Philadelphia Eagles Rumor: JJ Arcega-Whiteside is ‘gone’

Folks, we have a juicy Philadelphia Eagles rumor on our hands that is worthy of discussion; a rumor that, at best, could be proven true by the end of Tuesday and, at worst, could be proven wrong by August 30th at 4 pm ET: JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s time in Philadelphia is done.

Yup, you read that correctly; according to Kevin Kinkead of Crossing Broad and Victor Williams of the Liberty Line, it would appear JJAW’s transition to tight end hasn’t been as transformational as some had hoped, and after falling behind Jack Stoll and Noah Togiai on both the internal and the unofficial depth chart, the Stanford produce will soon be looking for employment elsewhere.

To some, this day could not have come soon enough, as Arcega-Whiteside has been a nothing burger outside of the occasional in-space run block for years now, and his spot on the roster could have always been better utilized elsewhere. Others, however, had long hoped that the collegiate Cardinal would be able to do… something for the Eagles, so saying goodbye to the ex-second-rounder remains a bad look.

And yet, if these rumors prove to be true – which, considering JJAW only played eight snaps in the preseason opener, they probably are – it would appear JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s time with the Philadelphia Eagles has ended with a whimper, not a roar, which, funny enough, is pretty representative of his career in midnight green.

JJAW is done raining on the Philadelphia Eagles’ parade.

When the Philadelphia Eagles drafted JJ Arcega-Whiteside with the 57th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, it was largely considered a solid to very good addition. Sure, he wasn’t as flashy as D.K. Metcalf, as versatile as Diontae Johnson, or as high-profile as Terry McLaurin, but the Stanford Cardinal was considered a solid 50-50 ball catcher, an exceptional blocker, and the sort of red zone threat teams are always on the lookout for.

After having a ton of success with Alshon Jeffrey on the outside during their Super Bowl run, securing the next Alshon Jeffrey to play with franchise quarterback Carson Wentz long-term seemed like a winning strategy for prolonged success.

Sidebar: Yes, basically everything about that statement now reads as pretty ridiculous, but at the time, it was all genuinely believed to be true.

From there… well, what else is there really to say about JJAW’s run in Philadelphia? He played okay as a rookie, less okay as a second-year pro, and was effectively used as a blocker during his first year under Nick Sirianni, a role he played well but only for 170 total offensive snaps. While some assumed JJAW could maybe squeak onto the 53-man roster in the same role only not called a tight end, it’s clear Zach Pascal can make enough plays in the run game to make such a stash redundant, and the Eagles will instead look to fill out the remainder of their roster with players they actually want to keep around.

According to Kevin Kinkead and Victor Williams, that apparently is no longer the player born Jose Joaquin Arcega-Whiteside.

Were the Philadelphia Eagles wrong to draft JJ Arcega-Whiteside 57th overall? In hindsight, yes, 1 million percent – even if the Eagles just paid $100 million to a wide receiver who was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft – a player who wasn’t on the board at pick 57, by the way – they still could have used that pick on, well, basically any other player and gotten more production. Still, a team can never really know how hard a player is willing to work and how much they “want it” from a pre-draft interview, a college highlight reel, or even an in-person visit. Unfortunately, that was not JJAW, and it’s better to move on from him on a Tuesday in August, be it the 16th or the 30th, than keep him around for one more year when oh so many other players could fill his roster spot.