Eagles claim DT Dixon, waive Feeley

After the Eagles released their 53 man roster yesterday, it became apparent that it was a work in progress. The Birds chose to keep only two tight ends and three defensive tackles while they had extra receivers and quarterbacks stashed away. It didn't last for long, as the Eagles made their first moves today to clean up the roster a bit, claiming defensive tackle Antonio Dixon, who was recently cut by the Redskins, and releasing A.J. Feeley.

Dixon is a bit of a curious pickup for the Eagles, considering he was an undrafted rookie free agent out of Miami. The Eagles must have had Dixon on their radar since he will be replacing Dan Klecko, a competent DT, who was released yesterday. Dixon had three total tackles in his preseason action with the Redskins. I guess we just give the Eagles the benefit of the doubt on this one and assume this kid has some potential. Of course, the Eagles may just have brought Dixon in for a few days before releasing him again and activating Michael Vick from the exempt list.

To make room for Dixon on the roster, the Eagles waived 4th QB A.J Feeley. The Eagles probably made attempts to trade Feeley but found no takers so they were forced to just let him go. Feeley is a competent third quarterback but was expendable with the addition of Michael Vick. I wouldn't expect Feeley, who is now a free agent, to be without a team for long. He could get snatched up right away or after a quarterback or two goes down with an injury early in the season. The Patriots seem to be the likely destination since they don't have a real backup for Tom Brady and they were attempting to trade for Feeley just a few days ago.

This is just the first of a few moves I expect the Eagles to make before the season starts next Sunday. They still are missing another tight end and have a logjam at wideout, so something should happen on that front. Stay tuned.