Paul Domowitch: Edwards beats out Kafka for Eagles QB job

Trent Edwards did the impossible. He managed to change the mind of a man whom many of his critics consider one of the most stubborn coaches in the National Football League.

Andy Reid wanted Mike Kafka on his football team, planned to keep Mike Kafka on his football team. Make no mistake about that.

But the 28-year-old Edwards talked Reid out of it with his impressive play in the Eagles' final two preseason games. Convinced the coach, and general manager Howie Roseman, that he deserved to stay on as the team's No. 3 quarterback rather than Kafka.

"There was great competition at the quarterback position," Reid said Friday. "That's what football and training camp is all about. In the end, we had to make the difficult decision to let Mike Kafka go. Mike is a class act, a student of the game and a great person, and I think he'll have no problem finding a job in the National Football League very soon.

"On the other hand, I'm proud of the way Trent conducted himself since the early days of the offseason workouts. He had to fight for everything he earned this summer. He improved each day and made the most of every opportunity."

Edwards appeared to have no chance of making the Eagles when training camp opened in late July. Zero. He was hideous in the spring OTAs. Absolutely hideous. You stood there wondering how in the hell this guy ever started 33 NFL games.

At Lehigh, he was low man on the practice-rep totem pole. But when Kafka fractured his non-throwing hand in the Eagles' first preseason game, it opened the roster door a crack for Edwards, and he ran with the opportunity. Edwards finished with a preseason passer rating of 100.5 that included a .675 completion percentage.

In the Eagles' final two preseason games against Cleveland and the New York Jets, he was lights-out. He completed 73.5 percent of his passes and had a 111.3 passer rating.

After Thursday night's game against the Jets, in which Edwards completed 22 of 32 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns in three quarters, Reid still sounded like a guy who was leaning toward keeping Kafka.

"I'm happy for Trent," Reid said after the game. "If he's here or somewhere else, I'm happy for Trent."

Reid liked Kafka a lot. For the life of me, I don't know why. Yes, he was a smart kid who knew the Eagles' offense up, down and sideways. But he just did not have an NFL arm.

Edwards doesn't have a bazooka, but it can get the job done. And he has enough experience to be able to step in and play if starter Michael Vick gets hurt again and rookie Nick Foles turns out to be not ready for prime time.

"I honestly thought it was 50-50," Edwards said when asked what he thought his chances of making the team were before he found out. "I was feeling good going to bed. But I've seen a lot of things in this league. I wouldn't have been shocked if the 215 call was a guy saying, 'Bring your playbook in. You're no longer needed.' "

But it wasn't. It was Roseman extending congratulations. Edwards said he got the news at about 12:30, shortly before he was supposed to leave for the team barbeque at owner Jeff Lurie's Main Line manse. Nothing worse than going to a Main Line barbeque not knowing whether you have a job.

"If you asked me if it was possible, I would've said yes," Edwards said. "But I don't know if I would've believed it."

Since the NFL did away with the emergency quarterback rule a couple of years ago, teams don't have to designate a No. 2 and No. 3 quarterback anymore. Which is to say that the Eagles will go into the Cleveland on Sept. 9 with Vick as the starter and Foles and Edwards as the undesignated backups.

But Edwards made it clear Friday he is the No. 3 quarterback, and Foles, who played every bit as impressively as Edwards in the preseason, is the guy who is a heartbeat, or at least some torn rib cartilage, away from the starting quarterback job.

Asked whether he could be the go-to guy if Vick gets hurt, because of Foles' inexperiece, Edwards said: "I don't think so. I'm here to help the two guys in front of me out."

Cutdown Day wasn't quite as pleasant for some other Eagles as it was for Edwards. The team released 22 players to get down to the league-mandated number of 53.

The most significant casualty was veteran cornerback Joselio Hanson.

Hanson, 31, who had spent six seasons with the Eagles, had been battling rookie fourth-rounder Brandon Boykin for the nickel corner job. It could have gone either way, but the Eagles wanted Hanson to win the job. Both of them played well in practice and the preseason. This wasn't a case of Boykin beating Hanson out as much as it was Boykin just convincing the coaches that, despite his NFL inexperience, he is up to the task.

Also released Friday was defensive tackle Antonio Dixon. Dixon had spent three seasons with the Eagles, but missed 12 games last year with a torn triceps tendon.

With Dixon's release, the Eagles have 10 defensive linemen on their roster - six ends and four tackles. Those four interior players are Cullen Jenkins, Derek Landri, 2011 practice-squadder Cedric Thornton and first-round pick Fletcher Cox. The Eagles, though, often line up an end inside in passing situations.

Only two other players who were with the Eagles last season were cut: wide receiver Chad Hall and linebacker Keenan Clayton. The Eagles also released two of their nine draft picks, wide receiver Marvin McNutt and offensive guard Brandon Washington. Both were sixth-round picks and likely will end up on the team's practice squad if they are not claimed by another team.

The Eagles also released veteran safety O.J. Atogwe. Atogwe, 31, has started 83 games in the league and had 25 career interceptions. But he didn't play all that well in camp or the preseason. His fate was sealed Thursday night when he injured a hamstring.

The Eagles have issues at safety. Starters Nate Allen and Kurt Coleman are good players, but Allen has injury issues and Coleman's 190-pound body will be hard-pressed to answer the bell for 16 games.

Backing up those two are 2010 second-round bust Jaiquawn Jarrett and special-teams ace Colt Anderson, who still is recovering from last December's ACL tear. They also sent a conditional pick to the Browns for safety David Sims.

It's hard to believe the Eagles, who believe they can contend for a Super Bowl this season, will go into the season opener with Jarrett and Anderson, who has yet to participate in any team practice work, as their only backups to Allen and Coleman.

Contact Paul Domowitch at pdomo@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @Pdomo. For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' blog at eagletarian.com.