Now former Philadelphia Eagles running back Wendell Smallwood had quite the buzz on the NFL waiver wire this week.
This past weekend wasn’t the easiest set of weeks for the Philadelphia Eagles. Being that week four of the NFL Preseason is in the books; all 32 teams had to have their rosters cut down to the final 53. And since the Eagles have so many talented players on board, there were going to be quite a few ‘tough cuts’ to make as they finalized the depth chart.
One of the biggest position battles of the offseason happened to be the backfield. Similar to the last few seasons, the Eagles have had a good handful of running backs trying to make the roster. Before, the Eagles would hold on to five, or maybe six guys. This year though, they didn’t load up on the position as they typically would. Four running backs were enough.
So with that, the Eagles shockingly cut their former fifth-round pick, Wendell Smallwood. Ever since his arrival in Philly, Smallwood hasn’t been great. However, he has been decent for what he’s worth. It felt like Smallwood could get cut over the last few offseasons, but somehow the former West Virginia running back always survived and remained on the final 53-man roster.
This year was a different story, though. There was no surviving for Wendell Smallwood. Not in the Eagles backfield at least. When the final roster was released, Smallwood was as well. He may no longer be with the team that drafted him, but Smallwood had no issues finding a new team as he apparently was a hot commodity on the waiver wire.
Claims for Smallwood
The most popular player to hit the waiver system this weekend was former Eagles RB Wendell Smallwood. Four teams - the Redskins, Colts, Jaguars and Bengals - all placed a claim on him, per source.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 2, 2019
It’s not all that common for players who get waived to actually get claimed right away. For Smallwood though, he ended up in a much different situation. Not only did he get claimed, but four teams were trying to get him as soon as the Eagles decided to waive him.
The Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Washington Redskins all had claims in for Smallwood. As we know though, he ultimately ended up in Washington. Ironically enough, the Eagles play the Redskins next Sunday for week one.
Considering the Redskins have three running backs already in somewhat of a rotation, the Smallwood addition seemed a bit off. Perhaps Washington lured him in to get some insider info for week one on his old team. As we know, pickups like that often happen around the league.
If that’s the case, then Smallwood might not be an Eagles enemy for long. That would be an unfortunate situation for the former Eagles running back, but at least it’s known that he does have some interest around the league. Therefore, he shouldn’t have any problems finding another landing spot if Washington does cut him rather quickly.