CUTTING CORNERS
Eagles part ways with disappointing DBs Douglas, Jones as roster reduced to 53
The Eagles turned the page on underachieving cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas Saturday to reach the 53-man roster limit.
Also axed were defensive ends Shareef Miller and Joe Ostman; offensive linemen Sua Opeta and Prince Tega Wanogho; tight end Noah Togiai’ and defensive tackles Anthony Rush and Raequan Williams.
Alshon Jeffery survived the cut to 53, the veteran among seven wide receivers. The Eagles kept just three running backs and eight offensive linemen, both lows for the Doug Pederson era. It could get crazier with the liberal rules in play for the 16-man practice squads that teams can begin forming at noon Sunday. General manager Howie Roseman hinted that Jones or Douglas could be back at some point, along with some of the other cuts.
“There definitely will be changes in the next 24 to 36 hours just based on the IR rules,” Roseman said. “I don’t know that we’re exactly where we want to be even on the 53. But knowing that we have these extra practice squad spots and we have the ability to bring guys up gives us a little bit different flexibility.”
The big story was what is now left of the Eagles’ 2017 draft class. Only Derek Barnett and Nate Gerry are left from the eight selections. Jones and Douglas came off the board in the second and third rounds, respectively, that year.
“It’s disappointing,” Roseman said. “I take all that personally. You want more guys from your draft class to be successful. I think unfortunately we had to learn from that draft class and we’ve gone over some of those guys. Did we force some things?
Did we do some things that were kind of contrary to our plan going in because we missed out on some things? But I do think when we look at the last few years’ draft classes, overall they’re pretty good. We’ve got a lot of guys playing for us.”
Jones couldn’t play hurt, missing 26 games over three seasons with nagging, not major, issues. He was ailing from a lower body injury most of training camp.
It was clear the Eagles didn’t appreciate Jones’ unwillingness to play through injuries last year when he let a hamstring issue keep him from playing against the New York Jets, Pederson in so many words saying the cornerback had to push himself through it.
Douglas played hard but was a liability in coverage, a sucker for the double-move. He didn’t take the greatest angles either.
“For us, we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to take some chances,” Roseman said. “And if we’re wrong we’re going to learn from it . ... We’re going to get more right than wrong.”
Look for Jones, Douglas or both to resurface with the New York Jets. Joe Douglas, the Jets general manager, drafted them with the Eagles.
The Eagles also will be scanning the waiver wire for help. The lack of tape without a preseason will challenge the Eagles’ ability to make evaluations.
“It’s a little bit of a game of chicken because some of these guys that are cut, we don’t know them as well as maybe we would by having some exposure to them,” Roseman said. “It will be interesting to see what happens with claims as opposed to years past. It’s not like you can claim a guy and get him on a plane and he’s in your building on Monday.”
All of that said, Roseman likes the nucleus of this roster.
“I think we have enough talent to be a really good team and we have really good people on our coaching staff to help that happen,” he said. “We’ll just have to see how the season goes and how we deal with adversity and what goes on in this unique year.”