Eagles Sign Linval Joseph, Place Dallas Goedert, Marlon Tuipulotu on IR

Help for the Eagles’ ailing run defense is on the way after the team agreed to sign veteran Linval Joseph to a one-year contract on Wednesday.

Just as Joseph enters the picture, however, defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu appears headed to Injured Reserve per NFL Media. He had played all nine games and his snaps were on the rise after Jordan Davis was placed on IR.

Tuipulotu had played 43% of the snaps in the last three games and 36% overall.

The Eagles also placed tight end Dallas Goedert on Injured Reserve after he hurt his shoulder while being face-masked to the ground by Washington LB Jamin Davis on a play that wasn’t penalized by NFL Alex Kemp and his crew.

Goedert won’t be eligible to return to the roster until Dec. 18 against the Chicago Bears. The Eagles activated tight end Tyree Jackson from the PUP list to take Goedert’s place.

Whether Joseph proves to be the cure for a unit that has been gashed for more than 120 yards on the ground by their last five opponents, remains to be seen. The inability to stop the run in their loss to the Commanders on Monday helped open up the play-action game from QB Taylor Heinicke, who found several receivers wide-open.

The Eagles, are still waiting for some kind of impact from defensive end Robert Quinn who GM Howie Roseman sent a fourth-round draft pick to the Bears to acquire prior to the trade deadline.

Quinn is 32, a veteran of 12 seasons.

Joseph is 34, a veteran of 13 seasons. He is listed as 6-4, 329 pounds, but he hasn’t taken a snap all season.

His last game was on Jan. 9, 2021, with the Chargers. He played 40% of the snaps in a 35-32 loss to the Raiders in that game.

Originally a second-round pick of the Giants in 2010, Joseph has also played for the Vikings in addition to the Chargers. He has 644 career tackles and 25 sacks.

The Eagles certainly needed to do something to bolster their defensive line as they wait for Davis to return from a high ankle sprain. He was seen limping in the locker room last week but is eligible to return against Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans on Dec. 4, if he is able.

Since Davis got hurt two weeks ago, the Eagles run defense has tumbled out of the top 10 in the league ranking to 20th.

Also, since Davis went out, the Eagles have gone from giving up 3.7 yards per rush to more than 5.0 yards per rush.

Evidently, the team wasn't enthralled with Marvin Wilson, who was elevated from the practice squad in Houston but wasn’t called up against Washington.

With just four defensive tackles at his disposal, defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon played Fletcher Cox 70 saps (84%) and Javon Hargrave 66 (80%) in Monday night's loss.

The last time Cox played that many snaps was four years ago, when he played 79 against the Cowboys on Dec. 9, 2018, against the Cowboys. He was 27 at the time.