Eagles Sign Ex-Indiana Center, Leave Pro Bowl RB Unprotected

Jordan Howard

Getty Eagles RB Jordan Howard will be an unrestricted free agent in 2020 and could be signed to a team-friendly deal.

The Philadelphia Eagles signed free agent center Harry Crider on Tuesday. He joins the practice squad after initially being waived by the team on Aug. 23 right before final roster cuts.

The 6-foot-4, 311-pounder was a team captain at the University of Indiana where he appeared in 35 games with starts at center and left guard. He entered his 2020 senior campaign on the Rimington Trophy Watch List, awarded to the best center in college football.

The Eagles placed swing tackle Le’Raven Clark on practice squad injured reserve to make room for Crider. The five-year veteran spent the majority of camp on the PUP list as he was rehabbing from a season-ending Achilles injury in 2020. The 6-foot-5, 311-pounder was activated on Aug. 14. Clark can play both right and left tackle, but was listed as the primary backup to Lane Johnson.

The Eagles’ offensive line was an obvious strength in Sunday’s season-opening win. They kept Jalen Hurts clean all day – one quarterback hit, no sacks – and paved the way for a rushing attack that accumulated 173 yards.

“I thought they played a really good game,” head coach Nick Sirianni said of the line. “They were really able to show some dominance in the run game of how they were coming off and with working some double-teams. And that just showed up over and over again in our run game.”

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Eagles Protect Four Practice Squad Players

The Eagles also protected four players on the practice squad: G/T Kayode Awosika, CB Craig James, S Elijah Riley, DT Marvin Wilson. Riley is the lone repeat protection from last week. None of those players can be poached.

Wilson is an interesting name to watch from that list. The rookie defensive tackle was stolen from the Cleveland Browns coming out of camp as the AFC North team thought he might clear waivers. He didn’t.

Wilson – nicknamed “Big Marv” due to his imposing 6-foot-4, 303-pound frame – finished his collegiate career at Florida State with 109 tackles (15 for loss) and 9.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 8 defensive tackle in the 2021 draft.


Jordan Howard Now Up for Grabs

Jordan Howard was one of four players protected prior to Week 1. The running back wasn’t promoted to the active roster and appears to be on the outside looking in at a crowded Philly backfield. That means another team can steal him away.

On Monday, Heavy.com discussed the possibility of the Eagles trading Howard to the San Francisco 49ers with Raheem Mostert lost for the year.

Now the NFC West team could just put in a claim for the veteran running back. In doing so, they might also be able to pick Howard’s brain about this week’s game plan. The 49ers and Eagles play each other on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field.

According to Pro Football Talk, the 49ers signed Kerryon Johnson – the Eagles waived him early on in training camp – to their practice squad to add depth behind Elijah Mitchell, JaMycal Hasty, Trey Sermon. San Francisco will also get Jeff Wilson back from the PUP list in five weeks.

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