Philadelphia Eagles release another former Alabama player in practice-squad transaction

The Philadelphia Eagles released Ross Pierschbacher as the NFL team announced an exchange of offensive linemen on its practice squad on Thursday.

The Eagles released Pierschbacher to create a roster spot for former Philadelphia offensive tackle Brett Toth.

Toth played in 17 games, with one start, for the Eagles during the 2020 and 2021 seasons and spent 2022 on Philadelphia’s physically-unable-to-perform list. He started the 2023 season on the Eagles’ practice squad.

Carolina signed Toth on Oct. 25, and he played in three games, with one start, before the Panthers waived him on Monday.

Pierschbacher was in his fourth week with Philadelphia. He had joined the Eagles’ practice squad on Nov. 13. The center/guard did not play in a game while with Philadelphia this time.

Pierschbacher is the second former Alabama player released from the Eagles’ practice squad this week. Philadelphia released Cam Sims on Tuesday, and the wide receiver signed with the Panthers’ practice squad on Thursday.

Before joining the Eagles, Pierschbacher had been out of the NFL since Aug. 13, when the Detroit Lions released him with an injury settlement.

Pierschbacher had started at center in Detroit’s preseason opener two days before his release. Pierschbacher played the first nine offensive snaps in a 21-16 victory over the New York Giants. He left the game with 7:04 left in the first quarter. The Lions did not announce the nature of Pierschbacher’s injury, but he left the game after right guard Colby Sorsdal fell on the back of the center’s right leg.

A four-season starter at Alabama, Pierschbacher earned first-team All-SEC recognition in 2017 while playing left guard and 2018 while playing center.

A fifth-round selection of the Washington Redskins in the 2019 NFL Draft, Pierschbacher has played in 11 NFL regular-season games – five for Washington in 2019, three for Philadelphia in 2020 and three for Detroit in 2022. He’s been on the field for one offensive snap and 39 special-teams plays.

Pierschbacher spent most of the 2021 season on the New York Jets’ practice squad. Pierschbacher joined the Lions for his fourth NFL season on Sept. 8, 2022, after the Jets released him at the end of the preseason. Pierschbacher spent most of the 2022 campaign on Detroit’s practice squad, then joined the active roster on Dec. 10.

The Lions signed Pierschbacher to a one-year, $1.035 million contract extension in March to prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.