The Eagles made a change to their wide receiver group ahead of Sunday’s deadline to cut rosters to 90 players. They announced that they have signed Tahj Washington to the active roster. Brandon Hayes was waived in a corresponding move. Washington was a 2024 seventh-round pick by the Dolphins and was with the team until being waived earlier this week. He appeared in six games last season and had three catches for 37 yards. Hayes signed with the Eagles three weeks ago. He was undrafted out of Southeastern Louisiana. DeVonta Smith, Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore, Darius Cooper, Britain Covey, Quez Watkins, Danny Gray, Samori Toure, and Erik Ezukanma are also on the roster at receiver
The Philad e lphia Eagles held the first of two minicamp practices on Tuesday and I was at the NovaCare Jefferson Health Training Complex to watch the action unfold. Here’s what I observed! ATTENDANCE UPDATES ABSENT: Unlike voluntary OTAs, it’s mandatory to attend minicamp. The only player absent was Joe Tryon-Shoyinka . It’s currently unclear whether his absence was approved or if he’s subject to fines by not attending. The cost for missing Day 1 is $17,986. NOTABLY PRESENT: Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter were at practice after missing the Eagles’ two media-attended OTA practices over the past two weeks. INJURY UPDATES DID NOT PARTICIPATE Makai Lemon ( hamstring ) did not practice, as expected. Assuming he’s out again on Wednesday, which seems like a safe bet, the Eagles’ first-round pick will have missed at least four of the team’s eight total spring practices. Hardly the end of the world but not ideal. Jihaad Campbell , Grant Calcaterra , Britain Covey , Carson Steele , Chandler Martin , and Tucker Large attended practice but did not participate. Campbell, Martin, and Large were doing some rehab work off to the side while the rest of the team practiced. LIMITED PARTICIPATION Jalen Carter did not participate in team drills. Is he not 100% recovered from injury? Is the team just being extra cautious? Is this a “hold” in situation? Jonathan Greenard , Cole Wisniewski, and Drew Kendall also took part in position drills but not team drills. JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Hurts wasn’t very sharp today. Early in 7-on-7, a downfield target to DeVonta Smith with Riq Woolen trailing was overthrown and incomplete. Hurts missed a crossing DeVonta over the middle with an inaccurate pass. Hurts to DeVonta was incomplete yet again on a play where it looked like there was a tight window for the wide receiver to get the ball between Woolen and Smael Mondon Jr. Hurts was guilty of holding the ball too long on some reps to get “sacked.” One such instance might’ve wiped out what ended up being a completion to E.J. Jenkins over the middle that Hurts made by throwing against his body while rolling right. Good play if it counted, which it might not have. I wouldn’t put all of the offense’s struggles on Hurts; they’re just clearly behind the defense, which is to be expected since 1) Vic Fangio is really good, 2) it’s not unusual for defenses to be ahead of offenses at this time of year, and 3) the defense is in the third year of their system while the offense is new. Still lots of kinks to iron out. Can’t recall many, if any, times that Woolen or Quinyon Mitchell have given up catches this spring. It seems to me that Hurts is targeting Saquon Barkley more often than he has in the past. This isn’t the first offseason in recent years where some have wondered if passing to the running back could be a bigger part of the offense, so, you have to take these observations with a grain of salt. But maybe it’s truly different this time?! Barkley doesn’t have the best hands but he is very effective with the ball in them in terms of yards after catch potential. Should be a bigger part of the offense than not at all. BACKUP QUARTERBACK BATTLE (?): The Eagles have held three media-attended spring practices and Andy Dalton has been QB2 for all of them. It sure seems like Tanner McKee has been demoted to QB3. If Dalton goes up directly after Hurts again tomorrow, we’ll have even more confirmation. I don’t really get it, to be honest. Dalton obviously has more starting experience in the NFL but McKee has shown legitimate promise and I think it’s worth fostering that potential, not pushing him down the depth chart as he enters a contract year. On that note, I thought McKee looked like the better quarterback on Tuesday. McKee ripped a ball over the middle to Elijah Moore in stride for a first down and more. He found Hollywood Brown (twice, including a real tight window throw) and Samori Toure for touchdown connections. Dalton, meanwhile, got picked off by Jalyx Hu
