Eagles fill out their 53-man roster by promoting their punter

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Eagles fill out their 53-man roster by promoting their punter

The Eagles have promoted punter Braden Mann to their 53-man roster.

By Dave Zangaro • Published October 12, 2023

 

The Eagles on Thursday afternoon promoted punter Braden Mann to their 53-man roster.

Mann, 25, has been the Eagles’ punter for the last three games but has been on the practice squad. He has been elevated the maximum amount of times so if the Eagles wanted to keep him as their punter, they needed to get him on the 53.

The Eagles didn’t need to make a corresponding move to get Mann to the roster because they had a vacant spot after placing right guard Cam Jurgens on IR late last week. The roster is now full at 53 players.

As they promoted Mann, the Eagles signed linebacker Brandon Smith to their practice squad. Smith was a fourth-round pick by the Panthers out of Penn State in 2022. He played 12 games and made one start for Carolina as a rookie but was waived at final cuts in August. The practice squad is also full at 16 players.

The interesting thing about the Eagles’ adding Mann to their 53-man roster is that they might have to create another roster spot for linebacker Nakobe Dean by Saturday. 

Dean (foot) has been back at practice this week after his 21-day practice window was activated on Tuesday. Dean has missed the last four games on Injured Reserve after getting hurt in the season opener. If the Eagles want Dean to be available to play on Sunday against the Jets, they’ll need to activate him by 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The Eagles signed Mann to their practice squad after Week 2 when incumbent punter Arryn Siposs was struggling. In his three games with the Eagles, Mann has punted just five times for an average of just 41.6 yards and a net average of 38.8. But his only punt in Week 5 was a good one that pinned the Rams inside their own 10-yard line.

"I think Braden has done a good job being put in there,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said on Tuesday. "Obviously, it's good when the offense is moving the ball, and he rarely has any opportunities in there.

"He had that one punt, pinned them inside the 10, allowed our defense to play a long field. So, Braden has done a really good job, and as a holder he's done an outstanding job. Some people may not notice, the second hold he did a really good job picking it up and putting it down on a lower snap. But outside of that I think he's been doing a pretty good job for us.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/eagles-fill-out-their-53-man-roster-by-promoting-their-punter/540504/