When the clock struck 4 pm Eastern on August 27th, almost half of the players in the NFL were handed their walking papers, with each team, from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Seattle Seahawks, forced to cut down their roster to 53 men.
Now to some players, this is the end of their NFL journeys, but considering how much effort the league has put into expanding opportunities for players on the fringes, from expanding practice squads to 16 to allowing veteran players to spend time outside of the 53 man roster, cut day has become one of the more interesting ones on the NFL calendar year, as seemingly every GM has a different strategy as to how they want to handle the process.
For the most part, Howie Roseman has been very good about using the mechanics of the NFL to his advantage, but this year, he did something rather peculiar: he released rookie sixth-round pick Dylan McMahon, who will not be subjected to the waiver wire.
Asked during his post-trim down press conference about the decision to let the versatile guard/center hybrid go just a few months after making him the 190th overall selection in the 2024 NFL draft, Roseman noted that at this time of year, tough decisions have to be made, which is the category cutting McMahon clearly falls into.
“These are hard decisions, and you’re really trying to balance the opportunities you have this year as a football team and also trying to protect the future of the team and of the organization,” Roseman told reporters.
“So, certainly not an easy one. Draft picks always are a little bit of a special place for you, as are all these players, but when you pick guys off the board, and I think just for us, where we were, looking at the offensive line as a whole and looking at the roster as a whole, tough decision, but that’s where we came up on it.”
While the Eagles would clearly like to bring McMahon back on the practice squad, that decision isn't entirely up to Roseman, as he could be claimed by some offensive line-needy team looking to get a little of that Jeff Stoutland charm in their building or opt to sign with another practice squad because his camp felt uncomfortable with how Philadelphia handled things this summer. In the end, it could all work out, but it could also not work out, which is the risk Roseman accepted when he made the call.
Howie Roseman has a plan for the Eagles' backup center
So, with McMahon, Nick Gates, and Matt Hennessey all released in the final trim down to 53, one question fans, reporters, and the Eagles themselves have to ask is who will earn minutes at backup center should Cam Jurgens miss time this fall for one reason or another.
Fortunately, Roseman was asked that very question, too, during his media session and let it be known that the Eagles do have a plan, even if he didn't want to make it known due to the up-in-the-air nature of the roster immediately following so many releases.
“I think the first part about it, and we talked about this a little bit today, we’re incomplete right now. We’re at 53, but we really view it as a 70-man roster. We’ve got to go through that here in the next 24 hours to get some players back. We don’t know how that’s going to go,” Roseman explained.
“We feel like we’re prepared for whatever the scenarios are on that. As we sit here, things look probably a little more incomplete than they will look in the next 24 hours. We obviously let go of some guys who have played the position. You hope to get some guys back. You also have contingency plans in case you don’t. Obviously, we have other guys on the roster who have done it.
“Without getting into any specifics, because it’s probably part of our game planning and part of our roster management, but there are other guys on the roster who have done it and done it at a high level.”
Widely expected to play center when he was drafted out of Alabama in the second round, Dickerson was moved to guard by the Eagles and has since become one of the premier options in the NFL, so much so that he was handed a very nice four-year, $84 million contract for his efforts. While kicking him inside to center while allowing someone like Trevor Keegan or Tyler Steen to slot in at left guard may give the Eagles a better starting five than utilizing an undersized sixth-round pick like McMahon in the spot, Roseman's comments make it seem more like he's vying for another recently-released player to fill the void either via free agency or the waiver wire. Ricky Stromberg, perhaps?
