The Philadelphia Eagles have placed former first-round DE Marcus Smith on waivers Wednesday, according to Jeff McLane.
- The Eagles confirmed the news and announced the signing of LB Steven Daniels.
- According to Field Yates, Smith was due a roster bonus of $594,000 tomorrow.
The expectation has been that the Eagles were going to move on from Smith at some point before the start of the season, given that he hasn’t come close to living up to his draft status.
Smith elected to skip offseason workouts and it appeared as though he was just waiting around for his release, so he could seek out a new opportunity.
Smith, 26, was taken with the No. 26 overall pick back in 2014. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $7.80 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $1,129,010 for the 2017 season.
The Eagles declined to pick up Smith’s fifth-year option a few months ago that would have cost them $8,625,000 million for the 2018 season. However, this figure was guaranteed only for injury.
In 2016, Smith appeared in all 16 games for the Eagles but was limited to recorded 16 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus has him down for playing a total of 220 snaps to go along with a below-average rating.
Daniels, 24, was taken in the seventh-round of last year’s NFL draft. He signed a four-year, $2.581 million rookie contract with the Redskins that included a $77,296 signing bonus.
Washington placed him on waivers with an injury designation during the preseason last year and he later reverted to their injured reserve list. The Redskins cut him loose after the draft and he was later claimed off of waivers by the Eagles.
However, the Eagles cut him soon after.
During his four-year college career at Boston College, Daniels recorded 266 tackles, 10.5 sacks, a forced fumble, three recoveries, three interceptions and four pass defenses.
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