Eagles Claim TE Caleb Wilson off Waivers
The Eagles have claimed tight end Caleb Wilson off waivers from the Washington Football Team and also placed injured right guard Brandon Brooks on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list.
Wilson is the son of former Philadelphia's former defensive Line Coach, Chris Wilson, and played under former Eagles coach Chip Kelly with UCLA. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Wilson is a flex tight end who was the 254th and final selection in the 2019 NFL Draft by Arizona, earning the tile of Mr. Irrelevant.
He was very productive in his final season with the Bruins, piling up 965 receiving yards which was good for tops in the nation by a tight end. Wilson, however, didn't make the Cardinals' 53-man roster out of training camp last season but did land on Arizona's practice squad. He was signed by Washington in December of last year and was on its roster for the final three-game last season.
Wilson joins a top-heavy TE room with a proven star in Zach Ertz and an up-and-coming one in Dallas Goedert. The depth is more of a concern and Wilson will join Josh Perkins and undrafted rookie Noah Togiai on the depth chart.
Wilson's father Chris was the DL coach with the Eagles from 2016 through 2018, Doug Pederson's first three seasons as a coach, and mentored the unit through the Super Bowl LII win over New England. His contract was not renewed after the 2018 campaign and he was replaced by his former assistant Phillip Daniels.
Daniels lasted only one season and now Jim Schwartz favorite Matt Burke, the former defensive coordinator in Miami, is the defensive line coach.
Brooks, meanwhile, ruptured his Achilles in a workout at the NovaCare Complex back in June and it is at least mildly interesting that the Eagles placed the veteran Pro Bowl selection on the Active/PUP list and not injured reserve, which would officially end his season.
Brooks currently counts toward the roster limit and if he finishes training camp on the PUP list he could be moved to regular-season PUP in which he would not count against the 53-man roster. By doing that Brooks is assured to miss the first six games and the Eagles would then have an additional five weeks to decide whether to activate Brooks or place him on IR.
It's a long shot but there is no harm in kicking the can down the road on the decision.
The Eagles brought back Jason Peters to play right guard in Brooks' absence which offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland called "a tremendous loss," last week.
"Brandon Brooks is the best player at that position in the entire league in my opinion. And it’s a tremendous loss for us," said Stoutland. "That’s the truth. We all know that … He’s an amazing guy to me.
"But we have to have some answers now. So, we thought about this thoroughly - Coach Pederson, Howie (Roseman) and Mr. Lurie - and we talked through this, and I absolutely, totally believe in Jason Peters doing this assignment, this job."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportMap Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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