Eagles Sign 10 Players to Futures Contracts

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

While it may not be an exciting move, the Eagles did a bit of house keeping on Monday, signing 10 players to futures contracts.

The 10 players were the 10 that were on the Eagles practice squad to end the season, ensuring that the players who are experienced with the team’s coaches and schemes will return to the team for preseason and hopefully continue their development.

With the league possibly looking to expand rosters beyond the current 53-man setup, this is a vital move as these 10 players would have been the ones occupying those additional spots. The players are:

Running back Donnel Pumphrey, who was drafted by the Eagles in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft, but has yet to make the roster. Next season will likely be his last shot to try for a spot on the Birds roster after underperforming and suffering various injuries over the past two preseasons.

Corner Chandon Sullivan was called up to the active roster following the slew of injuries in the secondary. He was behind De’Vante Bausby on the depth chart and, as such, saw less snaps than Bausby. He did show quite a few flashes in the last preseason game, but was not able to make those big plays in the snaps he saw during the regular season. He was sent back to the practice squad in favor of Josh Hawkins.

Linebacker Asantay Brown was a really under the radar player this preseason. He did not make any big plays during the preseason games and was not discussed a whole lot, but the Eagles need linebacker depth and think that they can unlock the potential that Brown showed when he earned All-MAC honors three times and lead the Western Michigan Broncos in tackles in 2015 and 2017.

Defensive end Joe Ostman was a victim of a deep defensive line, but made quite a few plays. He ended up with nine tackles this preseason. He, Chandon Sullivan and Asantay Brown are the three players that made the Eagles original practice squad announced immediately following this preseason.

An undrafted free agent who signed with the Giants in 2015, tight end Will Tye had 90 receptions for 859 yards and two touchdowns for the Giants across 29 games with the team in 2015 and 2016. After being one of the Giants final cuts in 2017, Tye was picked up by the Jets. Three games and four receptions for 38 yards later, Tye was released and ended up with the Patriots on their practice squad. Tye was placed on IR and then waived by the Patriots at the beginning of this season.

Receiver Braxton Miller was a quarterback at Ohio State before converting to wide receiver. Over his first two years in the league, Miller appeared in 21 games. He caught 34 passes for 261 yards on 57 targets. Miller was signed from the Texans due to his lack of contribution on special teams and was brought in with the hope that he could help the Eagles receivers when Wallace went down, Jeffery hadn’t returned and the Eagles had yet to sign Matthews to see game action from him.

Wideout Dorren Miller signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason as an undrafted free agent. He appeared in three preseason games making two catches for 25 yards. He racked up 868 yards in college while playing for Carson-Newman in Division II.

Guard Kaleb Johnson was an undrafted free agent out of Rutgers in 2015. He has yet to play in a NFL game, but has spent time with the Ravens, Browns, Cardinals, Bears, Chiefs and Vikings.

Cornerback Jeremiah McKinnon, an undrafted free agent in 2016, has now spent time with every NFC East team. He has been in training camp with the Cowboys twice (including this season) and with the Redskins once. He has also spent time on the Giants, Titans and Browns practice squad. He made his NFL debut with the Browns in week five this season and was otherwise on their practice squad until mid-October. He registered one tackle in his debut. He may be called upon should injuries continue to slam the secondary.

Center Anthony Fabiano has been with the Browns, Redskins, Giants, Patriots and Colts practice squads as well as on the Colts and Browns active roster. Over the last two seasons, he has appeared in nine games.