The Eagles announced the signings of eight undrafted free agents on Friday, the first day of rookie minicamp.
Their class of undrafted signees includes defensive back Kapena Gushiken (Mississippi), defensive back Tucker Large (Washington), linebacker Deontae Lawson (Alabama), defensive back Maximus Pulley (Wofford), guard Jaeden Roberts (Alabama), long snapper Rocco Underwood (Florida), defensive end Joshua Weru (International Player Pathway program), and tight end Dae’Quan Wright (Ole Miss).
Weru, who is 6-foot-4 and 244 pounds, joins Uar Bernard as IPP products in the Eagles’ rookie class. He hails from Nairobi, Kenya, and has a background in rugby, a path reminiscent of Jordan Mailata’s journey to the NFL. Like Bernard, Weru has yet to play organized football.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Weru enrolled at Arizona State in 2024, where he pursued a bachelor’s in business administration.
» READ MORE: Meet Uar Bernard, the athletic marvel and Eagles draft pick who has never played football
The Eagles now have a long snapper on the roster in Underwood, who figures to compete for the job that was held by Charley Hughlett and Cal Adomitis in 2025. Underwood, who hails from Lake Mary, Fla., appeared in 50 games over five seasons at Florida.
Lawson, a 6-3, 224-pound linebacker, is set to reunite with his former Alabama teammate Jihaad Campbell. Lawson was a starter for 3½ seasons and started 41 games (with 52 appearances total over five years).
After redshirting his freshman year, Lawson accumulated 6½ sacks, 283 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, 17 pass breakups, and an interception. In 2025, he led the team with 89 tackles.
This is the second-smallest undrafted free agent class that the Eagles have assembled following the draft in the last five years. In 2024, the team initially signed seven UDFA players. Their largest class in that span came in 2022 with 11 players, a group that was headlined by Reed Blankenship.
“Howie does a great job of finding guys who have talent in their body that can be able to develop,” Nick Sirianni said after Friday’s on-field session. “I think that you’ve seen it every year that we’ve been here, we’ve been able to have guys that are undrafted free agents that make it, whether that’s Josh Jobe or Reed Blankenship or Jack Stoll … Eli Ricks. A bunch of guys that have made the this team. So it’s exciting to see the first steps of who’s going to emerge from that group.”
The Eagles continue their rookie minicamp Saturday.
In addition to their 2026 draft picks and undrafted free agents, the Eagles welcomed a number of tryouts at rookie minicamp, including veterans like running back Elijah Mitchell (2021 sixth-rounder out of Louisiana by the San Francisco 49ers), running back Khalil Herbert (2021 sixth-rounder from Virginia Tech by the Chicago Bears), and guard Michael Jordan (2019 fourth-rounder from Ohio State by the Cincinnati Bengals).
Luke Akers, a former Northwestern punter and son of Eagles Hall of Fame kicker David Akers, and Kajiya Hollawayne, a former Temple wide receiver, also were among the tryouts.
“It’s important to … be able to cast a wide net and have different types of players in here that you’ve had your eye on, or that have popped on tape for for different things, and to be able to get a look at them and see if you can steal a guy that way,” Sirianni said.
Leave a comment