Another third-round pick gone by the wayside. So what else is new?
Daniel Teo-Nesheim on Tuesday became the latest in a long line of Eagles third-round picks to depart the organization without making a remotely significant contribution when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed him off the Eagles practice squad.
Teo-Nesheim played in a grand total of seven games in his Eagles career, almost exclusively on special teams.
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Teo-Nesheim, a defensive end out of Washington, was the 86th pick in last years draft. He played in seven games last year with five tackles one sack in the meaningless season-ending Dallas game, when the Eagles played all their subs. He was released in September and spent the first 11 weeks of this season on the practice squad.
The Eagles now have just one of their former third-round picks in the organization. Thats rookie Curtis Marsh, who on Sunday played in his first regular-season game on special teams against the Giants.
Among the third-round disasters in recent Eagles history are defensive end Bryan Smith (2008, never played a snap for the Eagles), tailback Tony Hunt (2007, released after just 14 carries), running back Ryan Moats (2005, released after two years), cornerback-safety Matt Ware (2004, played two years on special teams before being released) and receiver Billy McMullen (2003, traded after catching 18 passes in three years).
Other than two-time Pro Bowl pick Brian Westbrook, a third-round pick in 2002, the Eagles only decent starters from the third round under Andy Reid have been linebackers Chris Gocong and Stewart Bradley and defensive end Derrick Burgess. They traded Gocong to Cleveland and let Bradley sign with Arizona as a free agent. Burgess played here briefly before and after a Pro Bowl career with the Raiders.
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Teo-Nesheim had been on the Eagles practice squad since Sept. 4, a day after he was released. All players on the practice squad are unrestricted free agents, free to sign at any time with other teams (although theyre not allowed to sign with a teams next opponent). Teams signing players off another teams practice squad must keep that player for three weeks or pay him three weeks of salary.
The Bucs signed Teo-Nesheim after releasing defensive tackle Frank Okam, a fourth-year pro who has spent time with three teams.
The Eagles, with 10 defensive linemen and six defensive ends, had no room on the 53-man roster to activate Teo-Nesheim. It came down to Teo-Nesheim or Phillip Hunt, and the Eagles simply like Hunt, the former CFL star, better.
To fill Teo-Nesheims spot on their practice squad, the Eagles added 29-year-old former Clemson defensive end Maurice Fountain, who has had brief training camp stints with the Seahawks and Dolphins and also played for the Utah Blaze, Hartford Colonials, Las Vegas Locomotives, Manchester Wolves and New York Sentinels of the Arena and Arena2 leagues.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com