Howie Roseman on Eagles roster decisions: Jahan Dotson trade, new IR rule, lack of clear backup center

With the Eagles’ initial 53-man roster set, Howie Roseman emphasized on Tuesday that the current picture of players available to play in Week 1 of the regular season is incomplete.

The general manager said the organization views its roster as a 70-man group, not 53. That expanded number includes the Eagles’ potential 17-man practice squad, from which the team may designate game-day elevations. Each NFL team will assemble its practice squad over the 24 hours following the cutdown deadline once players clear waivers.

The 53-man roster currently is comprised of 22 offensive players and 28 defensive players, but Roseman isn’t fixated on the imbalance for now.

“I think the telling part will be once we get to 70,” Roseman said. “We use that 70-man roster more so when we talk about numbers than we do necessarily 53. So I think in the end, it will look very consistent with how we’ve looked the past couple of years.”

» READ MORE: Eagles’ 53-man roster goes heavy at cornerback and safety, including James Bradberry for the time being

One notable absence on the Eagles roster following the cutdown deadline is a clear backup to Cam Jurgens. The Eagles waived 2024 sixth-round pick Dylan McMahon, a center at NC State who continued to play the position through training camp. The team also released Brett Toth, the fourth-year offensive lineman who was the primary backup at center by the end of the preseason.

Toth, who turns 28 on Sunday, is a vested veteran, so he does not require waivers. McMahon must clear waivers if the Eagles want to sign him to their practice squad. While Roseman did not name specific players that he would like to add to the 17-man unit, he acknowledged that their reserve centers could be among that group.

“We let go of some guys who’ve played the position,” Roseman said. “You hope to get some guys back. You also have contingency plans in case you don’t. Obviously, we have other guys on the roster who’ve done it without getting into any specifics because it’s probably part of game-planning and part of our roster management. But there are other guys on the roster who’ve done it and done it at a high level.”

One of those players who has experience at center is Landon Dickerson, the Eagles left guard. He was the two-year starter at center at Alabama, earning the Rimington Trophy as college football’s best center in his senior season.

At the cutdown deadline, the Eagles announced that they placed Ainias Smith and Albert Okwuegbunam on injured reserve with designations for return during the regular season.

A league source told The Inquirer that Smith suffered an ankle injury in the preseason finale on Saturday that could leave him sidelined for 4-6 weeks. Okwuegbunam underwent a core muscle procedure that comes with a 6-8-week recovery timeline, according to a league source.

The return designation is a new addition to the IR regulations for the 2024 season. Teams are allowed to place two players on IR before the cutdown deadline who can be designated for return after four games. Previously, if a team wanted to designate a player to return from IR who was injured during the preseason, he would have to make the initial 53, then the team would place him on IR the next day.

“Those were two guys that we would’ve had to put on the 53 in other years and then put them on IR tomorrow,” Roseman said of Smith and Okwuegbunam. “So, certainly, we felt like the rule in this situation helped us keep two other players that we may not have been able to keep.”

» READ MORE: Three surprises from the Eagles' initial 53-man roster

Additionally, the Eagles announced that Sydney Brown will start the season on reserve/physically unable to perform. Brown, the second-year safety, suffered an ACL injury in the regular-season finale last season. He had been on PUP throughout camp. He also must miss four games before he is eligible to be designated for return.

Jahan Dotson arrived in Philadelphia surrounded by a few familiar faces, not limited to the ones in the Eagles locker room such as Saquon Barkley, a fellow Penn Stater, and A.J. Brown, his offseason training partner in Florida.

Dotson also is acquainted with Roseman, who brought the third-year receiver into the NovaCare Complex for a top 30 visit in 2022. The Eagles scouted the top receivers of that draft class extensively before ultimately acquiring A.J. Brown from the Tennessee Titans in a draft-night trade, while the Washington Commanders selected Dotson with the No. 16 overall pick. That sense of familiarity played a role in Roseman’s decision to trade for the 24-year-old on Thursday.

“Really like the player,” Roseman said. “Felt like we knew him really well. Brought him into the building. Had exposure to him. Felt like we had a vision through the coaching staff of how he could be utilized. There was an opportunity there to get the player. Obviously, give up a second-day draft compensation, which is important for all of us. But we felt like it was worthwhile based on what we knew, what we thought that we needed, and made the trade.”

Roseman added that there’s always a degree of concern when trading with other teams in the NFC East, especially with the knowledge that they aren’t going to get “freebies” from anyone.

» READ MORE: Eagles wideout Jahan Dotson holds his football future in his hands. Quite literally, in fact

“I think it’s always harder when you do it in your division, but you always look at these trades, it’s like a fraternity, being a GM in this league,” Roseman said. “There’s only 31 others in the whole world that you share that with. So you always want to make trades that are win-win, probably a little less so for trades in the NFC East.”