Eagles Third-Year Cornerback Caught In Numbers Game For Roster Spot

The Philadelphia Eagles have begun cutting their roster ahead of Tuesday's deadline to have a 53-man roster in place.

Eli Rick goes through a drill during an Eagles OTA practice on June 3, 2025. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – Eli Ricks probably saw this coming. The Eagles cornerback didn’t get in until the fourth quarter of the second preseason game. He was, he said afterward, surprised by that decision.

Then, in Friday’s preseason finale, the cornerback was on the field for less than half the defensive snaps.  It’s hard to win a job like that, and sure enough, he didn’t. He was among a few players released on Monday, a day before the final 53-man roster must be submitted to the league office by 4 p.m.

The Eagles must feel pretty good about the depth it has on the corner to give up on Ricks after two seasons. General manager Howie Roseman bolstered the position by signing Adoree Jackson in free agency, drafting Mac McWilliams a few weeks later, then trading for Jakorian Bennett in early August. It didn’t help Ricks, either, that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio began practicing Cooper DeJean on the outside late in camp.

Eagles CB Eli Ricks has been playing well at practice. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

Caught In The Numbers Game For Roster Spot

It was a numbers game Ricks could not win. There’s a chance he could be brought back to the practice squad, or another team could put a claim in for the former Alabama player. Teams cannot begin to put player claims in until Wednesday.

Ricks was an undrafted free agent in 2023 and played quite a bit as a rookie, logging 301 defensive snaps (28 percent), with Sean Desai starting the season as the defensive coordinator before being replaced mid-season by Matt Patricia. Ricks also was in the special teams mix as a rookie, playing 51 percent of the snaps.

His playing time dropped significantly last year after Vic Fangio took over as the defensive coordinator. Ricks played just 14 defensive snaps and 51 special teams snaps.

“I would say I've grown much every year, even though I didn't play as much last year as my rookie year,” he said in early August. “I definitely feel like I've grown every year mentally. 
I'm much more confident in the system. This is only my second year in the same defense. As you know, first year I had a new defensive coordinator, the second year a new one, so I feel much more comfortable, this being my second year in the defense. So, I feel like I'm only growing and getting better.”

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