Well, the Philadelphia Eagles' 53-man roster was certainly a surprise. The Eagles announced their initial 53-man roster and it wasn't what anyone expected. General manager Howie Roseman made a few interesting moves that don't make a lot of sense on the outside looking in, but there's a reason why the Eagles protected the players they did. This was an initial 53-man roster -- key word here is initial -- that didn't make a lot of sense in some areas. In others, it was a relief to see the Eagles make the moves they made. These are the key takeaways from the initial 53-man roster -- along with trying to explain what Roseman was thinking. The decision to keep 4 QBsThis was the biggest surprise of the initial 53-man roster, given that the Eagles kept four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster for the first time in the modern era. Outside of Jalen Hurts, none of the other quarterbacks deserve to be on the 53-man roster. I'll say this multiple times in this piece. This is the initial 53-man roster for a reason. The Eagles weren't the only team to keep four quarterbacks. The Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers also kept four, likely because they will attempt to trade one of them in the coming days. Based on how the trade market played out, the Eagles couldn't find a trade partner for neither Tanner McKee nor Andy Dalton. They'll still look to acquire a Day 3 pick for one of the two over the coming days, and use that extra roster spot for another position. McKee didn't play well enough to earn the QB2 spot, and neither did Dalton. The Eagles basically admitted they haven't decided who their QB2 is -- and likely won't until later in the week. Payton is the QB3 on this team and will be a developmental player this season. As poor as he looked this summer -- combined with how little reps he had in the preseason -- the Eagles can use the 2026 season to refine his skills and use him in certain sub-packages. Why the Eagles passed on the IPP playersNeither Uar Bernard nor Joshua Weru made the initial 53-man roster. This was certainly a surprise considering how much time the Eagles invested in both this summer, and their prior history of being patient with a player from the International Pathway Program in the past with Jordan Mailata.Perhaps we should have listened to Vic Fangio here. He tried to warn us in his press conference a few weeks ago. "Those are our two exchange dudes," Fangio said on August 19. "They're doing fine, but they've got a long way to go."Fangio said both Weru and Bernard were light years away earlier in camp. We should have listened to the message he was giving. The Eagles were not strong enough at other positions on the roster to weaken the bottom of the 53 with players like Weru and Bernard -- two developmental players that weren't going to contribute to the 2026 team. Instead, the Eagles made the bottom of their roster stronger by keeping them off of it.They didn't need six pass rushers and six defensive tackles on this roster. The Eagles need depth at tight end, wide receiver, and cornerback -- which is what they addressed. And the uncertainly at quarterback played a role.There was no need for Bernard or Weru to be on the 53-man roster. The Eagles are banking on both players passing through waivers, as another team that claims them on Monday would have to keep them on the 53. That's a big risk for any organization. If the Eagles get both Weru and Bernard on the practice squad, the move was justified. Jonathan Greenard will be back before Week 5One of the moves that went under the radar was Greenard not staying on the PUP list, where he has been since the start of training camp. If the Eagles placed Greenard on the PUP list, he would have been out until at least Week 5 of the season -- which would be October 11.This move guarantees the latest Greenard would return from his pectoral injury would be October 4 (Week 4). Remember the Eagles have two weeks until their season opener (September 13), which is a lot of time for Greenard to be ready for the start of the year. Even if Greenard misses a week, that's not bad considering how severe his pectoral injury is. The Eagles are confident Greenard has enough time to get healthy and get to 100% sometime in September.The key isn't to get Greenard back on the field, but to have him 100%. Not putting Greenard on PUP is a sign that will be the case. Depth at wide receiver improved with keeping Elijah Moore Moore deserved to make the 53-man roster based on how he performed this summer. He was better than Hollywood Brown for the majority of training camp and even was outplaying Darius Cooper in the final weeks.The belief was the Eagles were going to be able to get Moore on the practice squad as a veteran, since he doesn't have to go through waivers. Moore would have been one of the veteran practice squad signings and elevated for the first three weeks. Instead the Eagles decided to keep Moore and go with six wide receivers. The depth of the wide receiver room was in question anyway, and elevated based on how Makai Lemon looked in the preseason finale and how much of the summer he missed. Moore can play the slot and give the Eagles another veteran presence with Brown -- who was going to make the roster based on his $5 million guaranteed in his contract. Cooper made the 53 last week, and he'll have a role as a blocking receiver and on special teams. All of a sudden the Eagles look deeper on paper at wide receiver than a week ago, all because they kept Moore. While keeping Moore was a surprise, he earned his way on the 53. The Eagles didn't use roster gymnastics with this move. Why E.J. Jenkins as the No. 4 tight end? The Eagles did keep four tight ends, but the fourth tight end wasn't Cameron Latu. The three obvious ones (Dallas Goedert, Johnny Mundt, and Eli Stowers) made the roster, but the fourth ended up being Jenkins. Jenkins was the best blocking tight end on the Eagles this summer, having a better summer than Mundt in that department. If the Eagles bread and butter of this offense is the run game an dthe offensive line, they're going to need Jenkins as an extra run blocker in "13 personnel." Jenkins is also a good red zone target and has been around the organization for several years. He has a natural instinct for the game and knows how to get open between the hashmarks. The Eagles are going to need Jenkins in the pass game thanks to the lack of development from Stowers, who has struggled getting separation from defenders and run blocking all summer. Stowers isn't ready to contribute to this team come Week 1, and is currently battling a hamstring injury (although he should be back in a week). Don't be surprised if Jenkins is on the active roster come Week 1, and plays an important role in an offense that wants to feature the tight end. This is a huge opportunity for Jenkins to stick around. Mac McWilliams is here for a reasonThe Eagles have questionable depth at cornerback behind the three starters. Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, and Tariq Woolen form one of the best cornerback trios in the league, but what's behind them is where things get challanging.Jonathan Jones should be back soon, but has missed all summer with a shoulder injury. He'll need time to ramp up before taking over his role as the backup cornerback on the outside and in the slot.This is where Kelee Ringo and Mac McWilliams come in. Ringo is already an excellent gunner and plays a pivotal role on special teams, while also having experience on the outside in Fangio's system.Is Ringo a starter? No, but he provides valuable depth and was going to have a roster spot once the Eagles cut J.T. Gray. As for McWilliams, he's a better slot cornerback than on the outside -- and hasn't played much of the slot in the preseason due to the injuries that Eagles had at the position. McWilliams has looked better in the camp practices playing the slot. He also is a good special teams player, something else the Eagles find valuable when evaluating the bottom of the roster. The Eagles didn't want to part ways with McWilliams, as he will help this team out on special teams and as a backup slot cornerback. Keep in mind Cooper DeJean is also going to safety when in base defense, so the Eagles need cornerback depth anyway. In hindsight, it was wise for the Eagles to keep six cornerbacks. Make sure you bookmark Philadelphia Eagles on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns, and so much more!Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow