Eagles make eye opening roster cuts impacting multiple positions

The Philadelphia Eagles are not waiting until Tuesday to make their finals cuts to get down to the initial 53-man roster at 4pm on August 29th. While the Eagles have to make some difficult decisions on the defensive side of the ball, they announced on Sunday Morning they are officially releasing multiple players on the offensive side of the ball.

The Eagles have cutdown their Offensive Line depth to 12 players after they released Center/Guard Josh Andrews, Center Cameron Tom, Tackle/Guard Dennis Kelly, and Offensive Lineman Brett Toth along with placing Tackle Roderick Johnson on Injured Reserve.

This first wave of roster cuts is surprising because the Eagles now have no official backup for starting Center Jason Kelce. Andrews and Tom played the majority of the snaps in the last two preseason games and most of the snaps with the backups in practices. Last season, Cam Jurgens was the backup Center but for the 2023 NFL Season he is projected to be the starter at Right Guard. The Eagles could be strategically waiving Andrews and Tom as they wait to see who other teams release then either grab a new backup center from the waiver wire or bring back Andrews and/or Tom to the Practice Squad.

Dennis Kelly has been a bit of a disappointment since rejoining the Eagles seven years after the organization traded him to the Tennessee Titans.  Philadelphia is doing Kelly a favor by releasing him ahead of Tuesday's deadline to give the veteran plenty of time to find a potential new team.  Brett Toth has practiced at every position on the Offensive Line for the Eagles over the last couple years and even though he performed poorly in his audition to be a backup Center, he is still a capable Guard and solid Tackle who could be brought back to the Practice Squad if he doesn't get picked up by another team.

The Eagles have also officially released Tight End Dan Arnold and Wide Receiver Deon Cain, two players who were on the outside-looking-in with their position groups. There were six Tight Ends at the start of Training Camp and even though Arnold had the second most NFL Experience of the group, the Eagles really like Jack Stoll's versatility and development to be their backup Tight End. This left Arnold to compete for the third spot of the Tight End Depth Chart but Grant Calcaterra made some big steps in his development showing he has become a more functional blocker to add to his toolbox that include being a good route runner and high level athlete for the position.  There are reports that the Eagles are also planning to release raw talent at Tight End Tyree Jackson.

Deon Cain was brought into Training Camp after the first several days so he was always a long shot to make the team. But with the lingering injuries to Brittan Covey and Quez Watkins keeping them out of preseason games plus the injury sustained by Tyree Cleveland, Cain was given plenty of opportunities to try and convince the Eagles he should make the team.

As of Sunday afternoon, we project there are only four Wide Receivers who are guaranteed a roster spot at the Tuesday Deadline: AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, and Olamide Zaccheaus. Britain Covey's injury kept him out of preseason games and Greg Ward could be back on the Practice Squad for the 2023 NFL Season. Reports are that Johnny King and Freddie Swain have already been informed they will be released.

The Eagles have approximately 17 more players to release before Tuesday's 4pm deadline when they will announced the initial 53-man roster. Announcements of Waiver pickups and the Practice Squad will be on Wednesday August 30th. Here is the full list of reported cuts from the roster this weekend: