When the Eagles go out to practice Wednesday, they won’t have a punt returner. But that’s OK because it looks like they won't have anybody to kick him the ball anyway.
Britain Covey and Arryn Siposs were both among the Eagles’ roster cuts on Tuesday, most likely under different circumstances.
Covey and Siposs are both subject to the waiver claim process so the Eagles could lose either or both, although both will likely clear waivers.
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If they do, the Eagles can sign either or both to their practice squad, which would allow them to elevate them the first three games of the season (or any three games).
But it seems like the Eagles are fine with Covey, who had the 4th-highest punt return average in the NFL after Week 4 of last season. It’s certainly a risk exposing him to waivers, but it’s a calculated risk.
But it also seems like they’d like to upgrade from Siposs, whose first two NFL seasons have not ended well. If they can’t find anyone better? Then he’s probably back.
“A lot of these guys that we cut today we're interested in bringing back,” Roseman said. “We have a practice squad. We've talked about the roster being 69 guys as opposed to 53 and having flexibility in those spots.
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“I think when you look at Sip (Siposs), obviously the season didn't end for us the way that we wanted to, and he would say the same thing, but (we) also have confidence in his abilities.
"We'll just see what happens here in the next 24 hours with him and a bunch of these other guys. You know, try to bring some of these guys back and give them a chance to continue to compete for spots. We got the activations there on the practice squad as well for other guys too.”
Siposs has not kicked very well or very consistently since he got here. He had the lowest average in the NFL down the stretch in 2021 and the less we say about his final punt in the Super Bowl the better.
His 44.7 average over the last two years ranks 25th out of 33 qualifying punters.
What Siposs does very well is hold for Jake Elliott, and that’s an under-rated skill. Elliott is one of the NFL’s best kickers and if you replace Siposs the punter you also have to replace Siposs the holder.
“I think that anytime we make a decision, we have to go through the worst case scenario and the options and be prepared for those options,” Roseman said.
“I think not just at punter but any of the questions that you answer, we go through the possibilities that it doesn't work out exactly the way that we thought, and we make sure we're all on board with those scenarios.
“Certainly when we talk about Jake and how good a player he is, we want him to be in a great spot because he is an important player for this team. We'll make sure that's taken care of.”
Even if the Eagles bring back Covey and/or Siposs and sign them to the practice squad and elevate them on game days, they'd eventually have to find a permanent solution.
Roseman has played this sort of kick-the-can in the past, assuming that by Week 4 someone will be going on IR or expendable and a roster spot or two would magically open up.
If not? Somebody else can go on the practice squad and the Eagles can start using their game-day elevations. Roseman is as good as anybody at using the NFL’s roster management rules to his advantage.
But there is a risk.
They could lose Covey and the only realistic punt return option currently on the roster is Olamide Zaccheaus. Or maybe the punter they have their eye on winds up somewhere else.
Because they lost in the Super Bowl, the Eagles are 31st in the NFL in waiver claim priority. So if they claim a player and that player is claimed by any team other than the Chiefs, the Eagles don't get the player.
“We don't have to make any of those decisions right yet,” Nick Sirianni said. “We still have time.”
And then, speaking specifically about punt return, he added: “We still have 69 guys to choose from. Well, you know, we're not going to pick Jordan Mailata or something like that, but you have a lot of guys to choose from and guys that have been working all offseason and all training camp catching punts, so we feel good about our options there.”