After a flurry of cuts over the past three days that say about 20 players lose their jobs, the Eagles have settled on their final (for now) 53 man roster. The big surprises are undrafted free agents Phillip Hunt and Cedric Thornton.
The Eagles signed Hunt away from the CFL, where he led the league in sacks. He had a very impressive camp and preseason with the team and actually led the Eagles in sacks (3) during the preseason. Initially it was reported that he was going to be cut, but that was later debunked and Hunt earned himself a roster spot.
"I think what we looked at was the job that [DE] Phillip Hunt did here in the preseason." Eagles GM Howie Roseman said. "We wanted to make sure that we stayed based on what the film was telling us and kind of reacted off that. This is a guy in every game that he played was making a difference rushing the passer, and obviously he was successful in the CFL, and he's a guy that we liked coming out of the University of Houston. I think it's a testament to him that he came in here and had the production that he did and everyday he came to play."
Cedric Thornton is the other surprise to make the roster. Thornton is a massive 6-3, 309 DT who was undrafted out of division 1AA Southern Arkansas. The Eagles really like his upside and thought he did some impressive things in preseason. Plus, with Antonio Dixon, Mike Patterson and Trevor Laws all missing time in preseason, they could use the depth at DT.
Of course, we must keep in mind that this is not the final 53 man roster. Until they kickoff in St. Louis next Sunday, many of these guys’ jobs are not safe. Hundreds of players have been released around the leauge today and it’s almost certain that the Eagles are going to have interest in some of them. So expect to see another flurry of cuts and signings in the coming days.