Recently, the Philadelphia Eagles have been shaking up their practice squad by adding new faces and letting some players go.
Two of the big additions are wide receiver Danny Gray and defensive back A.J. Woods, who both joined the practice squad.
To make room for them, the Eagles released linebacker Brandon Smith and wide receiver Griffin Hebert.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Rams signed rookie offensive lineman Dylan McMahon from the Eagles’ practice squad.
Danny Gray is a former third-round pick from the 49ers in 2022. His career hasn’t gone as planned, but he’s got serious speed—he ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
While he didn’t do much in his rookie year, only catching 1 pass for 10 yards and rushing once for 9 yards, he was drafted high for a reason.
He showed promise during his college days at SMU, where he averaged 15.3 yards per catch and scored 9 touchdowns in his senior year. Now, at 6-foot-2, he’s looking to make an impact with the Eagles.
On the other hand, A.J. Woods comes in as an undrafted free agent from Pittsburgh. He played in a ton of games during college (59, to be exact) and had 4 interceptions and 29 pass breakups.
Woods spent some time with the Commanders during training camp this year, but now he’ll try to prove himself with the Eagles.
While the Eagles bring in these two, they had to say goodbye to a few players. Brandon Smith was on the Eagles’ practice squad and played in a couple of games last season, making one tackle on special teams.
Griffin Hebert, who joined the team near the end of last season, was also let go.
One of the biggest losses for the Eagles is the loss of rookie center Dylan McMahon. He was picked in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft and seemed to have a lot of potential as a backup center, but the Rams scooped him up for their active roster.
Unfortunately, McMahon’s departure leaves a gap in the offensive line depth, with no clear backup for starter Cam Jurgens.
After these moves, the Eagles still have one open spot on their practice squad, which they’ll likely fill soon. The team’s strategy is to keep its roster flexible and ready for any situation.
Right now, they’re focused on developing players like Gray and Woods, who could potentially make an impact later on.
In addition to these recent signings, the Eagles brought safety Caden Sterns to the practice squad.
Sterns was initially signed by the Eagles in training camp but was cut due to injury concerns. And now that he’s healthy, he’s getting another shot.
At the same time, the Eagles decided to release tight end Jack Stoll, who had been on their practice squad.
The team picked up Stoll after being cut by the Giants, but with E.J. Jenkins stepping up as the third tight end, it seemed there wasn’t enough room for Stoll.
So, with all these changes, here’s where the Eagles’ practice squad stands: they’ve added Danny Gray, A.J. Woods, and Caden Sterns while losing Dylan McMahon and releasing a few others.
And as the team still has one more practice squad spot open, they’ll likely make more moves soon.
While the season progresses, the Eagles will keep tweaking their practice squad. Given this focus, they want to ensure they have enough depth and talent in case they need to call up players to the active roster.
It’ll be interesting to see if Gray or Woods can step up and make a bigger impact later in the season.
