Who made the cut? | Sports Daily Newsletter

The Eagles have been fiddling with roster moves all preseason, but as we neared Tuesday’s 4 p.m. roster deadline, it started to become clear how the roster was going to shake out.

On Sunday, the Birds traded a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-rounder to the Minnesota Vikings for Sam Howell, a soon-to-be-25-year-old quarterback, and a 2026 sixth-round pick.

The context of the trade was that the Eagles weren’t impressed with rookie Kyle McCord, a local whom they selected in the sixth round of this year’s draft. And he was cut from the initial 53-man roster.

Howie Roseman wanted some insurance for backup quarterback Tanner McKee, who is nursing a right finger injury and may not be ready for the opener. Trading for Howell felt like the best move for the team.

“In this instance, just felt like Sam had a lot of value for our team right now,” Roseman added. “That doesn’t say we don’t like our young quarterbacks who were here and we don’t have great hope and promise for those guys.”

McCord may have not looked NFL-ready, but there’s a chance if he passes through waivers that he’ll be retained on the team’s practice squad.

In other roster news, the most notable player to make the cut was wide receiver Darius Cooper. While injuries may have helped pave the way, Cooper, who went undrafted out of Tarleton State, beat out 2024 draft pick Ainias Smith for a spot.

Here’s a look at the rest of Eagles’ 53-man roster.

— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The Phillies put Jordan Romano on the injured list with what they characterized as “inflammation of his right middle finger.” The move comes after Monday night’s disaster, when Romano couldn’t stop a three-run deficit from exploding into seven runs. But that wasn’t the only bullpen move the Phillies made. They also released veteran righty Joe Ross and called up Daniel Robert and Montgomery County native Lou Trivino from triple A.

Jhoan Duran gave up four straight singles in the ninth inning, including the walk-off hit in the Phillies’ 6-5 loss to the Mets. The Phillies have lost their last nine games at Citi Field, including the playoffs.

On Tuesday, Dante Nori, a 20-year-old center fielder, was promoted by the Phillies to high-A Jersey Shore. Nori recently sat down with Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball show, to discuss how he turned around his season, as well as what it was like to grow up with his father, Micah, being a longtime assistant coach in the NBA.

Also, the Phillies released their 2026 schedule, which will include a heavy dose of road games in June and July.

The Sixers are one of the least predictable teams in the NBA, from championship aspirations at the start of the 2024-25 season to competing in the tank race at the end. Maybe this year will be different. With that said, we tried our hand at making a few predictions about the new season — including whether Joel Embiid and Paul George will be ready for the opener.

Camden native Fran Brown’s first season as a head coach was one of Syracuse’s best in recent history. A crucial part of Brown’s successful formula so far has been leaning on his Philadelphia-area roots. Last season, 13 players from the area played for Syracuse. Now, more local recruits are making their pledge to the Orange.

Next month, the United States men’s soccer team will face South Korea and Japan for friendlies to prepare for the World Cup. On Tuesday, the USMNT unveiled its roster. Attacking stars Christian Pulisic, Josh Sargent, and Tim Weah are back. At other positions, however, there are surprising inclusions and omissions.

The Eagles remain the most talented team in the NFL and will be favored to win the Super Bowl again, but September won’t be easy. They’ll host the vengeful Cowboys, visit the mighty Chiefs, host a Rams team that nearly beat them in the playoffs, and make one more visit to dreaded Tampa Bay. The challenges are different in 2025, but the early results might be the same as 2024 or worse, writes columnist Marcus Hayes.

Commemorate the Super Birds and feel the roar of last season all over again with “WHAT A RUN!” — The Inquirer’s championship book packed with epic stories and jaw-dropping photos from our Sports team. A must-have for every Philly fan. Grab your copy now from The Inquirer Store.

Who is the Phillies’ career leader in at-bats per home run with 12.6?

C) Kyle Schwarber — John W. was first with the correct answer.

Have any questions about the Eagles’ roster cuts and 53-man roster? Beat reporter Olivia Reiner will stop by the r/Eagles subreddit today to answer them. Submit your questions here.

We asked: What is your most inspiring Eagles or NFL story? Among your responses:

Mr. Steve Van Buren was to Philly football what Wilt Chamberlain was to Philly basketball - i.e. the greatest athlete of his generation ….. the major difference was that Van Buren was the quintessential example of humility. Van Buren was the first professional football player to gain 1,000 yards in two seasons; won the rushing title four times; led the Eagles to three division championships and to two NFL titles (1948 and 1949 — the equivalent almost of two Super Bowl championships). Even with all of this, Van Buren was so humble that after home games (Including when he was the hero of one of the “Super Bowl” games), he walked home alone (a distance of several miles.) When, in later years, he was confined to a nursing home, he never told anyone there about his career as a star football player. He inspired all of us who knew his “story” to be modest and unassuming. — Hillel L.

One of the most inspiring Philadelphia sports stories was South Philly’s Vince Papale a part time teacher and bartender making the Eagles team in 1976 when Dick Vermeil set up a try out for local athletes and Vince stunned everyone by running a world class 40 yard dash. I think in early 2000 there was a movie called Invincible about his remarkable story. — Everett S.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Marcus Hayes, Jeff Neiburg, Olivia Reiner, Scott Lauber, DeAntae Prine, Jonathan Tannenwald, Devin Jackson, Ethan Kopelman, and Tyler Delpercio.

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Thanks for reading. Have a great Wednesday. I’ll be back in your inbox with Thursday’s newsletter. Till then! — Bella