HEADLINES

Donnel Pumphrey

Eagles Reach 53-Man Limit

August 31st, 2019 at 7:36pm CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles have gotten down to 53, making some notable cuts to get there. The team released guard/center Stefen Wisniewski, who they re-signed to a $1.5MM deal back in May. He had gotten $150K guaranteed, so Philly will eat that. Wisniewski had started at least six games in each of the past three seasons for the Eagles.

To help thin out their crowded running backs room, they got rid of a few well-known names. They waived Josh Adams, who rushed for 511 yards for them last year, as well as 2017 fourth-round pick Donnel Pumphrey, who has battled injuries ever since entering the league. They also cut Wendell Smallwood, who had 364 yards rushing and three touchdowns and another 230 yards and two touchdowns through the air last year.

Offensive tackle Brett Toth also failed to make the team. Toth only recently got permission from the Army to join the NFL, and he signed with the Eagles only a couple weeks ago. He seems like a prime candidate for a practice squad spot.

Aside from that, and other announced moves, the Eagles made the following roster moves over the weekend to reach the 53-player limit:

Waived:

WR Carlton Agudosi

S Trae Elston

C Anthony Fabiano

TE Alex Ellis

S Deiondre’ Hall

CB Ajene Harris

CB Josh Hawkins

DT Treyvon Hester

T Riley Mayfield

CB Jeremiah McKinnon

WR Marken Michel

G Sua Opeta

TE Joshua Perkins

G Keegan Render

RB Boston Scott

DT Aziz Shittu (injured)

CB Sojourn Shelton

LB Alex Singleton

WR DeAndre Thompkins

S Jason Thompson

QB Clayton Thorson

WR Greg Ward

DT Kevin Wilkins

LB Chris Worley

Released the following players:

DE Kasim Edebali

LB Hayes Pullard

TE Will Tye

Reserve/PUP

CB Jalen Mills

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/14/19

January 14th, 2019 at 8:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Monday’s reserve/futures contract decisions:

Dallas Cowboys

Los Angeles Chargers

  • K/P Ty Long

New England Patriots

  • OL Ryker Mathews

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/23/18

October 23rd, 2018 at 3:24pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

NFL Workout Updates: 10/16/18

October 16th, 2018 at 7:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here’s the latest from the workout circuit. Links to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account, unless otherwise noted.

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Redskins

Practice Squad Updates: 9/25/18

September 26th, 2018 at 1:16pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Donnel Pumphrey To Join Lions’ P-Squad

September 4th, 2018 at 12:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of the odd men out in the competition for the Eagles’ No. 4 running back job, Donnel Pumphrey has another gig. He’s expected to sign with the Lions, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com report (Twitter link).

The former fourth-round pick, however, won’t join Detroit’s active roster just yet. He’s being added to the practice squad, Rapoport adds (via Twitter). Pumphrey’s potential as a return man intrigues the Lions, per Garafolo (on Twitter).

Pumphrey’s next NFL game will be his first. He missed all of his rookie season due to an IR placement and lost out on the Eagles’ back-of-the-depth chart job to Wendell Smallwood.

The Lions have four active-roster running backs in Kerryon Johnson, Ameer Abdullah, Theo Riddick and former Eagles teammate LeGarrette Blount. However, they did cut Dwayne Washington and saw him opt to join the Saints’ practice squad. This will represent another chance for Pumphrey to prove he can develop as an NFL running back.

Pumphrey is the Division I-FBS all-time leading rusher. He amassed 2,133 ground yards in 2016 with San Diego State and rushed for 62 touchdowns during his college career.

North Notes: Steelers, Dobbs, Lions, Browns

September 3rd, 2018 at 12:56pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

When the Steelers took Mason Rudolph in the third round of this year’s draft, many assumed it was the beginning of the end for Josh Dobbs. Since it’s extremely rare for a team to carry four quarterbacks, the conventional wisdom was that Pittsburgh would keep Landry Jones as a veteran backup, Rudolph as the developmental rookie, and that Dobbs would either be traded or cut.

Despite facing questions about his future all summer, Dobbs was focused and showed tangible improvement this preseason. His performance in the fourth preseason game in particular was very strong, and it was enough to convince the Steelers to cut Jones instead.

While Dobbs will enter the season as Ben Roethlisberger‘s backup, the Steelers apparently did have opportunities to trade him, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN (Twitter link). Fowler reports that both the Texans and Raiders were interested in Dobbs, but that the Steelers ultimately decided to keep the second-year signal caller from Tennessee.

Here’s more from the league’s northern divisions:

  • The Lions had a group of running backs in for workouts, including recently released Donnel Pumphrey, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link). Pumphrey, a 2017 fourth round pick of the Eagles, received a lot of hype his rookie year, but injuries derailed his stay in Philadelphia.
  • The Browns got defensive lineman Carl Davis and LB Tanner Vallejo on waivers, but only because they picked first. Four teams in total submitted claims on Davis, and three on Vallejo, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link), showing that the Browns had plenty of competition for their services.
  • Linebacker Nigel Harris, cut by the Buccaneers on Saturday, will work out for the Browns on Tuesday, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic (Twitter link). Harris has spent time with the Chargers, Giants, and Bucs since entering the league as an UDFA in 2017. He started a game for the Chargers in 2017, but was waived just a few weeks into the season.

