Eagles cut Feeley, add DT from Redskins

The handwriting had been on the wall ever since the Eagles acquired Michael Vick more than three weeks ago. Now A.J. Feeley's days with the Eagles are over.

The team released the 32-year-old quarterback yesterday to make room on its 53-man roster for defensive tackle Antonio Dixon, who was waived by the Washington Redskins a day earlier.

Feeley did not return messages seeking comment.

It was a mild surprise that the Eagles had not traded Feeley before Saturday's deadline to trim their roster. A team source indicated that the Eagles had tried to shop the quarterback, but rather than release him without compensation, they had kept him.

They could afford to do so because they had the luxury of placing Vick on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's special exempt list as he served a two-game suspension. But Vick cannot practice while on that list, and by yesterday it was clear that the Eagles' gamble had not paid off.

Feeley, as a vested veteran, does not have to pass through waivers and can sign with any team. New England appeared to be a match, especially after the Patriots cut quarterbacks Kevin O'Connell and Andrew Walter. That left them with just starter Tom Brady and rookie Brian Hoyer.

It probably wouldn't take much for Patriots coach Bill Belichick to persuade Feeley to go north. Feeley's fiancee, Heather Mitts, played professional soccer in Boston last year and is expected to play there again this season.

"I love Boston," Mitts told the Boston Herald. "If we can be in the same place, that would be ideal."

Even though Feeley's release gave the Eagles just two quarterbacks on their roster, Vick remained on the exempt list last night. The team can add him to the roster at any time before he is reinstated for Week 3.

"Whenever we decide to take him off the exempt list, he'll go practice," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said Saturday during a conference call. "He's going to get some time in here before he's eligible to play."

Vick can do almost everything except practice with the team while he is exempt. He can attend meetings, work out, and even have a catch with assistants on the sidelines during actual practice. But Vick said after Thursday's preseason finale against the New York Jets that it was very important that he practice.

Even if the Eagles intend to use him solely in their Wildcat-formation package, Vick needs to get adjusted to the NFL's speed.

Rather than move Vick back to the roster, the Eagles added Dixon, a 6-foot-3, 322-pounder who registered eight tackles in four preseason games. Washington signed him in April as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Miami. He played only part time in college.

The Eagles now have four full-time defensive tackles among 10 linemen: Mike Patterson, Brodrick Bunkley, Trevor Laws, and Dixon. They released tackle Dan Klecko, a former Temple star, on Saturday.

Feeley had two tours with the Eagles over six seasons. Drafted in the fifth round in 2001, he had his best days with the organization in his second season. After Donovan McNabb broke his leg with five games left, Feeley guided the Eagles to a 4-1 record and the playoffs.

In 2004, however, he was dealt to the Miami Dolphins for a second-round pick, which was used to select wide receiver Reggie Brown. Feeley got the opportunity to start in Miami, but he struggled and found his way back to Philadelphia as a free agent two seasons later.

He jumped in for an injured McNabb in a 2007 game against the undefeated Patriots and nearly pulled off an upset. By the next season, however, he had fallen behind Kevin Kolb on the depth chart, and he became expendable when Vick was brought aboard.

"My heart will always be real fond of Philadelphia because that's where I got my start," Feeley said last week. "It's tough, but at the end of the day, besides playing on the field, there's stuff that goes on upstairs [with management] that you have no control over. As a player, you can't get caught up in that stuff."