Philadelphia Eagles: Losing Elijah Riley is just ridiculous

Signing Jordan Howard to the active roster after two-straight weeks of on-field success gave some rare positive publicity to Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles.

After biding his time and working his hardest to remain engaged, Howard showed up and showed out as a practice squad call-up and was rewarded for his efforts with a spot on the active roster and, presumably, a role in the offense even after Miles Sanders returns to the field later this month (hopefully).

But just because the Eagles made the rare right call to secure Howard’s services for the remainder of the seasons doesn’t mean this week has been a particularly good one for the team from a personnel standpoint. From losing a waived cornerback to the wire, to watching Josh Reynolds, a wide receiver they may or may not have been interested in, get scooped up by the Detroit Lions, the Eagles’ roster hasn’t exactly received the sort of midseason facelift afforded to teams like the Los Angels Rams.

And worst of all? The Philadelphia Eagles had a safety they clearly liked get claimed off of the practice squad despite protecting him over and over again in the weeks prior.

The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t need to lose Elijah Riley to the New York Jets.

The Philadelphia Eagles have a fondness for Elijah Riley.

They liked him coming out of Army, signed him to his first pro contract as a UDFA, kept him on either the practice squad or their active roster for the entirety of the 2020 NFL season, and protected him as a member of their practice squad for the vast majority of the 2021 campaign thus far.

The rare exception? Week 10, and that, my friends, was all it took for Joe Douglas and the New York Jets to swoop in and steal him away on their 53 man roster, filling the spot vacated by IR-bound Marcus Maye.

But how? How did Howie Roseman let this happen? I mean, Riley and Le’Raven Clark were fixtures of the team’s weekly protections list alongside Jordan Howard, likely because they viewed him as a developmental piece for their future. I get not signing him to the 53 man roster, even if he had a clearer path to the field than, say, recently-waived cornerback Mac McCain, but why wouldn’t you protect him like you have oh so many times before? I mean, there’s no limit to the number of times a player can be protected, and that’s the whole reason the rule was instituted back in 2020 in the first place: To retain talent.

Why risk losing Riley when you don’t have to?

For those keeping track at home, this is the second player the Eagles have lost for nothing in the last week, as McCain was reclaimed by the Broncos to effectively replace Kary Vincent Jr., the player Roseman traded a sixth-round pick to acquire moments before the trade deadline. Even if there was no way of knowing whether or not the Broncos would claim McCain, who initially signed with the team as a UDFA out of North Carolina A&T, Denver will now have a former Eagle on their sideline just in time for a Week 10 bout against his former team.

That stinks.

Ultimately, I sort of doubt Elijay Riley was ever going to become one of the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting safeties. He spent the better part of two seasons with the team, only saw four defensive snaps over six games of action, and didn’t exactly have elite athletic measurables coming out of Army. But still, to lose a player you like enough to keep him in the fray for the better part of two years for what effectively amounts to a clerical error and/or an assumption that no one else was interested in his services is a pretty ridiculous turn of events for a team looking to establish a strong core moving forward.