The Eagles and tight end Richard Rodgers agreed on a one-year contract Wednesday, helping the Eagles with tight end depth they lost when Trey Burton left in free agency and they cut Brent Celek.
Rodgers, 26, played for the Green Bay Packers for the past four seasons. A 2014 third-round pick out of California, Rodgers has 25 career starts with 120 catches, 1,166 yards, and 13 touchdowns. He's coming off a down year, totaling a career-worst 12 catches for 160 yards and a score. His best season came in 2015, when he recorded 58 catches for 510 yards and eight touchdowns.
He'll try to reboot his career with the Eagles, where he could fit in as the No. 2 tight end behind Zach Ertz. The Eagles also have Billy Brown, Joshua Perkins, and Adam Zaruba on their roster at tight end. They can add to the position in the draft, too. They haven't drafted a tight end since Ertz in 2013. Signing Rodgers does not change their draft strategy.
Rodgers is another example of how the Eagles are trying to plug reserve roles with players on one-year contracts. That helps them in their effort to have quality depth for 2018, but it does not tie them to onerous contracts beyond this season.
