Getty Former Arizona QB Khalil Tate is transitioning to wide receiver in the NFL
The Philadelphia Eagles are quietly looking to add talent to the roster amid their ongoing coaching search. The team hosted free-agent punter Arryn Siposs and receiver Khalil Tate for workouts on Tuesday, per the NFL transactions report.
Both players could be signed to futures contracts and compete for spots on the practice squad. Tate, who counts Donovan McNabb as a mentor, should be a familiar name around Philadelphia. The Eagles signed him as an undrafted rookie last April and attempted to convert the college quarterback into a wide receiver.
UPDATE: The Eagles officially signed Siposs and Tate to reserves/futures contracts on Wednesday. They will join the practice squad at training camp.
The experiment ended before training camp and Tate (6-foot-2, 212 pounds) was released on July 20. The former Arizona star threw for 6,318 yards and 57 touchdowns for the Wildcats while rushing 2,285 yards and 18 scores.
Khalil Tate is faster than you and everybody on this football field
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Australian Punter Could Compete for Starting Job
Siposs might be the more intriguing name to watch. The 28-year-old Aussie could be a cheap alternative to Cameron Johnston (ironically, another Aussie punter) who is a restricted free agent. The three-year veteran would cost roughly $2.2 million and as good as he’s been — 41.2 yards per punt, 15th-best in the NFL — it may behoove the Eagles to move on. They are facing dire salary-cap ramifications in 2021.
The former college standout boomed 117 punts for 5,150 yards at Auburn while averaging 43.8 yards per punt as a senior. He ranked 18th-best in the country in 2018 and earned honorable mention All-America from Pro Football Focus. He went undrafted in 2020, but spent the majority of last season on the Detroit Lions’ practice squad after narrowly losing the starting job in training camp.
Here is a scouting report on Siposs, via NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein:
Australian punter with good size and is fairly consistent in striking the football, but his age and modest leg strength may work against him. Siposs doesn’t lean on a heavy number of rugby punts and is able to generate adequate hangtime but needs to push the net punting average a little further while improving his touch inside the 50-yard line.
Eagles Won’t Be Penalized for TankGate
Maybe everyone can finally put all the unnecessary drama of TankGate to bed now. The Eagles won’t be penalized for allegedly trying to intentionally tank the season finale by pulling starter Jalen Hurts out to start the fourth quarter. According to The Associated Press, the NFL investigated the “way the team handled its quarterback decisions” in Week 17 and couldn’t find a legitimate reason to drop the hammer.
It’s the right outcome, whatever your opinion on the curious decision. The NFL has never interfered in personnel decisions made by individual teams or coaches. If they did, it would open a hornet’s nest of what is allowed in terms of resting players in the final week. You can certainly criticize the Eagles for sabotaging themselves in a three-point game but they didn’t deserve to be penalized.
Earlier this week, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie talked about the unfortunate situation and revealed it was former head coach Doug Pederson’s call.
“I think Doug just wanted to give Nate a chance. He deserved it,” Lurie said. “He’s been part of our Super Bowl-winning team. He contributed to the scout team. He contributed so much. I think it was just with good intentions.”
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