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The Philadelphia Eagles are entering the final week of their spring offseason workout schedule with two days of mandatory minicamp from June 9-10. During this time, the Birds will be hosting free agent wide receiver James Proche II on a tryout basis. This much according to a report from NFL insider Mike Garafolo . The 5-11, 201-pound Proche was originally a sixth-round pick (No. 201 overall) by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2020 NFL Draft. He spent three years in Charm City before bouncing on and off the Cleveland Browns ’ roster from 2023-2024. Proche then played for the Tennessee Titans last season. He has experience lining up both in the slot and the outside. With just 677 career offensive snaps (112.8 per season) and 364 career receiving yards (60.7 per season) to his name, Proche will be fighting an uphill battle to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster. That is, assuming he even makes the 90-man roster after a successful tryout. One factor potentially working in Proche’s favor is that he has a track record of contributing on special teams with 442 career snaps in that phase. Including the playoffs, he’s logged 71 career punt returns for an 8.7 average. Part of the impetus for the Proche tryout could be related to the Eagles currently being a little short-handed at receiver. Makai Lemon is reportedly expected to miss practices this week due to a hamstring injury . Britain Covey did not participate in the Eagles’ media-attended OTA practice last week. The team also waived Brandon Hayes on Friday evening. At the very least, Proche will help the Eagles fill some practice reps this week
The Philad e lphia Eagles held the second of two OTA practices open to media access on Tuesday and I was at the NovaCare Jefferson Health Training Complex to watch the action unfold. Here’s what I observed! ATTENDANCE UPDATES: ABSENT AGAIN: Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter . NEWLY ABSENT : Fred Johnson , Joe Tryon-Shoyinka , and Hollin Pierce . RETURNED : Dontayvion Wicks and Jihaad Campbell (Jihaad watched practice from the sideline). INJURY UPDATES: DID NOT PRACTICE: Makai Lemon suffered a hamstring injury, according to Quinyon Mitchell . The rookie wideout is expected to miss the rest of the Eagles’ spring practices but should be ready for training camp. The aforementioned Jihaad Campbell is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Britain Covey , Carson Steele (wearing a sleeve on his right leg), and Tucker Large (injured reserve) watched practice from the sideline. LIMITED PARTICIPATION: Jonathan Greenard is still limited to position drills. Rookie safety Cole Wisniewski was sidelined for last week’s media-attended practice but returned to position drills. Don’t think I saw him in team drills but could be wrong. FULL PARTICIPATION: Hollywood Brown took part in team drills after not doing so in last week’s media-attended practice. JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Hurts’ first pass during team drills was an interception thrown right to Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in 7-on-7s. After the play, I noticed Cooper DeJean pointing down the field to someone (Drew Mukuba? A coach?), perhaps in an “I told you!” kind of way that suggested the defense might’ve had a read on the offense there. But maybe that wasn’t it at all, just speculating. Anyway, Hurts rebounded from this pick with some short completions over the middle to DeVonta Smith (the media focus of the day with A.J. Brown ) and Dallas Goedert . Hurts also connected with Saquon Barkley up the seam (can’t recall him previously being targeted like that) for a 30+ yard touchdown. Unless someone just flat out missed their assignment, it looked like the design of that play help to scheme Barkley open (gasp, what a concept!). Could be good to get Barkley more involved as a downfield target. During a goal line drill towards the end of practice, Hurts just missed a throw to a crossing DeVonta in the middle of the field for a would-be touchdown. All told, it was mixed bag of a day for Hurts. The Eagles’ first 11-on-11 rep had Hurts lined up under center in 12 personnel to hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley. Dallas Goedert and Johnny Mundt were the tight ends with DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks at wide receiver. Wicks didn’t stand out much in his first practice; I only wrote down his name for dropping a pass. Grant Calcaterra did rotate in with the first team offense, so, it’s not like he’s entirely out of the picture. He actually made a good grab coming back to the ball for a short contested catch against Quinyon Mitchell. BACKUP QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY? Or maybe there’s no controversy after all and it’s just been decided that Andy Dalton is Hurts’ primary backup instead of Tanner McKee ? Plenty of offseason left to go but, for the second media-attended practice in a row, Dalton was the quarterback with the second-team offense. And unlike how he stunk last week, the 38-year-old veteran was much sharper today. Dalton made a good anticipation throw up the seam to hit E.J. Jenkins for a first down. Then he completed two passes to receivers on out routes along the left sideline. Dalton found Elijah Moore , who sat down in a soft spot in the defense, for another first down. He capped off a strong day at practice with a strike to Hollywood Brown in the back of the end zone during a goal line sequence. Tanner McKee’s limited reps included him hitting a flyswatter dummy, a short pass broken up by undrafted rookie Kapena Gushiken, a wormburner over the middle, and a short touchdown pass to Danny Gray . Maybe we’ll see more of a rotation at QB2 moving forward … but what if Dalton is ju
