Just because the draft has ended, does not mean the work is over. There are hundreds of players who never heard their names called, who will still have a shot with an NFL team. We are in UDFA time now.
Undrafted Free Agency is sometimes where you find real diamonds in the rough. Most guys will never see an NFL roster. But there is great talent to be found there if you know where to look. Kurt Warner was a UDFA. Wes Welker went undrafted. Warren Moon started as an Undrafted Free Agent. You can get a Hall of Famer if you are lucky. Short of that, you can find solid starters too. That said, most guys will be cut by the end of camp.
Some Notable UDFA Eagles:
More recently, we saw Corey Clement go from Undrafted Free Agent to Super Bowl hero in his first season. His career spun out from there, but without his toe-tapping TD, the Eagles might have never had a parade.
Jamaal Jackson went undrafted in 2003, and went on to be the Eagles starting center for parts of 5 seasons.
TJ Edwards turned into their best LB not too long after being signed as a UDFA.
Not to mention names like Andre Watters, Herman Edwards, and Chad Lewis.
Last year the Eagles relied on many UDFAs. it didn’t go great. But it is hard to blame them for not being perfect in their 1st or 2nd seasons. Reed Blankenship and Eli Ricks may till have roles with the Eagles going forward. The fact the Eagles had to rely on them is more a problem with roster construction than it is a statement on the future of those two players.
Which UDFAs did the Eagles Sign This Year?
So who are the Eagles bringing in this year? Can any of them crack the roster. Did they find one of those diamonds in the rough?
In his post-draft press conference, Howie Roseman confirmed this would be a small UDFA class.
One, they had a lot of draft picks, but they also signed a few players to future contracts, like Julian Okwara and Darian Kinnard, whom they view in a similar way to UDFAs. There was not much space left on the 90-man roster, so they weren’t able to be as busy in UDFA as they usually are.
But they did make some signings. And some might have a chance at making the roster.
You can check out what they did in the actual draft here, and then you can keep scrolling to see which UDFAs they sign