Report: Offensive Tackle Brett Toth Given Clearance to Sign with Eagles
Looks like this situation has been resolved, via Adam Schefter:
Former Army OT Brett Toth was given a military waiver today and now will sign a three-year deal to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, per his agent Alan Herman.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 16, 2019
The circumstances surrounding this move are interesting, and they were laid out earlier this week by NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Dave Zangaro, among others:
In June, (President Donald) Trump signed a presidential memorandum that ordered the Pentagon to develop a policy that would allow players from military academies to play professional sports after graduation, deferring their service obligation.
In that memo in June, Trump said military academy athletes should be allowed to defer because of the “short window of time” they have to play pro sports.
In 2018, Toth became the first player from West Point to be invited to the annual Senior Bowl. Toth graduated last May and is a second lieutenant in the Army. He’s now a year removed from football.
Toth is 6’6″, about 290 pounds, and was invited to the 2018 scouting combine. He hasn’t played since, but if the Birds are giving him a three-year contract then they obviously see something they really like in his athletic profile, perhaps grooming him for a future spot on the line.
Dane Brugler shared this Toth profile on Twitter today and it’s worth a read:
The #Eagles already strong OT depth chart just got better with the Brett Toth signing.
Toth is a very intriguing developmental tackle with the traits that Howie Roseman looks for. Here is my report on him out of college: pic.twitter.com/zNzlNqfOe0
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) August 16, 2019