Eagles keep Feeley, Brown - for now

If you can't trade them, keep them.

That's the plan the Eagles implemented yesterday when they revealed their 53-man roster at the 6 p.m. deadline.

A team source indicated quarterback A.J. Feeley and wide receiver Reggie Brown were the subject of trade talks as the team worked to reduce its roster, but when they couldn't make a deal for either one, the Eagles decided to keep them both.

Something will have to change in the near future because in order to keep Feeley, the Eagles placed quarterback Michael Vick on the exempt list. As long as Vick remains on that list, he is not eligible to practice with the team.

Eagles general manager Tom Heckert was quick to note that Vick can be reinstated to the 53-man roster at any time even though he will not be eligible to play until the team's Week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

"We can make him active tomorrow, next week, or any time during the suspension," Heckert said during a conference call. "That's not a thing we're stuck with until his suspension is over. The rule is when he is on the exempt list, he can do everything but practice. He can be in the meetings, throw on the sideline with coaches, he can be out at the practices watching. He just can't participate, so he's not going to miss any meetings or workout time."

By keeping Feeley and Brown, the Eagles have four quarterbacks and seven wide receivers, an excess at both positions.

"We're trying to keep the best 53 guys," Heckert said. "The way it turned out this year, we like all those guys. Obviously, things can change any day here with trades and whatever happens on the waiver wire tonight. We felt all those guys can play in this league, so we felt we should keep them."

Even though Brown is still on the roster, there doesn't seem to be a place for him. After suffering a preseason hamstring injury and losing his starting job to DeSean Jackson last season, Brown cascaded down the depth chart for the remainder of the season and didn't even dress for the NFC championship game. He remained buried on the depth chart this preseason.

"We like Reggie," Heckert said. "Last year when he got hurt, other guys stepped up and played well. But just because he's not in our starting guys right now, we're not going to let a guy we think is a good football player just go. Where and how much he plays is to be determined later on, but we do like Reggie."

The Eagles cut Rob Myers and veteran Matt Schobel so they have only two tight ends - Brent Celek and Tony Curtis. In the past, they kept three. Still, Heckert said there's a decent chance that part of the roster will not change.

"I think there is definitely a chance," Heckert said. "For about three-quarters of last season, we only had two tight ends active [on game day]. That doesn't mean we won't have one on the practice squad. We probably will."

Indeed, the Eagles had just two tight ends active in 13 of 16 regular-season games last season.

Other than the Eagles' decision to keep Feeley and Brown, there were no major surprises among the roster decisions. The most notable name among the cuts was defensive tackle Dan Klecko, who spent the first four games last season as a backup defensive tackle and the final 15, including the postseason, as a fullback.

Klecko returned to defensive tackle this preseason after the Eagles signed free-agent fullback Leonard Weaver.

"Klecko is one of our favorite guys," Heckert said. "He's a great team guy, a super competitor. We figured we were keeping all these defensive ends that can play inside, so it was difficult to keep four defensive tackles at the present time. We felt there were other positions that could help us out more."

Although Klecko thought he played well enough in the preseason to earn a job with the Eagles, he said he had a bad feeling about things in recent weeks.

"I guess I saw a little bit of the writing on the wall," he said. "I was hoping if I played well enough in the games that it would matter, but I don't think it did. I feel like I had a good enough preseason that I've earned a job somewhere, but you never know."

The only Eagles draft pick who didn't make the team was guard Paul Fanaika, a seventh-round selection from Arizona State. Tackle Fenuki Tupou joined tight end and fellow draft pick Cornelius Ingram on the injured reserve list yesterday. Tupou has a chest injury. For the second straight year, none of the Eagles' undrafted rookies made the initial 53-man roster.

Of course, all NFL rosters are subject to change, and it wouldn't be shocking if the Birds' squad is different when the Eagles open the season a week from today against the Carolina Panthers.