Eagles decision to waive Davion Taylor was both expected and surprising

Most things won’t work out how you think they should in the NFL. Jalen Reagor and Justin Jefferson, after two seasons, are now teammates. Jason Peters might wind up playing for the Dallas Cowboys, and there isn’t a Philadelphia Eagles fan on Planet Earth that tuned in to watch a Notre Dame Fighting Irish football game from 2017 to 2020 (if you chose to do so) with any inclination that their offensive signal caller, Ian Book, would, one day, take up residency as the third quarterback on the depth chart.

Fast forward to the present tense, and following pro football’s deadline for every team to introduce its initial 53-man roster, a little over 800 players headed to the waiver wire. Philly made placed a claim on one player, that quarterback from Notre Dame, and on Thursday morning, the first day of September, they announced their claim for Book was honored.

As expected, Ian Book joins the Eagles roster as their third quarterback. Unexpectedly, they waive Davion Taylor.

Ian Book’s addition to the 53-man roster was expected. Waiver claims end up on the active unit. We know that, but Philadelphia threw us a curve ball. Davion Taylor was waived in a subsequent move.

Interestingly enough, before Wednesday afternoon’s announcement, the Eagles gameday roster housed 52 players following the Jalen Reagor trade. One might argue that they didn’t need to waive anyone immediately. A more informed opinion would, more than likely, state that they should as they only have four wide receivers on the roster (and they’re void of a respectable punt returner).

Most of us thought that, if anyone would receive their walking papers, the first cuts would be one of the undrafted rookies (offensive lineman Josh Sills or safety Reed Blankenship). Instead, Philly went the route of dismissing a former third-round selection.

Davion Taylor has been hard to evaluate. Missing out on the opportunity to play high school football hurt his development, and yes, it sounds weird saying that seeing as how Jordan Mailata has grown despite not playing football until about four years ago). Still, Taylor, despite making some improvements last season, has looked lost since returning from injury.

Theories suggest he could return to claim a spot on the practice squad. For now, however, his dreams of NFL stardom are on hold.

Update: According to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Dave Zangaro, as expected, Taylor will be signed to the practice squad.