Birds Cut Atogwe, 18 Others; Still No QB News
The Eagles have to cut down from 75 to 53 by 9 p.m. Friday; early this afternoon they released 19 names, none of them a quarterback.
Birds Cut Atogwe, 18 Others; Still No QB News
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
The Eagles have to cut down from 75 to 53 by 9 p.m. Friday; early this afternoon they released 19 names, none of them a quarterback.
Reinjuring his hamstring in the preseason finale might have been the last straw for veteran safety OJ Atogwe. Also gone are TE Brett Brackett, LB Keenan Clayton, DT Landon Cohen, TE Chase Ford, WR Mardy Gilyard, WR Chad Hall, CB Joselio Hanson, FB Emil Igwenagu, OT DJ Jones, WR Marvin McNutt, LB Adrien Moten, DT Ollie Ogbu, LB Ryan Rau, DE Monte Taylor, S Phillip Thomas, DT Frank Trotter, OL Stave Vallos, and OL Brandon Washington.
Hanson, 31, an Eagle since 2006, was a mild surprise. He has been a reliable slot corner. But Hanson was cut before the 2011 season, then brought back for less money, and in April, the Eagles drafted Brandon Boykin pretty much expressly to replace Hanson. Still, in the early going at Lehigh, coaches indicated Hanson was significantly ahead of Boykin and would he hard to displace. Boykin must have caught up.
Gilyard was a 2010 fourth-round pick of the Rams who had an excellent camp and preseason at an extremely deep position for the Eagles. he and Hall getting cut indicates the Birds won't carry more than five wide receivers for the opener, including Riley Cooper (collarbone) who probably isn't going to be ready to play. Hall retains practice squad eligibility, but he might have played well enough last season and this preseason to catch another team's eye.
Gilyard also ought to be able to get a job somewhere. He caught a Trent Edwards touchdown pas Thursday night in the preseason finale, and afterward talked about what it was like waiting to learn his fate.
"I'm not going to sleep at all tonight. No, not at all. Just because, it's like, for the guys on the bubble like me and Chris [RB Polk], all the guys that have been repping with the [second and third teams], the team has so many weapons that you're just stressed out, you know what I mean? It's the name of the game," Gilyard said.
There has been no word on the quarterback drama between Mike Kafka and Trent Edwards, one of whom won't make it. Until this week, all indications had been that the Eagles remained very high on Kafka, who broke his nonthrowing hand in the preseason opener, and that they would not be swayed by Edwards' strong preseason. But the last few days, that has seemed less clear, Some Eagles sources now seem to expect Edwards to win the battle.
- He looked good whenever he got the chance, as he's heady and active...I did tend to think Baldinger was his agent,however...Loved the fact that Rau was not afraid to mix it up (fight in camp) in the early days of hitting.
— bearsfriend - Maybe Rau played his way onto the team last night. Their best moves would be to cut Kafka, Matthews and Jarrett. But all of those moves mean conceding they messed up. There has to be a safety on another team's scrap heap who is better than what they have now.— TongueWagger
- ...practice squad for Rau if he's not picked up...— TongueWagger
- Eagles are going to try to trade Kafka or Edwards (plus a defensive lineman) for a safety? That's certainly what it smells like. When Lurie tells Andy that he better have more than eight wins you can bet that he's going to trade the future away for the present. That's something we've never seen Andy do before, except unintentionally, when he acquired TO.— HeelYes
- They'll cut Kafka as I doubt they could get anything for either at this point in time...Tapp might be in play fo ra deal. — bearsfriend
- Dixon or Lindley, Edwards, and McBriar. Henry punted better, Dixon hasn't done a damn thing even though I think he's pretty good (11 DL is too much) and Kafka has a better understanding of the offense. don't really care which Qb we keep though— colahead420
- The Eagles will probably pick up 2-4 players being cut from other teams; so the final roster is probably a week away.— farley
- for a great laugh, these articles are a fun read,
http://deadspin.com/5938903/why-your-team-sucks-2012-philadelphia-eagles?tag=Why-Your-Team-Sucks-2012
check out the other nfc east teams.— peteike - farley - thanks for posting the obvious - but mostly overlooked -perspective.
Still, some interesting cuts/keeps in the making today ...— FishFryFrank - where is JJ's name and surprised they could not trade Hansen for picks at least as he will be a starter elsewhere!— connorjr
- Keena Clayton is better than Rolle and Matthews. What a dumb move here. If the Eagels continue to make cuts like this ....it will certainly be Andy's swan song.— rockinrob
- Crazy move, and I'm sure he'll be seeing the Birds again in 9 days as the Browns may scoop him up quick (considering the game he had gainst them last week)...or maybe the Colts (Ryan Grigsby)...Clayton just never got the chance I feel he deserved...Damn practice! — bearsfriend
- CUT VICK.... He won't take this team anywhere........EVER.— sackvicknow
- Brett Brackett is much better than Clay(hands of stone) Harbor.— krj07
- Brett Brackett has shown alot in the hands department, and figures to land on the practice squad...but in wanting him to make it, why would you degrade Harbor, who more or less has been STELLAR in camp (catching everything, and working for a half hour after practices) in both the receiving and blocking aspects of his game?..Expect Clay Harbor to breakout this season, and be used in several different formations..Really good athlete. — bearsfriend
