Who makes the cut: DE
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Who makes the cut: DE
Jonathan Tamari
The cuts are coming. Many of the 90-plus faces we’ve seen in Eagles uniforms over the past month will soon be on their way out of Philadelphia as Andy Reid begins paring down his roster to the 53 players he hopes can finally deliver a championship.
We know the Eagles love to pass and gear up their defense to stop opposing quarterbacks. We know that they have big goals – not in the future, but right now. This year. We know they’ve spent big on free agents and also had a huge draft class. With all of those bodies in town, the Eagles can’t keep everyone. It’s easy to make arguments that, say, there are five safeties worth keeping or five defensive tackles who could contribute. But the fact is the Eagles can only go heavy in so many areas. At some point Reid will have to decide if he’d rather have an extra pass rusher or an added safety, one more offensive lineman or a special teams ace.
Many of the final decisions aren’t quite made – first cuts arrive Tuesday, and the roster will be down to size over Labor Day weekend. Thursday’s third preseason game will probably be a big factor in deciding who sticks around.
Over the next several days, we’ll take a look at each position group on the team and tell you who’s a lock to make the roster, who is gone, and who is in that interesting middle ground, with something to prove.
Today we start with defensive ends.
Likely to keep: 5-6
Locks: Trent Cole - Duh, best pass rusher on the team; Jason Babin - The Eagles didn’t make him a top free agent priority to let him go.
Near lock: Darryl Tapp - Nice rotational player who contributes. His big salary might make the Eagles worry a bit, but they are already under the cap, Tapp will probably stay. Doesn’t hurt that he was a Howie Roseman acquisition.
Bubble: Juqua Parker - The veteran DE probably winds up as part of the rotation, but he slowed down late last year and has missed time with a calf strain. If the Eagles really like their younger options, perhaps they cut the cord. Daniel Te’o-Nesheim - He was a third round pick last year, and showed some improvement in training camp, so perhaps the Eagles aren’t willing to cut ties so fast. On the other hand, the improvement was over nearly no production as a rookie and he hasn’t shown a lot in the preseason. Philip Hunt - He’s shown speed in flashes, but hasn’t been consistent. He was a small investment, so cutting Hunt may be easier than letting DTN go, though he has been more of a presence in games.
PUP: Brandon Graham – The Eagles still believe in last year’s number one pick, but with all of their options on the line, they won’t rush Graham back to action. He’ll get six more weeks, at least, to heal up.
IR: Victor Abiamiri – Hurt in camp, the team is obligated to keep him. He counts against the salary cap, too.
Gone: Chris Wilson.
JP slows down every year because they always end up using him more than they originally intended. Why is that? Because he gets sacks and others don't. We''l see what happens this year but I bet he makes the team and if those other guys can get some sacks and disruptions then JP's stats may be more evenly spread throughout the year.— izzylangfan- i bet Andy Reid and Joe Banner get cut by next week. Neither have been showing any improvement during training camp and their salaries dont warrant keeping them.— Evil Overlord
- I find it hard to believe they'll cut Parker. In the early part of the season in particular, he's always great and they don't have a lot of veterans. If you keep him for the 1st 8 games alone, that would be a big help. WHen Brandon Graham comes back, who knows who goes....— monsieurms
- Parker will not be cut. The DE's will be Trent Cole, Jason Babin, Juqua Parker, Daryl Tapp and Phillip Hunt. Eagles need to cut there ties with Teo-NeSheim and he is injured now too.— briandawkins20
- Parker stays - he makes plays
- it really does not matter....without a stud DT and a stud MLB, they will hustle their butts off but get nowhere...thanks Joe and Howie...— nuggett
- Ditto BDawk20— dmanphilly
- My guess is that Teo stays and Hunt gets cut. If Graham comes back healthy at mid season.. Teo could get his walking papers then.— bradco
- If this happens its purely a financial decision. Keep the hungry DE from the CFL and cut the 3rd round pick who was sleeping when he was drafted and hasn't done a thing.
- My vote is for Hunt to make the team. Daniel Te’o-Nesheim should be cut loose but Andy does not like to admit he made a mistake in the draft. Same goes for that other bust Ibeamary, who has been a mainstay on IR for years.— younged
- bring back mamula— section707
- Abiamiri is Jerome McDougle minus the GSW. DTN should be shown the door like the Tonner at closing time.— hunglikeaton
- It's probably too late now, but they should have tried Hunt at linebacker. We know how AR loves to have guys switch positions. This guy is too small for DL but decent size for LB.— Penfold18
- It won't matter. Reid will blow this after being given all he asked for. Again no SB— Pete60
- The Eagles are a joke and everyone with any smarts knows it. A bunch of smallish fastballish d-ends never worked for us and never will. Andy Reid thinks that football is a game of finess when in fact it is about violence. About taking control of the line of scrimmage. About hitting people and hitting them hard. Our d-ends are little more than inside lbs and except for Cole sometimes they strike fear into the hearts of no one. Just like our lbs. Just like our o-line.— uts
- How does this guy Victor Abiamiri make the cut ?? He has been on IR 90% of the time since he's been here.— MJPD345
- I don't know much about football, but I'm told these guys have high motors— charlievhenry
- Watching the second half of last week's game, I thought Wilson had a lot of energy and some nice hits. I don't know anything else about him. Hunt apepared adequate. I've never seen anything good in Te’o-Nesheim. Parker always did better in relief than as a starter. If he can stay out of coverage and stop running too deep into the backfield (past the QB), I think he'll be fine.— T
