Why Eagles Continue To Have Players Poached On Their Roster By Other Teams

The Eagles had two more players from their practice squad poached this past week, a sign how good their roster is on the back end.

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If Howie Roseman regretted losing four players to waivers following the 53-man roster deadline, wonder how the Philadelphia Eagles general manager feels about losing even more players on his current 7-man roster?

The Eagles continue to lose players on their practice squad, with two more players being signed from other organizations this week. Safety Maximus Pulley was signed to the Los Angeles Rams active roster and cornerback Robert Longerbeam was signed by the Atlanta Falcons.

Practice squad players are allowed to be taken off the practice squad by another team if they are signed to that team's active roster. There are no protections for players on the practice squad if they are signed to the active roster of another team.

If a practice squad player is signed to the active roster, that player receives a minimum of three weekly paychecks -- even if that player is released before spending three weeks with the new team. For example, Pulley can only be with the Rams for a week before being released -- but would still get three game checks since he was on the active roster.

So why are the Eagles losing their practice squad players? Why are they the team that lost four players that were cut on 53-man roster cutdowns last month, more than any other team?

The answer is obvious.

The Eagles are good at developing players

This is an indicator of the Eagles' coaches and scouting department for finding talent and developing them. It's a shame the Eagles won't get to see the fruits of their labor developing said talent.

This is who the Eagles have lost to waivers and the practice squad over the past month.

TE Cameron Latu (Patriots), DB Kapena Gushiken (Colts), T Cameron Williams (Falcons), T Myles Hinton (Bengals), CB Robert Longerbeam (Falcons), S Maximus Pulley (Rams)/

Losing Latu hurt considering the Eagles tight end situation, where they were thin at the position for several weeks -- even with Dallas Goedert healthy. Gushiken likely would have been an early practice squad elevation and a contender to play as the season wore on.

The Eagles took the gamble they would get both on the practice squad and lost. What they didn't expect was losing players on their own practice squad during the season too.

This does happen throughout the year, but the Eagles are one of the NFL's elite. They have been to three Super Bowls in the past eight seasons and won 59 regular season games over the past five seasons (2021-2025).

Oh, and they're 2-0 this season.

Teams see good talent available on the Eagles, they're going to take a chance and sign those players. Especially after the Eagles spent an entire offseason developing most of these players.

This is a byproduct of the Eagles scouting department, finding the talent and recognizing it before any other team. This is how a Darius Cooper gets discovered, or a Britain Covey several years back.

The Eagles were fortunate to keep Cooper. It's a shame that couldn't see what they had with Gushiken or Pulley.

Perhaps they'll land back in Philadelphia at some point, or they'll thrive with their new teams. The Eagles still deserve credit for finding those players and recognizing their talent.

If the Eagles didn't win over 70% of their games since 2021, this wouldn't be the case. They do win, and win a lot.

Other teams are hoping to poach some of that talent in hopes of being the Eagles some day, or just need a player to help out an area they are significantly weak at one position.

The Eagles aren't the only team that are weak in certain areas after all. Their seventh cornerback might be a fourth cornerback on aanother roster.

That's how good the Eagles roster is, or how it's perceived around the league. Even if the roster isn't as talented as in recent years, it's still one of the best in the NFL.

The Eagles are going to lose players over the course of the year. This is the byproduct of winning.

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