Transaction Tuesday.
The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced five roster moves on Tuesday afternoon. An overview:
- LB Nakobe Dean was placed on injured reserve.
- WR Parris Campbell was signed from the practice squad to the active roster.
- LB Nicholas Morrow and WR Elijah Cooks were signed to the practice squad.
- WR Joe Ngata was released from the practice squad.
Let’s sort through this news on a player-by-player basis.
NAKOBE DEAN
Dean suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee during the Eagles’ Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers. He’s out for the rest of the playoffs and he could miss games during the 2025 season as well.
Very unfortunate development for Dean, who was having a pretty great breakout season and is a well-liked guy in the locker room. The Eagles’ defense is certainly worse without him.
Exactly how the Eagles go about replacing Dean remains to be seen. We do know that Zack Baun will take over green dot duties as the defensive play-caller; Vic Fangio confirmed as much on Tuesday. Fangio also suggested that we could see Oren Burks and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. split snaps at linebacker next to Baun.
PARRIS CAMPBELL
The Eagles signed Campbell to fill the roster spot opened by Dean going on IR.
This move doesn’t come as a surprise since the Eagles made Campbell one of their two temporary practice squad elevations for their Wild Card game. Serving as a fifth wide receiver behind A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jahan Dotson, and Johnny Wilson, Campbell logged zero offensive snaps and just two special teams snaps.
Campbell being bumped up cements Ainias Smith as a healthy scratch sixth wide receiver moving forward.
NICHOLAS MORROW
Morrow’s return to Philly was first reported earlier on Tuesday.
With Dean going on IR, the Eagles only have three off-ball linebackers on their roster: Baun, Burks, and Trotter Jr. Signing Morrow to the practice squad allows the team to temporarily elevate him from the practice squad to have a fourth linebacker available for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
One would figure Morrow will be limited to special teams duty, barring additional linebacker injuries.
ELIJAH COOKS
Cooks is a new addition to the Eagles.
The 26-year-old wide receiver played six years in college (five at Nevada, one at San Jose State) before signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2023.
Cooks appeared in nine games as a rookie and played 108 offensive snaps. He was targeted four times for three receptions and 38 yards. Cooks spent the 2024 season on the Jaguars’ practice squad and appeared in two games, playing just 10 offensive snaps.
Cooks is a relatively big receiver at 6’4”, 215 pounds.
JOE NGATA
The Eagles only brought Ngata back to Philly last Friday. His return clearly didn’t last long with the Eagles seemingly preferring Cooks to him.
EAGLES PRACTICE SQUAD
Practice squad players can be temporarily elevated to the game day roster up to three times in the regular season and an unlimited number of times in the postseason.
WR Elijah Cooks
LB Nicholas Morrow
FB Khari Blasingame
QB Ian Book
DB Tariq Castro-Fields
RB Tyrion Davis-Price
LB Dallas Gant
WR Danny Gray
DT Gabe Hall
DE Charles Harris
DE KJ Henry
DE Ochaun Mathis
CB Parry Nickerson
WR Kyle Philips
S Andre’ Sam
DB A.J. Woods
OT Laekin Vakalahi (international exemption)
