Eagles claim wide receiver Xavier Gipson off waivers
In one game with the Jets this season, Gipson averaged 28.4 yards on five kick returns.
The Eagles are adding a new receiver and return specialist into the fold, claiming Xavier Gipson off waivers from the New York Giants on Monday.
To make room for Gipson on the active roster, the Eagles released Kenyon Green, the offensive lineman they acquired from the Houston Texans in the C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade.
Gipson, 24, spent just a week and a half with the Giants, who claimed him off waivers from the New York Jets on Sept. 11. He did not appear in a game for the Giants. Gipson signed with the Jets in 2023 as an undrafted free agent out of Stephen F. Austin, but the team cut him after their Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In that game, former Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell forced a fumble on Gipson during a fourth-quarter kickoff as the Jets sought to protect their 26-24 lead. Pittsburgh recovered the loose ball, setting up their go-ahead touchdown that helped secure their 34-32 victory.
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While the 5-foot-9, 189-pound Gipson has had a tumultuous month, he brings considerable punt- and kick-return experience to the Eagles. In just one game with the Jets this season, he had five kick returns for 142 yards, averaging 28.4 yards (the NFL average in 2025 is 25.1 yards per return). Gipson has returned 44 kicks in his career (26 yards per return).
He also had two punt returns for 19 yards in his lone game with the Jets (9½ yards per return; league average is 11.9).
This addition comes in the aftermath of the Eagles’ 33-26 win over the Los Angeles Rams, in which kick returners John Metchie and Tank Bigsby muffed four knuckleball kickoffs from Rams kicker Joshua Karty.
Additionally, Darius Cooper, the 2025 undrafted free agent receiver out of Tarleton State, sustained a shoulder injury on Sunday and did not return to the game.
Gipson has primarily served as a special-teams contributor over the last two seasons, but he played 45% of the offensive snaps for the Jets in 2023. That year, he primarily lined up in the slot (223 snaps, compared to 137 on the outside). He finished the season with 229 yards on 21 catches, an output that ranked fifth on the Jets’ No. 29-ranked scoring offense.