Now we know why.

With the off-season training activities complete, the Eagles officially re-signed von Oelhoffen to a one-year contract yesterday as they made a flurry of moves to reduce the roster to 80 players, the maximum that can report to training camp.

Mark Bartelstein, the agent for von Oelhoffen, said his client received a $40,000 signing bonus and would be paid a base salary of $830,000, the minimum for a player with at least 10 years of experience.

"I don't know if I'd say the deal was in place, but I think they knew Kimo wanted to come back, and we knew that they wanted him back," Bartelstein said. "We knew once they got through the minicamps that we'd make a decision."

It's safe to assume that von Oelhoffen, 37, a veteran of 15 NFL seasons, wasn't heartbroken because he couldn't be part of the off-season camps.

"At this stage of his career, I don't think he's going to get much out of them," Bartelstein said. "It saves the wear and tear on his body."

The Eagles signed von Oelhoffen just before the start of last season after he was among the New York Jets' final cuts, and he played in eight games. After being inactive for eight straight weeks, von Oelhoffen played in the Eagles' final five contests, and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson was impressed.

In addition to signing von Oelhoffen, the Eagles released nine players, with the most notable being defensive tackle LaJuan Ramsey, a sixth-round draft pick in 2006 who played in a total of 15 games in two seasons.

The Eagles also released defensive tackle Jeremy Clark, leaving them with five defensive tackles, all of whom may make the team.

The two starters are former first-round picks Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley. The others are rookie Trevor Laws, who was the Eagles' first pick in this year's draft, and von Oelhoffen and another veteran, Montae Reagor.

Johnson also plans to use defensive ends Juqua Parker and Darren Howard at defensive tackle on passing downs.

Also released yesterday were linebackers Gary Butler and Markell Staffieri, cornerback Tanard Davis, wide receiver Terrell Golden, quarterback Casey Hansen, and defensive ends Xzavie Jackson and A.J. Schable.

The Eagles also agreed to terms on four-year contracts with guard Mike Gibson and linebacker Andy Studebaker, both sixth-round picks in this year's draft.

The team continued the restructuring of its scouting department by hiring Jeremy Snyder as a pro scout and naming Mike Miller the college scouting coordinator.

Snyder, 29, spent the last five seasons with the Chicago Bears, including the last four as a football-operations assistant. Miller, 25, is in his third season with the Eagles and spent last year as a college scouting assistant.