Eagles announce multiple roster moves – Bleeding Green Nation

The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced a number of transactions on Tuesday evening. An overview:

• DE Brandon Graham and OG Brandon Brooks were placed on injured reserve.
• OG Jack Anderson was signed from the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad to the Eagles’ 53-man roster.
• TE Richard Rodgers was signed to the practices squad while C Harry Crider was released to make room for him.
• CB Craig James, OG Sua Opeta, S Elijah Riley, and DT Marvin Wilson received practice squad protections.

Let’s sort through this on a player-by-player basis.

BRANDON GRAHAM

Graham suffered an Achilles tear and is out for the season. Such a bummer. Exactly how the Eagles replace him remains to be seen. Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett, and Ryan Kerrigan are in line for increased snaps. Tarron Jackson might play a little more as a fourth defensive end. We could also see Milton Williams used out on the edge like we did in the preseason.

Here’s wishing Graham a speedy recovery so he can be healthy next year.

BRANDON BROOKS

Nick Sirianni indicated Brooks isn’t out for the season after suffering a pectoral strain. By going on IR, the Eagles’ starting right guard will miss at least three games. Brooks will likely be replaced by Landon Dickerson, though Sirianni didn’t rule out the possibility of Nate Herbig starting instead.

JACK ANDERSON

Anderson, 22, was a seventh-round pick (No. 236 overall) by the Bills in the 2021 NFL Draft. Pro Football Focus graded him 27th out of 200 guards in the preseason (small sample size with 64 snaps played). Anderson’s experience at right guard gives the Eagles more depth at a spot where Brooks just went down.

RICHARD RODGERS

It’s not an Eagles season until Dick Rod returns. The veteran tight end was brought back with Zach Ertz recently going on the reserve/COVID-19 list due to testing positive. There’s still time for Ertz to produce two negative tests over 24 hours apart to allow him to be activated in time for Monday’s game. But the Eagles seem to be preparing for the possibility that Ertz doesn’t get cleared to come back. They can elevate Dick Rod to the roster if necessary to be a third tight end along with Dallas Goedert and Jack Stoll.

CRAIG JAMES

This is the second week in a row the Eagles protected James. I guess for having the option to elevate a special teams contributor if they feel it’s necessary.

SUA OPETA

Opeta getting protected is a result of Brooks getting hurt. The Eagles want to hang on to their offensive line depth.

ELIJAH RILEY

Riley is being protected for the third week in a row. Likely in case the Eagles want to elevate him with Rodney McLeod still not a lock to return.

MARVIN WILSON

The Eagles are probably protecting Big Marv because they like his potential.

See below for a current look at the Eagles’ 2021 practice squad.

Format: Position, player, (times protected this season), [times elevated this season]*

*Not counting COVID-19 elevations.

S Elijah Riley (3)

CB Craig James (2)

DT Marvin Wilson (2)

OG Sua Opeta (1)

G/T Kayode Awosika (1)

RB Jordan Howard (1)

WR John Hightower (1)

RB Jason Huntley

WR KeeSean Johnson

WR Travis Fulgham

TE Richard Rodgers

TE Nick Eubanks

DT Raequan Williams

LB JaCoby Stevens

LB Christian Elliss

CB Michael Jacquet III

{DE Matt Leo — international exemption – doesn’t count towards limit}

PRACTICE SQUAD/INJURED

OT Le’Raven Clark (1)

In addition to all of this news, the Eagles worked out three free agents on Tuesday: defensive end Cameron Malveaux, wide receiver Deon Cain, and linebacker Dylan Cole.

Malveaux, 27, has spent time with six different teams since entering the league as a UDFA in 2017. He has two sacks in 15 career appearances. With Graham getting hurt, the Eagles could be evaluating a potential practice squad addition for more edge depth.

Cain, 25, was a sixth-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2018 NFL Draft. He didn’t play as a rookie due to an ACL tear but he overlapped with Sirianni in Indy for more than a year. He has nine career receptions for 124 yards (13.8 average) and zero touchdowns.

Cole, 27, spent four seasons with the Houston Texans. He dealt with a number of injuries during that time and was limited to 37 out of 64 possible games.