Eagles Make Another Roster Move And Release Top UDFA Signing From Last Year

More evaluation has come to the Philadelphia Eagles' 90-man roster.

In the aftermath of the Eagles' preseason opener, Philadelphia signed former New England Patriots defensive back Isaiah Bolden and released offensive lineman Hollin Pierce in a corresponding move. This comes two days after adding linebacker Brandon George hours prior to the preseason opener.

Bolden was a former seventh-round pick of the Patriots and played 14 games for New England in his second season. He was placed on injured reserve in 2023 (his rookie season) and ended up signing to the practice squad in 2024 -- eventially getting signed to the active roster.

He was released by the Patriots last August and signed to the San Francisco 49ers practice squad last December, only to be released six days later. Bolden is familiar with Eagles' secondary coach Mike Pellegrino, who was the cornerbacks coach when Bolden was in New England.

Pierce was one of the highest-paid undrafted free agent signings by the Eagles in 2025. He signed for $180,000 in total guarantees, the most for an offensive lineman in that class. Pierce was waived twice, but spent his entire lookie season on the practice squad.

What do these signings mean in the grand scheme of things? Not much, although they play a role in roster construction.

What happened with Pierce?

Pierce was highly touted as an undrafted free agent signing in that 2025 class, only making slightly fewer money in guarantees than defensive back Maxen Hook ($200,000) and running back Montrell Johnson ($200,000). Neither Hook nor Johnson lasted as long as Pierce, as both were out of the organization by Week 1.

Pierce stuck around, as the Eagles were transitioning him to guard on the practice squad. He was playing both guard and tackle, and there were expectations for Pierce to make the 53-man roster this summer.

So what happened? Pierce just couldn't get off the third team, as Myles Hinton (another tackle that transitioned to guard), John Ojukwu (futures deal), and Willie Lampkin (waiver claim last year) jumped Pierce on the depth chart.

The development never came and Pierce didn't get any playing time in the preseason opener. There was no injury that came up on the injury report in the last camp practice, so the writing may have been on the wall for Pierce then.

Does Bolden have a roster shot?

Bolden is more of a camp body at this stage of the game, someone to bring in to add depth to the 90-man roster.

Jakorian Bennett was injured early in the game and did not return, so perhaps this move counters Bennett's injury. That may be why Mac McWilliams essentially played the entire game at cornerback, as the Eagles just didn't have enough depth there.

The Eagles have to get through the preseason, which is where Bolden comes in. He can give the Eagles some game tape for his career and compete for a spot on the practice squad.

The Brandon George signing

The Eagles signed George (officially) just hours before the preseason opener. George was in the facility Friday and didn't partciipate in an official practice, but was thrown to the wolves in the preseason opener.

George held his own with five tackles, but his biggest play was the first special teams snap with the Eagles -- getting a tackle on the kickoff team. He's known for being a special teams standout back from his days at the University of Pittsburgh, and lived up to that reputation.

Make no mistake, the Eagles played George so soon for a reason. He has an outside shot at making this roster, and will get a better look actually going through a week of practice.

He's competing for a spot on the practice squad after impressing in year one with the Chiefs prior to landing on injured reserve -- which ended his season.

Don't sleep on George over the next two weeks, even if his signing fell through the cracks.

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