Earl Wolff waived by the Eagles
The Eagles waived injured safety Earl Wolff on Friday, an NFL source said.
Wolff was absent for the last three practices and has missed the last week because of what he called "soreness" in his right knee. Eagles coach Chip Kelly said that Wolff was visiting with doctors this week and that was why he wasn't even watching practice.
The third-year safety missed all of spring workouts even though Kelly said he had been cleared by the doctor. Wolff underwent season-ending knee surgery last November. But Wolff was a full participant when training camp opened on Aug. 2 and said he felt as good as he had in over a year. But a little over a week later, he was back on the sidelines.
He missed the preseason opener on Sunday and then the next three practices when Kelly was asked if he was frustrated with Wolff's setback.
"I hope Earl is healthy and is in that mix, but you never know," Kelly said on Thursday. "That's the hard part of this league. We've talked about it a lot of times. The injury rate in this league is 100 percent. It's unfortunate and frustrating for Earl. But we just evaluate what's out there."
Wolff confirmed on Twitter that he underwent knee surgery on Thursday.
"Surgery was successful yesterday," Wolff said. "Want to thank the @Eagles organization for giving me the opportunity. God has a plan for me #FlyEaglesFly."
The Eagles were expecting Wolff to compete for a starting spot this offseason, but when spring workouts started they moved cornerback Walter Thurmond to starting safety with Malcolm Jenkins. The third safety spot remains up for grabs with Chris Maragos, Chris Prosinski, Ed Reynolds and Jerome Couplin as the main candidates. The Eagles will likely add another safety to fill Wolff's spot.
The Eagles drafted Wolff in the fifth round of the 2013 draft. He started six games as a rookie and one last year, but started missing games because of his knee in Nov. 2013.
The designation of waived/injured allows the Eagles to retain Wolff if he clears waivers, unless there was an agreed upon injury settlement.
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