Philadelphia Eagles roster watch: Apparently Craig James is on this team

Well, here’s a surprising development with the 2020 Philadelphia Eagles roster.

It’s the same thing every year with these Philadelphia Eagles. You have to expect the unexpected. If you’re like most ‘Birds’ fans or our ITI staff, you’ve been going back and forth with your final 53-man roster projection all week. In ours, we had no expectations of third-year defensive back Craig James making the roster.

It appears that we and everyone else who saw him as a ‘bubble’ guy or worse were wrong. According to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the ‘Birds’ are signing James to a one-year contract extension worth up to $1.52 million. $300,000 of that is guaranteed.

With that being said, we can safely assume that his spot on the 53-man roster is secure.

Here’s a little background info if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

James was an undrafted free agent that the Minnesota Vikings found following the 2018 NFL Draft. He’d be cut by the end of camp but re-signed to their practice squad in October of that same year. After being promoted to the active roster, he appeared in three games as a rookie.

The following season, he’d again be waived during the final roster cuts. This time, the ‘Birds’ decided they wanted him. He was signed to Philly’s practice squad on September 2nd of 2019, promoted to the active roster, waived, re-signed, and repromoted to the active roster after an injury to Ronald Darby. All of that happened between September 11th and September 24th.

He’s probably, at this point in his career, best known by Eagles fans for coming in to relieve Avonte Maddox during last season’s Thursday Night Football game versus the Green Bay Packers. In that one, he combined with Malcolm Jenkins to cause a deflection on a pass from Aaron Rodgers that ricocheted into the hands of Nigel Bradham for a game-ending interception.

Let’s hope he causes a few more of those types of plays in 2020, especially if you’re someone who self-identifies as a ‘Birds’ fan.