The Philadelphia Eagles officially quit five players on Sunday night: wide receiver Shelton Gibson, wide receiver Marcus Green, defensive end Daeshon Hall, defensive tackle Albert Huggins and cornerback / returner Tremon Smith.
These cuts come several days after the Eagles parted ways with Khalil Tate, Trevor Williams, and Keegan Render. The roster now has 82 players (plus the international Matt Leo exemption).
In a typical year, the Eagles could have brought these players to camp and given them a chance to be on the 53-player roster. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, teams are basically required to reduce to 80 players before training camp. (Teams can carry 90 through Aug. 16 if they use a split squad setup. The Eagles clearly don’t go that route.)
Hall is the most surprising cut of the group. He looked great in the preseason last year. However, he didn’t play much in the 2019 regular season, and unfortunately suffered an LCA tear in the last hit of Week 17. It was thought that the team would hide him in the PUP to start the 2020 season, but clearly that won’t be the case.
Gibson, Green, Huggins and Smith were long shots to make the list. Still, it’s a shame that at least they don’t have a chance to push the list in Philly.
This is what we wrote earlier about the five resigned players in our 2020 preview series.
SHELTON GIBSON
This is probably Gibson’s last offseason with the Eagles. The fifth-round pick of 2017 is fighting an uphill battle with what could be their last shot.
GREEN FRAME
The Eagles signed Green with their practice team earlier in the 2019 season. It’s a long shot.
DAESHON HALL
It’s really unfortunate that Hall suffered an ACL tear during the trash in the Eagles’ last regular season. He seems compelled to start the 2020 season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. You must miss at least six games. We’ll see if the Eagles choose to activate it to the list or not after that.
ALBERT HUGGINS
Huggy Bear spent some time on the Eagles and Practice Team roster last season. The 2019 undrafted rookie free agent will compete for deep work in 2020.
TREMON SMITH
Smith doesn’t have much defensive play experience, but the 2018 sixth-round pick does offer the ability to kick back. Smith has logged 46 attempts for a respectable 25.8 average. The Eagles have a kickoff opening, but Smith has a good chance of making the team.
To hit 80, the Eagles could look to place Brandon Brooks on the injury reserve, as they have not yet officially done so. That would make 81 players. It is not entirely clear whether placing Alshon Jeffery in the PUP would reduce them to 80 since, in normal years, the training camp PUP still counts towards the 90 limit.
The Eagles are set to perform at the NovaCare Complex for training camp this Tuesday, July 28.
