By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Eagles got a jump on reducing the roster to 75 ahead of Tuesday's deadline. In fact, they completed the work by Sunday evening.
The Eagles officially announced the release of wide receiver Chris Givens and seven other players. Receiver Rueben Randle was also released, as were long-snapper John DePalma, cornerbacks Randall Evans and Denzel Rice, offensive lineman Andrew Gardner, defensive tackle Mike Martin and safety Nick Perry.
The Eagles also placed linebacker Joe Walker and defensive end Alex McCalister on injured reserve.
While most of these players were reserves and backups that saw most of their playing time in the late stages of the preseason games played thus far, the two most telling cuts are at wide receiver.
With Givens and Randle cut, it ultimately cements Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Dorial Green-Beckham and Josh Huff onto the roster. It also gives Paul Turner the edge in the race for the fifth wide receiver spot.
Huff was previously more of a bubble player until a big game in Indianapolis showed his potential for the offense. Turner has been a solid receiver throughout camp and that has him in position to make the team as an undrafted free agent. With Givens and Randle out of the picture, that is even closer to becoming a reality.
The rest of the moves were rather unsurprising given performance and playing time as the preseason wore on. The Eagles roster is down to 73, leaving the Eagles with 20 cuts left to make before finalizing the roster at 53 in time for the season opener on Sept. 11.
