Two Arryn Siposs Replacements Become Available After Being Early Cuts
The longer the summer has gone on, the more it’s become increasingly clear that Arryn Siposs doesn’t have much of a future with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Siposs had a dud of a preseason, to say the least, and will likely find himself on the chopping block ahead of Tuesday’s roster cutdown. Assuming that the Eagles do part ways with the struggling special teamer, they’ll likely have to turn to the open market to find his replacement.
With Tuesday’s final deadline for 53-man rosters rapidly approaching, teams around the NFL have already begun trimming the fat. Fortunately for Philadelphia, a few of the early cut casualties are punters who could potentially fill Siposs’ void.
Christopher Price of The Boston Globe reported early Monday afternoon that the New England Patriots were set to release Corliss Waitman, who joined the team as a free agent back in March.
The Patriots have released punter Corliss Waitman, per a league source. Strong candidate to return to the practice squad.
— Christopher Price (@cpriceglobe) August 28, 2023
Shortly after that, it was revealed that the Green Bay Packers cut 2022 starting punter Pat O’Donnell, per ESPN insider Adam Schefter.
Packers released veteran punter Pat O’Donnell.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 28, 2023
Eagles Preseason Rumors
Even though Waitman and O’Donnell aren’t exactly elite punters, they’d easily be better than what Siposs brought to the table this summer.
After unimpressive practice performances to begin training camp, Siposs ended the preseason as Pro Football Focus‘ second-worst punter with a grade of 58.3 (No. 41). For reference, Waitman and O’Donnell finished with grades of 60.8 (T-No. 31) and 59.9 (No. 37), respectively.
It isn’t difficult to see why Siposs deserved his putrid grade. On 5 punt attempts in the preseason, he averaged only 42.0 yards per punt (his longest was 49 yards) and failed to record a touchback. The Eagles simply can’t rely on him after that showing.
If Philadelphia does take a look at O’Donnell, it will find a veteran punter with 145 career games under his belt. He was PFF‘s No.-28-graded punter in 2022 and just averaged 50.5 yards on 4 punts (with two landing inside the 20-yard line) with the Packers this preseason.
Having said that, O’Donnell is now in the back half of his career and there’s no telling when he’ll decline. If the Eagles want to go with the youthful option, Waitman would be their guy at age 28.
The Ghent, Belgium native doesn’t have much NFL experience, having only played 19 games between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos in 2021 and 2022. Despite the lack of playing time, Waitman has still impressed at times, highlighted by 30.1% of his attempts landing inside the 20-yard line and another 6.8% going for touchbacks.
Regardless of whether you’re a bigger fan of O’Donnell or Waitman, either man is a clear-cut upgrade over Waitman and will make Philly better this season.
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