NFL postseason roster rules Philadelphia Eagles fans should know

The Philadelphia Eagles do a pretty good job of roster management throughout the season. There have been a few gaffes this season, most notably when they used one of their eight IR spots for Albert Okwuegbunam before the season started and then released him after the trade deadline. That was kind of a doofus move, but other than that, there’s not a whole lot to criticize.

When you see roster moves on your timeline over the next few weeks, there are a few things you should know about because the postseason roster rules are a little different than they are in the regular season.

Just when you thought you understood the new IR activation limits …

The Eagles are in a really good spot right now. The only thing keeping them from being in a perfect spot is Jalen Hurts still being in the concussion protocol. It’s totally fine if you’re losing sleep over that because as a collective, Eagles fans’ happiness and overall quality of life largely depends on him.

So, you know … other than the biggest problem ever, things are peachy. It’s easy to say, ‘Hopefully the Eagles don’t have to make many roster moves during the playoffs. Our guys are awesome.’ 

That’s mostly right. Our guys are awesome, and hopefully no one has to touch the free-agent pool… but there will be practice squad elevations and maybe, just MAYBE, one or two IR activations. It’s best just to know the rules about that stuff so you can sound smart to your friends. 

Injured Reserve:

This isn’t super different from the regular season, but it is a new rule for the 2024 season and it’s kind of notable for the Eagles specifically. In the regular season, teams can only activate eight players from the IR. In the postseason, that number gets bumped up to 10.

Brandon Graham has been on the Injured Reserve since November 26, 2024, after he tore his triceps in the Week 12 game in Los Angeles. He hasn’t ruled out coming back in the postseason. It’s a long shot, but that would be mega-ultra awesome.

Also, Britain Covey has been on the IR a couple of times this season. He missed seven games early on with a shoulder injury and he went on the IR again on Dec. 28 because of a neck injury that happened three weeks prior. 

So far this season, the Eagles have activated six players from the IR: Albert Okwuegbunam, Ainais Smith, Jordan Mailata, Britain Covey, Bryce Huff, and Dallas Goedert. Right now they have seven players on the IR: Graham and Covey, but also Ben VanSumeren, C.J. Uzomah, Byron Young, James Bradberry, and La’Raven Clark.

Most of those guys won’t get activated because of the severity of their different injuries, but because the number of potential activations is bumped from eight to 10, they won’t be up against a wall if they use their seventh one on Britain Covey.

Practice squad elevations:

The Eagles love elevating guys from the practice squad. This season it’s been mostly for depth, but a handful of times it’s been for players who play meaningful snaps.

During the regular season, the rule is that a practice squad guy can only get elevated from the practice squad to the active roster up to three times, and if they’re going to be on the active roster after that, they have to be signed. This year that happened with tight end C.J. Uzomah. Last year it happened with punter Braden Mann. 

In the postseason, there is no limit on the number of times a player can be elevated from the practice squad. 

In early December, the Eagles signed fullback Khari Blasingame to their practice squad. He was elevated for his third and final regular season game against the Commanders in Week 16. 

He played 50 special teams snaps and two offensive snaps in those three games (if his name doesn’t sound familiar, that makes sense). If the Eagles want to elevate him from the practice in the playoffs, the postseason practice squad elevation rules say they can.

Free agents:

It’s gonna be a pretty bad situation if the Eagles have to sign free agents, because at this point those free agents are free agents for a reason, and normally that reason is because they’re not good. 

Remember how last week the Cowboys released Zeke because they wanted to let him join a Super Bowl contender? Then everyone looked at them and said, ‘Uh ... No, dude. He stinks. You’re literally the only team who sees something in him.’ Zeke’s a free agent who could ‘potentially’ (by definition of the word only) get signed by a team in the postseason. 

The rules for signing free agents in the postseason are relatively stringent compared to what they are in the regular season. Now, teams can sign up to four free agents in the postseason. On top of that, they’re only allowed to sign up to two free agents in a single week. 

If/when Jalen Hurts clears concussion protocol, the team will have every single starter available and healthy going into the postseason, so cross your fingers that Howie Roseman doesn’t have to dip into the free-agent pool.