Eagles sign Pope, release Ikegwuonu

The Eagles announced a minor move today as they signed CB Geoffrey Pope off of the Bengals practice squad and added him to their 53 man roster. To make room for Pope, the Birds released former 4th round pick CB Jack Ikegwuonu.

Pope has played 12 career games in his 3 NFL seasons since being signed as a rookie free agent by the Miami Dolphins in 2007. He has mostly played on special teams in the NFL and has also spent some time with the Giants in his pro career.

It's unclear how much of an upgrade Pope is over Ikegwuonu but at least Pope has game experience. Ikegwuonu was drafted in 2008 by the Birds but spent the entire season on the injured list. He has been healthy in 2009 but spent most of the season on the practice squad before finally suiting up for his first game against the Bears. Clearly, the Eagles weren't liking what they saw in Ikegwuonu in practice and felt they needed to bring someone in who could actually contribute.

There is always the chance that he could jump back to the practice squad but it appears that the Eagles wasted their 4th round pick when they selected Jack Ikegwuonu. He will unfortunately be remembered more for what he did off the field than what he did on the field.