Eagles Roster Moves: Birds Waive Christian Elliss, Bring Back Greg Ward

The Eagles will reportedly be signing Shaq Leonard, but no official move had been made as of Wednesday.

It seems like Wednesday afternoon the Eagles were making the moves to make that official.

The team announced that they had waived linebacker Christian Elliss and cleared a spot on the 53-man roster at the position Leonard plays.

We've signed WR Greg Ward to the Practice Squad, released WR Cam Sims from the Practice Squad, and waived LB Christian Elliss. pic.twitter.com/i38JmLKkLk

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 6, 2023

Elliss probably won’t get a ton of fan support for his play against the 49ers, but he isn’t a guy without value.

Placed in the starter’s role because of Zach Cunningham’s hamstring injury, Elliss struggled. He had been pretty productive in a rotational role for the years prior to that, however, so he may still be of value to the team.

It would not be a surprise that the Eagles are hoping he clears waivers and could be signed to the practice squad. That’d give the Birds another linebacker they could choose to elevate for several games as needed. It’d be a logical reason to waive Elliss instead of Ben VanSumeren, who can no longer be elevated for games this season.

It could also show the team is interested in seeing how VanSumeren can develop with more time.

The Eagles also announced that they had brought back long-time Eagle Greg Ward to the practice squad and released Cam Sims from his contract. That move basically undoes a move they made last Thursday.

While it isn’t surprising that they brought Ward back, such a quick turnaround does beg the question why Sims was brought in in the first place unless the team just quickly realized he had nothing left in the tank.

With an open roster spot, it’s expected that an official roster move to add Shaquille Leonard is impending before this weekend’s game in Dallas.