Eagles finally release Mack Hollins

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Mack Hollins, who hasn’t had a catch since September, won’t even have an opportunity anymore. 

The Eagles on Tuesday afternoon waived the 2017 fourth-round pick. 

Hollins, 26, was actually contributing earlier this season, but his last catch came on Sept. 26 against the Packers. Since then, Hollins played 204 snaps in eight games without a catch on five targets. 

To fill Hollins’ place on the roster, the Eagles called up undrafted guard Sue Opeta from the practice squad. The Eagles wanted to sign Opeta to the active roster after another team wanted to sign him away. (The Eagles also signed DT Kevin Wilkins to fill Opeta’s practice squad spot.) 

And recently, Hollins’ role on offense had rightfully decreased. 

What made Hollins’ lack of production so frustrating this year was the Eagles’ refusal to even acknowledge that it was a problem. 

Here’s what receivers coach Carson Walch said about Hollins in early November after five straight games without a catch: 

I don’t think there’s a direct reason. I know production is a word that’s getting thrown around a lot. Production as a player to me isn’t just how many catches you have in a given week. Each guy on our team has a role and right now Mack Hollins has done a very good job at his role, and a lot of it is blocking, but he’s running all the routes we’re asking him to run, he’s getting to his depth and when the ball comes to Mack he’ll make a play for us.

Yeah, that was pretty infuriating for Eagles fans. 

In recent weeks, the Eagles began limiting Hollins’ playing time. He played 12 snaps against the Patriots and just 10 in the last two weeks. The Eagles have finally started to play second-round pick J.J. Arcega-Whiteside more.

With Hollins gone, the Eagles have four members left of their eight-man draft class from 2017: Derek Barnett, Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas and Nathan Gerry. 

While Barnett is a starter and Gerry is a prominent role player, Jones has been a healthy scratch and Douglas has become a backup again. 

The Hollins move means the Eagles have now cut him and Jordan Matthews in consecutive weeks. These two guys played big roles for the Eagles at times this year, which highlights how bad things have been at the receiver position. 

Hollins actually had a somewhat promising rookie season (16 catches for 226 yards and a touchdown) before missing the entire 2018 year. He returned in 2019 and found his way on the field but wasn’t able to stick. 

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