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Eagles OTA observations: The 1st practice since A.J. Brown trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia The Eagles took the field on Tuesday afternoon for the first time since the trade of A.J. Brown to the Patriots. Meanwhile, Brown was on the field in Foxborough, Massachusetts, at the very same time. In Philly, all eyes were on DeVonta Smith on Tuesday as he assumes the top receiver role. The Eagles will wrap up their OTAs with a final practice on Thursday before holding a mandatory minicamp next Tuesday and Wednesday. They will then head their separate ways for a long break before training camp in late July. Here are some notes from Tuesday’s practice: 1. As a reminder, these OTAs are completely voluntary. The Eagles have had pretty good attendance this spring but several players were not there on Monday: OT Lane Johnson , DT Jalen Carter , OT Fred Johnson , OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka , OL Hollin Pierce . Johnson and Carter also missed last week’s practice that was open to reporters. Several players were in attendance but were not practicing: WR Makai Lemon, LB Jihaad Campbell , WR Britain Covey , RB Carson Steele , DB Tucker Large. Lemon had a compression sleeve on his right leg. After practice, Quinyon Mitchell revealed that Lemon has a hamstring injury. It’s not ideal for the first-round pick to miss time but there’s a long way to go before training camp. Campbell continues to recover from a shoulder injury and has not participated all spring. But unlike last Wednesday, Campbell was at practice this time. Early on Tuesday, the Eagles signed veteran running back Elijah Mitchell . He was practicing in a No. 38 jersey. 2. Some offensive depth chart notes: • The Eagles have been rotating Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee with the second-team offense, but Dalton was the QB2 again on Tuesday and had a better performance than he did last Wednesday with reporters in attendance. • Without Makai Lemon, the Eagles mixed in plenty of wideouts with the first unit along with DeVonta Smith. Guys like Dontayvion Wicks , Johnny Wilson and Hollywood Brown all got some run. • The offensive line groupings: First team (L to R): Jordan Mailata , Landon Dickerson , Cam Jurgens , Tyler Steen , Markel Bell Second team (L to R): John Ojukwu , Myles Hinton , Willie Lampkin , Jake Majors , Cameron Williams Third team: (L to R): John Ojukwu, Jaeden Roberts , WIllie Lampkin, Micah Morris, Cameron Williams 3. Some defensive depth chart notes: • In the Eagles’ base package, the Eagles again went with Drew Mukuba and Cooper DeJean before mixing in Marcus Epps when they went to nickel. Epps has been the guy with the ones so far. While Vic Fangio said that job is open, it’s looking more like it’s Epps’ job to lose. • Michael Carter II was the extra defender when the Eagles went to their dime package. • Without Campbell, Zack Baun and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. began the day as the starting linebackers. Smael Mondon Jr. eventually got some first-team linebacker reps next to Baun as well. 4. After individual drills and a tackling circuit, 7-on-7s began with a Jalen Hurts interception to Jeremiah Trotter Jr. The pass went directly to Trotter, who dropped into zone coverage and picked him off. This is the second offseason he’s getting a ton of valuable first-team reps. 5. The offensive highlight of the day came on a deep ball from Hurts to Saquon Barkley , who was able to sneak behind Zack Baun on a 3rd-and-6. It looked like a coverage bust. Get ready for a bunch of talk this offseason about how the Eagles might finally throw to their running backs more in 2026. 6. In the two practices that have been open to reporters this spring, Riq Woolen has been very impressive and has seemingly been turning heads among his teammates too. The 6-foot-4 cornerback looked sticky in coverage on Tuesday on a deep ball down the sideline to Hollywood Brown. He also had a pass breakup in the end zone during a red zone drill. Woolen has a pass breakup in each of t
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The Eagles allocated $775,000 in guaranteed money to their 8-player UDFA class of 2026, the lowest figure since 2021. Top signees Kapena Gushiken (DB) and Joshua Weru (DE) each received $25,000 signing bonuses and $272,500 in total guarantees
