The Eagles made two roster moves on Tuesday, claiming tight end Caleb Wilson off waivers from the Washington Football Team and placing guard Brandon Brooks on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list.
Wilson is the son of former Defensive Line Coach Chris Wilson. Known as Mr. Irrelevant of the 2019 NFL Draft, the 254th and final pick, Wilson led the nation in yards by a tight end in final season at UCLA with 965 in 2018 before being chosen by the Arizona Cardinals.
The 6-4, 235-pound Wilson didn't make the Cardinals' active roster out of Training Camp and landed on the practice squad. He was signed by Washington in December and finished the final three games of the season on the team's active roster. The Eagles have five tight ends on the team with Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, Joshua Perkins, Noah Togiai, and now Wilson. In total, the Eagles have 79 players on the active roster (not including international practice squad exemption Matt Leo). (UPDATE: The original version of this article said there are 82 players on the active roster, but the three players on the Reserve/COVID list do not count toward that total.)
Brooks ruptured his Achilles in a workout at the NovaCare Complex in June, so his roster move is not a surprise. The Eagles signed Jason Peters to start in Brooks' place for the 2020 season. Brooks earned Pro Bowl honors in each of the past three seasons.
Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Jeff Stoutland acknowledged that the injury to Brooks is "a tremendous loss," calling him the best right guard in the game. But if anyone is up to the challenge of filling in those shoes, says Stoutland, it's the future Hall of Famer.
"I think that this is going to be great for Jason Peters. It's just another challenge for him. I think that he's had to play the toughest position on the O-line, maybe in the whole offense, for a lot of years, playing left tackle, blind side, being out there on his own, man on an island, one-on-one blocking all day. So, that's a hard job, OK? I think this can really help us," Stoutland said.
"Number one, he knows me, he knows how I coach, he knows our terminology. You have to know what the guard is doing on every play. You played next to him. You were a tackle. With all of these things being said, I think he brings a lot of value to the organization, to our offense, and so, to me, for those reasons, I think this is absolutely the best move."
