The cuts have already started for the Philadelphia Eagles with reports indicating a host of players who have already been informed that they will be waived and/or released.
Many more names will be added to that list by Tuesday at 4 p.m., the deadline to whittle things down from 90 to the league-mandated limit of 53.
With preseason action in the rear-view mirror, it seemed like a good time to contact a former Eagles’ scouting executive to find out how one of the best general managers in the NFL, Howie Roseman, handles his responsibility as steward of the roster.
To do that we inquired about two undrafted free-agent cornerbacks who may be battling each other for one of the final spots on the team: LSU's Mekhi Garner and Eli Ricks of Alabama.
The former has been running ahead of Ricks in practice for the majority of the summer but the latter has shown up on game days during the preseason in contests that the Eagles’ coaching staff don’t seem to value that much, at least publicly.
The hype surrounding Ricks, a lanky 6-2, 188-pounder, had already reached the former executive.
“I’m actually watching for him right now,” the scout texted. “I think the talent is clearly there. You can probably speak for the stuff outside the preseason games better than I can, but he’s the type of raw talent I would think they try and hold onto.
“How they go about doing that is the real question.”
The risk of losing Ricks or one of the other potential cuts like Garner is a little bit greater for the Eagles because they are coming off an NFC championship season and are regarded as having one of the deepest rosters in football.
The numbers say only about 40 players a year are claimed during the post-cutdown. Perhaps that grows a little this year, the first where the NFL streamlined things to one giant cut from 90 all the way to 53.
The thought is that Ricks’ splashy plays in the preseason – a pick-six at Baltimore and solid coverage against two of the Colts’ best receivers on Thursday night, Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce, might have opened up some eyes elsewhere.
“I like what he showed more than [Josh] Jobe did last year, and they made sure to hold onto him,” the former executive said. “They know how valuable it is to have Georgia/Alabama defenders now. They’re the smartest players on the field and had to master a system that’s the most complex in the history of [college] football.”
The context to that is Jobe caught the eye of former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in practice and was a steady climber, a better description for Garner this year, a far more physical player than Ricks at 6-2 and 212 pounds.
“I love Mekhi too. It’s going to be a tough one because if someone presented me with a case for any of those, I’d have a hard time disagreeing,” the executive said. “I could see scenarios where each gets the nod for different reasons.
“I guess it’ll come down to who they feel is in the best position to contribute on ST [special teams] and provides versatility.”
If that’s the case Garner has had a more significant impact on coverage teams but Ricks did do an excellent job blocking on Devon Allen’s 73-yard kickoff return against the Colts. The versatility column is clearly checked Garner, a player many scouts projected to safety. Ricks is a pure outside corner.
The description there prompted the turn toward Roseman.
It seems like the coaching staff has leaned toward Garner for most of the summer but Ricks’ ceiling as a playmaker is much higher. The Eagles guaranteed Garner $117,500 with a $17,500 signing bonus compared to just $40K and a $10K bonus to put pen to paper for Ricks, who had the better pedigree coming into college as a 5-star recruit to LSU before transferring and playing his final season with the Crimson Tide.
Could Roseman, who has the final say on the 53, make an executive decision and take the sizzle over the steak?
“I don’t see him doing that if there’s a legit case otherwise,” the scout said. “Coaches get to present on each player and the position coach’s word carries a lot of weight for him. If [the position coach] has a case for keeping someone, usually it’s one that doesn’t take much convincing from the staff.”
Another team source noted that that weight varies from say a Jeff Stoutland on down and current secondary coach D.K. McDonald probably isn’t going to immediately get the same deference as departed position coach Dennard Wilson, who McDonald assisted last year.
In the end, the actual decision might be the trade market.
“They should try and trade one of them,” the former Eagles’ executive said. “There has to be a team out there who’d pay a late pick for Ricks based on the preseason.”
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