agent linebacker addition Nicholas Morrow (who spent last year as a full-time starter for the first time in his career with the Bears) to start next to him. Adding to the bit of uncertainty that comes with handing the keys over to two such inexperienced starters, Dean is dealing with an ankle injury that appears to be holding him out of camp, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com.

Whether Philadelphia is fully confident and committed to rolling out a starting three of Reddick, Dean, and Morrow or they aren’t sold on that lineup, the signings of Cunningham and Jack make a lot of sense. If Dean and Morrow are able to step up, the two new signings provide strong, experienced depth behind them. If Dean and Morrow falter in taking the reins, Cunningham and Jack will be ready and waiting in the wings to take over.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/6/23

Here are today’s minor moves as the weekend comes to a close:

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Andrews joins Philadelphia as a potentially strong depth piece on the offensive line. The seven-year veteran has played 48 games over the years with five different teams, so rejoining the Eagles, even with a new staff from when he left, shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Last year, he started five of the six games he played with the Saints.

Woolen underwent arthroscopic knee surgery back in May and was given a four-to-six-week recovery timeline. He was forced to start camp on the physically unable to perform list, but it’s time for him to make his way back to the field. Last year’s other starter at cornerback, Michael Jackson, has had a great camp and rookie Devon Witherspoon is pushing for a starting role, so Woolen will be glad to get back and reestablish his role in the secondary.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/4/23

Here are today’s minor moves as we head into the weekend:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Removed from commissioner’s exempt list: OL Josh Sills

San Francisco 49ers

Sills was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list back in February when a grand jury indicted him on counts of rape and kidnapping. The charges stem from an event that allegedly took place back in December 2019. Today it was announced that Sills was acquitted of both charges, according to sources at The Athletic. The Eagles released a statement that, with his adjudication, he will return to the team’s active roster.

The 49ers announced that Johnson has been placed on season-ending injured reserve. They didn’t disclose the injury that will sideline the young edge they signed two months ago.

The Vikings are adding the XFL’s 2023 leading rusher in Smith. Smith had 791 rushing yards in 10 games last year.