The Philadelphia Eagles have been one of the more aggressive teams throughout the offseason at adding talent to their roster. With the announcement earlier this week of wide receiver DeVante Parker retiring after nine seasons, the team used that roster spot to sign former Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants wide receiver John Ross.
Ross has not played in the NFL since the 2021 season as he announced his retirement after signing with Kansas City seven months later in 2023 while on a futures contract. He was in the Philadelphia Eagles camp in a tryout before the two sides agreed to a one-year deal.
John Ross is known for one thing: speed. He held the NFL Combine record with an official 4.22-second 40-yard dash, before being surpassed by Xavier Worthy in the most recent NFL Combine. The newest Philadelphia wide receiver played in 37 games and finished with 62 catches on 143 targets for 957 yards (15.4 yards per reception) with 11 touchdown grabs.
Ross was the ninth overall selection in the 2017 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, coming out of the University of Washington. With Parker’s retirement, expect John Ross to be competing for the third wide receiver spot in the depth chart behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
What does this move mean for the Philadelphia Eagles going forward?
![Philadelphia Eagles Sign Former Top-10 Pick to Replace DeVante Parker 1 Philadelphia Eagles](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/USATSI_22263679_168400517_lowres.jpg)
While this may have seemed like a big move back in the day, the fact is that we have not seen John Ross play one down in the NFL for almost three years. While still being young at 28 years old and not having the hits on his body after being retired, there is some cause for concern here.
However, this Philadelphia Eagles team is loaded with skill position talent with the wide receivers and running back Saquon Barkley. Expect to see Ross play a big role for the Eagles as a deep threat that is extremely talented.