Eagles waive former third-round pick Davion Taylor; Anthony Harris headlines practice squad

Davion Taylor’s time on the 53-man roster was relatively short-lived.

The Eagles waived the 2020 third-round pick Wednesday, announcing the move almost 24 hours after the deadline to set the initial roster.

Taylor was billed as a developmental prospect coming out of Colorado and enticed the Eagles because of his physical profile, but he never developed the necessary instincts for the position. During the preseason, he appeared to have a multitude of missed assignments that cost the Eagles defense.

Against the Browns, he failed to get Cleveland quarterback Josh Dobbs out of bounds on a touchdown run. The following week, he was the nearest defender on a Dolphins touchdown pass in the red zone.

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Taylor, 24, started six games for the Eagles last season and seemed to be making some progress as he gained experience. He recorded 41 tackles and two forced fumbles before suffering a season-ending knee injury. His struggles during this preseason left him behind rookie Nakobe Dean and possibly even Shaun Bradley on the Eagles’ linebacker depth chart going into the regular season.

By waiving Taylor and trading wide receiver Jalen Reagor on the same day, the Eagles removed from their roster two of their top three picks in the 2020 draft. Jalen Hurts is the only pick who remains from the first two days of that draft, although the team did hit on Quez Watkins, Jack Driscoll, and Bradley on Day 3.

The Eagles claimed former Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book with one of the roster spots cleared Wednesday. The 2021 fourth-round pick was on the New Orleans Saints’ roster last season but was waived on Tuesday. He completed 64.6% of his passes in the preseason and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The team had one roster spot open after waiving Taylor.

The Eagles added 15 players, including veteran safety Anthony Harris, to their practice squad Wednesday.

Harris was the lone surprise on the taxi squad. The 30-year-old was released Tuesday just as the Eagles finalized a trade with the New Orleans Saints for defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said the decision to release the safety was because his role would be diminished with Gardner-Johnson switching from the nickel cornerback spot he played in New Orleans to safety. Releasing Harris saved the Eagles some guaranteed money against the salary cap.

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The Eagles released Harris “since there was a possibility that his role had changed from when we had signed him,” Roseman said. “Because we were looking at options, he also deserved to kind of look at options himself. Obviously, you don’t want to close any doors on anyone or anything right now at this time.”

The other 14 players on the practice squad are Devon Allen, Kayode Awosika, Kennedy Brooks, Deon Cain, Andre Chachere, Le’Raven Clark, Britain Covey, Christian Elliss, Mario Goodrich, Matt Leo, Reid Sinnett, Noah Togiai, Cameron Tom, and Marvin Wilson.

Depending on how things shake out, Covey, Allen, and Cain could all be in the mix for a Week 1 call-up as a result of the Reagor trade. The Eagles have just four receivers on the 53-man roster and don’t have a clear answer at punt returner because of Reagor’s absence.

Running back La’Mical Perine is also joining the Eagles’ practice squad as the Jets waived him Tuesday after two seasons, his agency tweeted.

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Jason Kelce took a meaningful step toward returning from arthroscopic elbow surgery on Wednesday in time for Week 1.

The 34-year-old center was in full pads during practice and took part in individual drills during the portion of the workout open to the media. He had a clean-out surgery on Aug. 9 to relieve some discomfort in his left elbow and missed most of training camp as a result. The early indication was that the Eagles were confident he’d be ready for the Sept. 11 season opener against the Detroit Lions.