Eagles Cut 5, as March to 80-Man Roster Continues

The biggest surprise release was DE Daeshon Hall, who played in nine games last year

The Eagles continued their march to an 80-man roster by releasing five players ahead of the start of training camp on Tuesday.

Their roster now sits at 83, including defensive end Matt Leo, who is roster exempt as part of the NFL’s international pathway program.

On Sunday, the team parted ways with wide receivers Shelton Gibson and Marcus Green, defensive end Daeshon Hall, defensive tackle Albert Huggins, and cornerback Tremon Smith.

With the NFLP and NFL agreeing on new rules for the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams have to cut their roster to 80 players prior to Tuesday when veterans report to training camp.

The Eagles have two more cuts to make to be in compliance.

Head coach Doug Pederson will likely address the recent moves when he talks with reporters via Zoom on Monday at 10:30 a.m.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the five released on Sunday was Hall, who led the Eagles in sacks during last year’s four preseason games and made it into nine games. Despite playing just five percent of the defensive snaps, Hall had four tackles and one sack.

The defensive end spot figures to be a tight competition behind Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett, with Josh Sweat, Shareef Miller, Joe Ostman, and rookie seventh-round pick Casey Toohill in a less crowded mix now with the release of Hall.

Ass for the receivers, Gibson was released for the second time by the Eagles after drafting him in the fifth round back in 2017 and Green spent the entire season on the practice squad, but never got an opportunity despite the plague of injuries that hit the WR room last year.

Huggins was signed off the practice squad of the Houston Texans on Nov. 21 when injuries hit the defensive tackle group hard. He played in four games.

Smith was signed to the practice squad on Dec. 4. He never saw any action with the Eagles but did play 15 games in two years for the Kansas City Chiefs and seven games in one season with the Green Bay Packers before arriving in Philadelphia.

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