Don’t worry, Deon Cain, Devon Allen and Britain Covey aren’t going anywhere.
Cain, who enjoyed a terrific preseason, Allen, who came on strong late in camp, and Covey, the former Utah star, have all returned to the Eagles on the practice squad.
The three receivers were each on the practice squad the Eagles announced Wednesday afternoon.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Cain, Allen and Covey were all released on Tuesday and cleared waivers on Wednesday before rejoining the Eagles.
One of them — most likely Cain — will presumably be added to the 53-man roster now that the Eagles have traded Jalen Reagor to the Vikings.
Cain, 26, was originally the Colts’ sixth-round pick in 2018 and joined the Eagles on a futures contract on Jan. 18. He was out of football most of last year.
Cain, who played 15 games for the Colts and Steelers in 2019 and 2020, was good enough in the preseason to earn a roster spot but was released on Tuesday when the Eagles initially kept Reagor as their fifth receiver.
NFL
In three preseason games, he had eight catches for a team-high 106 yards, including a 5-for-66 performance in Cleveland that really helped improve his stock.
Allen signed with the Eagles on April 8 despite not playing organized football since 2016, when he was a junior at the University of Oregon. In 2017, he began focusing solely on track and became one of the fastest hurdlers in world history.
He reached the finals of the 110-meter high hurdles in both the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and last year in Tokyo, and in July — racing at Randall’s Island in New York — he ran 12.84, the third-fastest time ever.
Allen was understandably rusty when training camp began but things began clicking for him a couple weeks ago, and as his confidence grew he began flashing that world-class speed.
His 55-yard catch from Reid Sinnett in Cleveland was the first sign that maybe there was something there, and then in the preseason finale in Miami he showed up with several big plays as a gunner on special teams.
Covey, 25, was an electrifying returner at Utah, where he had five TD returns — four punts, one kickoff — and averaged 10.9 yards per punt return and 25.4 yards on kick returns. He also caught 184 passes for 2,011 yards and 11 more TDs as a a slot receiver. He sat out the 2016 and 2017 seasons while serving a mission in Chile for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints.
Covey averaged 6.3 yards on four punt returns and 23.0 yards on four kick returns this preseason and caught two passes for 11 yards.
Also expected back is veteran safety Anthony Harris, who has agreed to rejoin the Eagles on the practice squad, according to Clark.
The Eagles released Harris on Tuesday after they finalized the trade with the Saints for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
It’s kind of unusual for a 30-year-old veteran to go from starting to the practice squad, but Harris is valuable because he knows the defense, he’s healthy and he gives the Eagles an insurance policy at a position with a lot of unknowns.
The NFL weekly practice squad minimum is now $11,500 for rookies, so they can make $207,000 if they remain on the practice squad the entire season. (Vested veterans make a minimum of $15,400 per week, or $277,200 for the season).
With the NFL’s game-day call-up rules now, practice squad players earn a game-day active-roster minimum-wage salary of $39,167 for every week they’re promoted.
Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast
Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube