The Philadelphia Eagles waived Jakorian Bennett on November 3, ending the cornerback's latest bid to get back onto the roster after a preseason injury sidelined him for the 2026 season. The move came after the team had opened his 21-day practice window on October 14, and it now leaves him off the active roster instead of back in uniform.
The timing matters because the Eagles were nearing a deadline that would have forced a decision: activate Bennett or shut him down for the rest of the 2026 season. Instead, they cut him loose from injured reserve, a sign that the club preferred to move on rather than use the roster spot on a player it had traded for last summer from the Las Vegas Raiders. Bennett, a 2023 fourth-round pick, had logged just 98 defensive snaps with the Eagles, including 69 in Week 18 last year when the team rested starters.
That limited usage helps explain why this became a business decision as much as a personnel one. Bennett logged 58 defensive snaps in 2025, then started the 2026 season on injured reserve after getting hurt in the preseason. The Eagles had needed cornerback help when they acquired him, but his path never turned into a steady role. Jonathan Jones had claimed the top backup outside cornerback job before getting hurt himself, and he is 33 years old on a one-year deal, leaving the depth chart unsettled in a way that might have made Bennett useful if he had been ready.
The friction is obvious: the Eagles opened Bennett's 21-day window, but did not convert that into an activation. That means they chose waiver exposure over a protected return, even though the roster picture could still change before the NFL trade deadline and Riq Woolen could move ahead in the pecking order. The Eagles also gave up Thomas Booker IV to get Bennett, and Booker is still producing for Las Vegas, where he logged the third-most defensive tackle snaps last year and the fourth-most so far this season.
Whether Bennett lands with another team or circles back to the Eagles on the practice squad is the next question. For now, the move says the Eagles are willing to absorb the loss on a player they once targeted for depth rather than wait out the final steps of his return.
