Eagles 2024 roster cuts: Tracking the roster moves to 53

Eagles 2024 roster cuts: Tracking the roster moves to 53 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday to cut their roster from 91 players to 53.

This won’t be their final 53-man roster, but it’s where they have to start. Plenty of the players released before the deadline will end up on the 16-man practice squad.

We’ll be tracking the moves as they come in:

• NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that rookie WR Ainias Smith “reported discomfort in his ankle and hamstring” after the preseason finale. Smith is having an MRI and is now a candidate for IR.

Released

OL Max Scharping: The Eagles signed Scharping in June to bolster their offensive line depth. He played in 79 games with 33 starts for the Texans and Bengals from 2019-23. Scharping played mostly tackle and guard this summer but didn’t crack the 53-man roster. He was one of several OL veterans in camp.

CB Parry Nickerson: The veteran nickel corner had some good moments in camp. His best was a 95-yard pick-6 off of Tanner McKee. He wasn’t expected to make the 53-man roster but Nickerson gave the Eagles good reps this summer after playing under Vic Fangio in Miami in 2023.

QB Will Grier: The Eagles were never going to keep Grier but he was in Philly to help the other quarterbacks learn Kellen Moore’s offense.

OLB Julian Okwara: The 26-year-old former Lions’ third-round pick had a strong preseason finale but it wasn’t enough to stick around. Okwara has played in 38 games with 4 starts in his career and has 9 career sacks. But he was buried on the depth chart this summer.

Waived

CB Zech McPhearson: The veteran cornerback took to Twitter to thank Philadelphia for his time in the city. McPhearson came back this summer from an Achilles injury that took his 2023 season from him. The Eagles drafted McPhearson in the fourth round out of Texas Tech in 2021. He played in 33 games his first two years and was a major special teams contributor. (McPhearson’s Twitter)

WR Austin Watkins: Watkins, 26, has spent time with other NFL clubs before but was pretty deep on the Eagles’ depth chart all summer. (Andrew DiCecco)

WR Griffin Hebert: Despite a nice showing in the final preseason game, Hebert was always a longshot to make the roster. (Andrew DiCecco)

DE Tarron Jackson: The former sixth-round pick has been around for a long time but hasn’t played in a regular season game since 2022. He had a decent summer but was buried on the edge rusher depth chart. (Andrew DiCecco)

S Andre’ Sam: The rookie safety from LSU had some really good moments this summer at a position where the Eagles don’t have a ton of depth. (Andrew DiCecco)

TE Kevin Foelsch: The Eagles needed some extra tight ends to get through camp and Foelsch was one of them. The Eagles claimed the New Haven product after he was waived by the Jets in early August. (Andrew DiCecco)

CB Shon Stephens: The rookie came to the Eagles as a tryout player in rookie camp and earned a roster spot after playing college ball at Ferris State and West Liberty. (Andrew DiCecco)

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