According to NFL insider Adam Caplan, the Philadelphia Eagles are signing P Braden Mann to their practice squad.
The Eagles don’t have a punter on their practice squad after elevating P Arryn Siposs for their last two games, Siposs punting the ball eight times for 347 yards (43.4 yards per punt) with two punts downed inside the 20-yard line. To make room for Mann on the practice squad, Philadelphia will have to make a corresponding move prior to their next game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Monday night.
Mann played for the Steelers during the preseason, pushing P Pressley Harvin III for the starting job. He signed with Pittsburgh this spring after being claimed off waivers from the New York Jets, adding another experienced leg to the room to create a true position battle at punter. Both Mann and Harvin played well during the preseason with Harvin showing more consistency and Mann ending the preseason on a high note with a notable performance against the Atlanta Falcons.
The belief was that Mann had value on the trade market, likely being the reason why Pittsburgh kept both Mann and Harvin on its initial 53-man roster. Caplan initially reported that the Eagles may have had interest in Mann given their punting situation during training camp, thus making Philadelphia a potential landing spot for Mann via trade.
A deal never came to fruition and Pittsburgh parted ways with Mann after setting the initial roster. The Eagles still managed to get Mann, not having to pay anything for him as he cleared waivers and is now on their practice squad. It would have been ideal for Pittsburgh to ship off Mann to Philadelphia for a late-round draft pick, but the Eagles played their cards right in waiting out Pittsburgh instead of parting with assets to acquire him. The Steelers tied themselves to Harvin for yet another season as he has started the season with six punts for 254 yards (43.5 yards per punt) with one downed inside the 20 in Pittsburgh’s Week One loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers.
