Eagles Losing Four Players to Waivers Reveals a Bigger Roster Truth

Other NFL teams believe the depth on the Eagles is legitimate.

The proof was right there on the waiver sheet. Four players who spent the summer with the Eagles were scooped up by other teams -- the most of any team in the league.

The Kansas City Chiefs had three while San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Carolina and Indianapolis each had two. A clear indicator of how the league values the talent the Eagles develop, even at the bottom of the roster.

Teams don't burn their waiver claims on players who are viewed as replaceable. They use the process to add players who they believe could potentially make an impact in some capacity on their roster.

Defensive back Kapena Gushiken (Colts), tackle Myles Hinton (Bengals), tight end Cameron Latu (Patriots) and tackle Cameron Williams (Falcons) were the four players who did not clear waivers and will now look to latch on with their new respective team's 53-man roster.

It doesn't make losing them any easier for general manager Howie Roseman who understands that trimming a roster down to 53 men come with risks that his team could lose a player they really

“We lost two draft picks. We lost a special teamer, a tight end who had 10 special-teams tackles for us last year and a blocked kick," Roseman said. "Don't feel good about that. We lost a young defensive back that we liked. That goes along with this.”

Roseman noted the sting of losing a pair of draft picks, a special-teams contributor with 10 tackles and a blocked kick, a young defensive back the team liked. It's the price he and the Eagles have to pay for having a roster deep enough that capable players are squeezed out.

Opting to keep four quarterbacks certainly contributed to the roster crunch. Latu was the most obvious candidate to be scooped up, putting strong special teams tape on film and showing physicality as a blocker. Gushiken was an intriguing young defensive back with developmental upside the team would have liked to keep. Hinton was a sixth-round pick just last year along with Williams, a traits-heavy lineman the team believed in when they drafted him last year but struggled this summer.

Despite the four losses, the initial 53-man roster remains one of the deepest in football. It's clear that Roseman and the front office are not only building out a depth chart, but also a pipeline of talent. Their second and even third-string players are not viewed as just placeholders, but as high-ceiling bets designed to sustain a championship window.

The approach has paid off with players like Moro Ojomo and Jalyx Hunt. Now the next wave of players including Ty Robinson, Markel Bell, Micah Morris and others is viewed as potential pieces of the future to ensure that the Super Bowl window stays open for this team as long as possible.

The model only works if you draft the right players and develop well. It seems like Roseman, the scouting and player development departments are batting near 1.000 when it comes to that formula and the league is taking notice, even when it comes to roster bubble players.

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