Some late night roster news: the Philadelphia Eagles are re-signing former starting safety Marcus Epps.
This much according to a report from NFL insider Tom Pelissero.
We highlighted the possibility of the Eagles re-signing Epps earlier on Wednesday:
The former starting Eagles safety was released by the New England Patriots. Reports indicate Epps asked to be cut, perhaps with the idea he could find a better path to playing time elsewhere.
A return to Philly could make sense, especially if Andrew Mukuba’s hamstring injury prevents him from practicing leading up to Week 1.
On that note, Mukuba has not yet returned to practice. It’s possible the rookie won’t be ready to play Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys.
In addition to Mukuba’s status being up in the air, the Eagles waived Tristin McCollum on Wednesday. That move left them with just three safeties (plus Cooper DeJean, who has taken reps on the back end in the Eagles’ base defense) on their 53-man roster. Re-signing Epps gives them four again.
The Eagles originally acquired a rookie Epps off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings (who drafted him with a sixth-round pick) in early November 2019. He progressively worked his way up from fringe roster player to rotational contributor to full-time starter for the Eagles in 2022. Following that season, he signed a multi-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency. Epps started all 17 games for them in 2023 before suffering an ACL injury that limited him to just three games played in 2024. Epps then signed with the aforementioned Patriots on a one-year “prove it” deal in March earlier this year. Now he’s back in Philly.
Though he’s returning to a familiar team, Epps will be learning a new system. He previously played for Jim Schwartz and Jonathan Gannon (boo) and now he’s working under Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. One would think Epps isn’t ready to play a major role on defense right away.
As it currently stands, Sydney Brown is projected to start in Week 1. That could change if Mukuba gets real healthy real soon. If not, Mukuba might still be able to overtake Brown when he does return. If neither Brown nor Mukuba seize the starting safety job, perhaps Epps takes over as the fallback option. The Eagles would probably prefer that he remains a veteran backup who can also help out on special teams.
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