Your 2009 Philadelphia Eagles Roster

The Eagles made their final cuts today, reducing their roster from 72 players down to the mandated 53. To get there, the Eagles made a series of moves. First, the Eagles placed Michael Vick on their roster exempt list until Week 3, meaning that Vick can't practice with the team until that time. The Eagles then released 17 players and placed OT Fenuki Tupou on Injured Reserve.

The following 17 players were cut:

WR Danny Amendola
RB Lorenzo Booker
LB Tank Daniels
FB Kyle Eckel
G Paul Fanaika
DE Josh Gaines
G Mike Gibson
CB Jack Ikegwuonu
DT Dan Klecko
S Reshard Langford
FB Marcus Mailei
TE Rob Myers
C Dallas Reynolds
TE Matt Schobel
DE Bryan Smith
LB Matt Wilhelm
CB Trae Williams

Of the list, there aren't too many surprises, except for the fact that the Eagles went with 7 wideouts. Brandon Gibson deserved to make the team so perhaps the Eagles will try to trade Reggie Brown in the next few days.

The exemption of Vick allowed the Eagles to keep A.J. Feeley around as the 3rd QB. That gives them a few weeks to try to trade Feeley. It's a smart move because a quarterback always goes down early in the season and there will be a desperate team out there.

The emergence of Jason Babin meant the Eagles could rid themselves of both Dan Klecko and Bryan Smith. While Klecko can still play, Smith was always just too much of a project as an under-sized lineman. It's too bad the Eagles wasted a 3rd rounder on him.

Thankfully, the Lorenzo Booker era is over in Philadelphia. Booker, who was acquired for a 4th round pick last year with visions of him being Westbrook-lite, never amounted to anything as an Eagle. The fact that he got beat out by undrafted rookie Eldra Buckley tells you all you need to know about Booker.

Jack Ikegwuonu certainly wasn't what the Eagles hoped for after they drafted him last season and stashed him on Injured Reserve. At the beginning of training camp, many thought that Ikegwuonu was nearly assured of making the team. After he never really did anything of note, he was beat out by Dimitri Patterson for the 5th cornerback spot.

The Eagles also went with only two tight ends for now, cutting both Matt Schobel and Rob Myers. I would expect that they work to pick up a better backup than Tony Curtis over the next few days.

Some of the players cut, like Danny Amendola, Mike Gibson and Rob Myers, have a good shot of coming back to the Eagles on the practice squad. Amendola in particular emerged as a quality prospect who could possibly make an impact with the Eagles a year down the road.

Over the last few weeks, I have been making my own projections of the Eagles roster. Here is the Eagles actual roster, with changes from my final version in bold:

Offense:
QB(3): Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, A.J. Feeley, (Michael Vick)

RB(3): Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, Eldra Buckley

FB (1): Leonard Weaver

WR(7): DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin, Hank Baskett, Reggie Brown, Brandon Gibson

TE(2): Brent Celek, Tony Curtis

LT(2): Jason Peters, King Dunlap

LG(2): Todd Herremans, Max Jean-Gilles

C(2): Jamaal Jackson, Nick Cole

RG(2): Stacy Andrews, Mike McGlynn

RT(2): Shawn Andrews, Winston Justice

Defense:
DE(6): Juqua Parker, Trent Cole, Victor Abiamiri, Darren Howard, Chris Clemons, Jason Babin

DT(3): Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, Trevor Laws

LB(6): Chris Gocong, Akeem Jordan, Joe Mays, Omar Gaither, Moise Fokou, Tracy White

CB(5): Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, Joselio Hanson, Ellis Hobbs, Dimitri Patterson

FS(2): Quintin Demps, Macho Harris

SS(2): Quintin Mikell, Sean Jones

Special Teams:
K(1): David Akers

P(1): Sav Rocca

LS(1): Jon Dorenbos

Eagles cut DT Dan Klecko

It's cut day in the NFL, and the Eagles have made their first cut: defensive tackle Dan Klecko. Klecko, who signed with the Eagles a year ago to play fullback before converting to DT, spent one season with the Birds and recorded 4 tackles and 2 sacks as a part of the defensive line rotation. The Eagles likely let him go earlier than the rest of their players so they could give Klecko time to find a job elsewhere.

Klecko was a casualty of Jason Babin having a stellar preseason with the Eagles. With this move the Eagles will go with only 3 true DT's on the roster in Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson and Trevor Laws but Victor Abiamiri and Darren Howard can both move inside if necessary. Klecko's release also increases the likelihood that the Eagles keep a 7th defensive end, Bryan Smith.

Don't feel bad for Dan Klecko, he has three Super Bowl rings from his days playing with the Patriots and Colts. I would look for him to latch on with another team in the next few days as he has a few more years of productivity left in him.

Dan Klecko Signs with Eagles to play Fullback

The Eagles signed former Colts and Patriots defensive lineman Dan Klecko to a one-year contract. Klecko is a local guy, having grown up in Delaware Valley and gone to Temple. Klecko has primarily played defensive tackle in the NFL, but the Eagles plan to convert him to a fullback, a position he occasionally played for the Colts during their Super Bowl run.

Klecko brings plenty of playoff and Super Bowl experience to the Eagles, having won three rings with the Colts and Patriots. It's unknown if the Eagles expect Klecko to step in and be a starter right away, or if they intend for him to simply push Jason David. Given that Thomas Tapeh touched the ball a whopping 13 times last year, the Eagles don't really utilize the fullback position in their offense anyway. At the very least, Klecko could be a solid special teams player and can be brought in to block on short yardage plays.