Eagles veterans who could be left off 53-man roster to make room for rookies

Marlon Tuipulotu, Philadelphia Eagles
Marlon Tuipulotu, Philadelphia Eagles / Cooper Neill/GettyImages
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Josh Sills, offensive lineman

Yes, naming Josh Sills feels like cheating, but mentioning him is more interesting than naming some of the other potential casualties along the offensive line like Roderick Johnson, Cameron Tom, Tyrese Robinson, and Julian Good-Jones. That's true for about four reasons.

He only played four special teams snaps as a rookie. He has, however, been around for a year now, so he's by definition a veteran, albeit a young one. Sills is also interesting because he made the team as an undrafted rookie when none of us saw that coming.

He has endured some legal issues and is currently listed as an exemption on the 90-man roster, but the NFL waits for no man. The Birds added Tyler Steen as the 65th-overall selection during Round 3 of last April's draft, and he will be around which means a few of the vets must be sweating.

Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, and Lane Johnson appear to be the starters. That's a safe bet, correct? It's hard to imagine a scenario where Jack Driscoll and Sua Opeta are left off of the roster. We may be able to state the same about Brett Toth, maybe, but if the Eagles keep ten offensive linemen which is a very real possibility, we may say goodbye to a familiar face or two as we begin to get to know Steen. We'll revisit this conversation later.

Keep your eyes on the Eagles wide receivers all summer. This will be one of the better battles during training camp and the preseason.

Marlon Tuipulotu, defensive tackle

We like what we have seen from Marlon Tuipulotu when he is healthy (or when he's activated on game day). The Eagles like him too, but the Birds had a lot of bodies at defensive tackle last season. That made him expendable, and with the additions of Moro Ojomo and Jalen Carter to a unit that already boasts Fletcher Cox, Jordan Davis, and Milton Williams, Marlon could be deemed expendable and fall victim to the numbers game.

It's a long summer. We'll see what happens.