We’re getting closer to the 53-man NFL roster cut. That’s next Tuesday, August 30th, when the Birds’ initial squad will be revealed.

One of the more interesting battles right now is on the back end of the receiver list, and it looks like a position of strength this season. You’ve got A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith as your slam dunk #1 and #2, Quez Watkins as the #3, and then free agent signing Zach Pascal is WR4. Beyond that you’ve got Jalen Reagor, Deon Cain, Devon Allen, Britain Covey, Greg Ward, and John Hightower.

You gotta think they’re only going to keep five. That’s what they did last August, rolling into game one with a group of Smith, Reagor, JJAW, Ward, and Watkins. They kept seven receivers in 2020, Doug’s last year, which is heavy for one position.

What you have here really is a battle for that last spot between Reagor and Cain. Covey had himself a nice camp and was seen as a dark horse of sorts, but it’s Cain who stood out the most in the Cleveland game:

Cain is 26 years old and was a 6th round draft pick back in 2018. He had a cup of coffee with three teams and dealt with injury before landing in Philly for camp. You have to ask yourself if there’s more to come or if this is the ceiling for a guy who has spent his brief NFL career bouncing around.


But the bottom line is that he’s out there making plays and Jalen Reagor is not. So if you’re asking about the edge the latter has over the former, it’s what? Upside? Unlocked potential? Trade value? Special teams contribution? There’s really nothing on the field of play that puts Reagor above Cain at this point. The advantages are in possibilities, i.e. “what we might get in a trade” or “maybe this 1st round talent finally develops.” You’d be banking on stuff that just hasn’t materialized, which is a risk.

Oftentimes, these fringe guys contribute to special teams, and that’s how they earn a roster spot. Think about your Shaun Bradleys and Zech McPhearsons and Andre Chacheres. In the 15 games he played for Pittsburgh and Indy, Cain logged a grand total of zero special teams snaps. If you keep him on the roster, and he’s WR5 behind Brown, Smith, Watkins, and Pascal, how much time is he even getting on the field? How many snaps per game? 10? That might be generous. There are times when a WR5 gets maybe 6-8 snaps per game if lucky, which doesn’t guarantee a single target anyway.

It’s something to think about, the WR depth chart. Who has upside? Who can play special teams? Who has some kind of future trade potential? Who can land on the practice squad?

These are good questions to ask.