Eagles sign Davion Taylor to practice squad one day after waiving the former third-round pick
The linebacker was billed as a high-risk, high-reward player coming out of college because of his combination of impressive athletic testing and relative inexperience.
After one day away, Davion Taylor is headed back to the NovaCare Complex.
The linebacker, whom the Eagles waived the day before, cleared waivers Thursday afternoon and will be signed to the team’s practice squad, a league source told The Inquirer, confirming several media reports.
Taylor struggled mightily during the preseason, which led to his release, but Eagles coach Nick Sirianni hinted during a Thursday news conference that the 2020 third-round pick could come back on the taxi squad if he made it through waivers.
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“We’re still working on completing the roster,” Sirianni said. “... There are things obviously that are being worked on right now that you guys don’t know about, and we’re obviously going to keep that low. But it was just a numbers thing where we were, and we still want Davion to be a part of this organization. We’ll see what happens.”
“He’s done some good things and made some good plays for us,” Sirianni added. “Hopefully, that’s not the last time we work with him.”
After trading wide receiver Jalen Reagor to the Minnesota Vikings, claiming former Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, and waiving Taylor, the Eagles went into Thursday with an open roster spot. That spot allowed them to claim former Oklahoma running back Trey Sermon while still keeping Taylor in the building.
Taylor was billed as a high-risk, high-reward player coming out of college because of his combination of impressive athletic testing and relative inexperience. He barely played high school football because of religious obligations and was just a two-year starter in college.
He got some extended playing time last season and seemed to be making progress, but had an ugly preseason where he often looked out of place. He failed to get Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh Dobbs out of bounds on a touchdown run up the sideline in the second week of the preseason and was the nearest defender on a Miami Dolphins touchdown pass the following week.
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Sirianni also addressed the team’s decision to trade Reagor to the Vikings in exchange for a 2023 seventh-round pick and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2024.
“We do wish him the best,” Sirianni said. “You get emotionally attached to everybody you have here as players. He’s not on our team anymore. He’s a Minnesota Viking now. I’m not even going to go into that or anything there. He gave some good plays while he was here. He had a good training camp, like I said yesterday, and I wish him the best.”