Philadelphia Eagles: Destiny Vaeao lands with the New Jersey Generals

When the NFL fully closes its doors on a player, that doesn’t necessarily mean their playing career is over.

Does it sort of feel that way? You bet, the NFL is by far the biggest football league in the world, and there isn’t a finely tuned network of other leagues worldwide that can keep a player employed while they attempt to nab another opportunity. Factor in the shorter lifespan of a non-quarterback and folks who are really good at the game of football are left with limited opportunities to keep their dreams alive and still afford to pay their rent.

Fortunately, the USFL just swooped in and has made it a point to give many a player the world over an opportunity to both play the game they love and get paid doing it while playing televised games once more. With the AAF folded, the XFL in a holding pattern, and more boutique leagues like the Spring Football League, the Indoor Football Team, and the Arena Football League coming and going too often to keep track, the newly re-launched USFL could be the best opportunity for former NFL players to get back on the NFL’s radar and potentially return to the league once more.

One of those players is defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao, a player many a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles should be very familiar with.

Destiny Vaeao will be back on a football field soon, Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Whether Destiny Vaeao plays one more game, one more season, or one more decade of professional football, he will forever go down as a Super Bowl champion.

That’s right, as you may or may not know, Vaeao, who went undrafted out of Washington State in 2016, spent two and a half seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016-18, including arguably the most important season in franchise history, 2017. He appeared in 33 games with three starts and amassed 27 combined tackles, five QB hits, three sacks, two tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble for his efforts.

Did Vaeao actually play for the Eagles in said Super Bowl? No, the only playoff game he appeared in was the NFC Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings, where he played 11 defensive snaps and recorded a solo tackle, but hey, there’s a reason every player on the team gets a Super Bowl ring even when they don’t check into a game: It takes an entire organization to win on the game’s biggest stage.

After being waived by the Eagles in October of 2018 following a trip to IR, Vaeavo signed with the New York Jets and the Carolina Panthers but never appeared in another NFL regular season before being waived for a third and final time – at least for now – on September 24th, 2019.

And since then… well, there isn’t much to report, at least until February of 2022, when Vaeao was selected with the fourth pick in the 24th round of the inaugural (new) USFL Draft by the New Jersey Generals.

That’s right, after almost four years away, Vaeao will be heading back to the East Coast to play professional football once more, even if technically the league will play their games in a bubble in Birmingham, Alabama, the home of the Birmingham Stallions.

Does Destiny Vaeao have anything left in the tank? Did he get a poor shake in 2018 when he was waived by the Philadelphia Eagles, or did the New York Jets and the Carolina Panthers move on from the 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive tackle for a reason? I guess we will have to watch the New Jersey Generals later this year to find out, especially when they take on The City of Brotherly Love’s newest football team, the Philadelphia Stars.