Eagles Cut Down To 53

September 1st, 2018 at 3:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles’ receiving corps became a bit younger on Saturday. Two veterans brought in as possible depth pieces — Markus Wheaton and Kamar Aiken — were informed they will be released.

So was potential secondary cog De’Vante Bausby and rookie UDFA running back Josh Adams, given one of this year’s largest guarantees among the undrafted contingent. Philadelphia also placed safety Chris Maragos on its Reserve/PUP list, shelving him for at least six weeks.

Here are the players the Eagles will not be including on their initial 2018 53-man roster:

Released:

Waived:

Waived with an injury designation:

Placed on Reserve/NFI list:

Placed on Reserve/PUP list

NFC East Notes: Redskins, Beckham, Eagles

August 11th, 2018 at 4:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Derrius Guice‘s injury delivers a considerable setback to the Redskins‘ running back corps, to the point they may have to consider adding a veteran to the mix. But Jay Gruden did not confirm the team will go in this direction, pointing to the second-round Guice selection being a best-player-available move rather than a need pick.

“We have guys here that can play,” Gruden said Saturday. “We drafted Derrius because he was the best player, we thought, at the time of the draft … not because we weren’t satisfied with the backs we have.”

The primary Redskins starters the past two years, Rob Kelley and Samaje Perine, remain on the team and are now set to be the team’s early-down backs. Passing-down specialist Chris Thompson, though he’s not yet fully recovered from the broken leg he suffered midway through last season, will reprise his role in 2018. Neither Kelley nor Perine surpassed 3.5 yards per carry last season, but Washington’s offensive line became significantly limited by injuries as the season progressed. Kelley fared much better in 2016.

Here’s the latest from the rest of the NFC East:

  • A day after Guice’s injury severity became known, the Redskins are concerned about 2017 sixth-round pick Robert Davis. The team fears its second-year wide receiver suffered a torn ACL, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Davis will head in for an MRI later today, per Garafolo. The Georgia State alum was expected to play a bigger role in Year 2 after playing in just one game as a rookie.
  • The Giants‘ reasoning behind sitting Odell Beckham Jr. in the preseason opener stemmed from his injury recovery, not his contract situation, per Pat Shurmur. “I want to be smart with his recovery coming back [from ankle surgery],” Shurmur said, via Tom Rock of Newsday. “I never intended to play him in this game. I didn’t reveal that to [the public], but I never intended to.” Beckham has not experienced a known setback in his recovery from last season’s ankle injury. He encountered ankle trouble during the preseason against the Browns last year, spraining his left ankle barely a month prior to fracturing it.
  • The subject of Rasul Douglas moving to safety surfaced at Eagles practice, but the coaching staff shot that down, Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Philly lost Patrick Robinson and has Ronald Darby going into a contract year, so it would make sense Douglas stays at corner. Philadelphia’s staff still believes Douglas can have a quality career as a corner, although Kapadia adds he has not progressed like the team was hoping going into his second season.
  • Donnel Pumphrey may be in his final days as an Eagle, with Kapadia pointing out the “lower body” injury he suffered in the defending Super Bowl champions’ preseason opener may put him too far behind the other combatants in a hotly contested race to make the 53-man roster as the No. 4 running back. Wendell Smallwood, Matt Jones and rookie UDFA Josh Adams comprise the rest of that race, and Kapadia adds that Jones may be behind the other two after the Eagles’ first preseason game. The Eagles gave Adams a sizable guarantee to sign after the draft.

Extra Points: Eagles, Pumphrey, Jets

February 12th, 2018 at 8:59pm CST by Micah Powell

The Eagles have a loaded backfield with LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement. That is expected to grow in 2018 with the return of fourth-round pick Donnel Pumphrey, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Paul Domowitch writes.

A fourth-round selection in 2017, Pumphrey was expected to serve a large role in the team’s offense as Darren Sproles-like pass catcher out of the backfield. That didn’t happen, however, with the San Diego State star tearing his hamstring in the preseason and sitting out the rest of the season on IR.

Pumphrey has been working out for some time now and has upped his weight from 177 out of college to around 185 or 190 pounds now. With the added bulk, the record-breaking college back might be able to withstand a full season in the pros. He will have some work to do to make the roster with those proved backs ahead of him on the depth chart.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • Sticking with the Eagles, NJ.com’s Eliot Shorr-Parks ranked the Eagles top offseason needs for the Super Bowl champions. He listed linebackers as the No. 1 overall need, citing injury concerns (Jordan Hicks) and free agency (Nigel Bradham).
  • The Jets are expected to release Muhammad Wilkerson before March 16 when his $16.75 MM salary would be guaranteed for 2018, ESPN’s Rich Cimini writes.
  • The Bears are likely to release TE Dion Sims, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs writes. He notes: “It’s important to note that $4 million of that $10 million guarantee does not kick in until March 16, the third day of the league year. Sims has a base salary of $6 million for 2018 and two-thirds of that becomes fully guaranteed then. So a decision on Sims needs to be made in the next five weeks or so and it’s possible, I don’t know how likely, he winds up walking away with only $6 million from the 2017 season.”
Load More Posts