Jerome McDougle among Eagles cuts

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Jerome McDougle ran out of chances with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The former first-round pick was among 12 players released Saturday to put the Eagles at the NFL's roster limit. McDougle had a solid preseason, finishing with a team-high 21/2 sacks. But that wasn't enough for the Eagles to keep the defensive end around. McDougle has just three sacks in 33 career games.

"It was an extremely difficult decision for us," general manager Tom Heckert said. "He's a great guy and he's worked real hard to come back from adversity. He won't have a hard time finding a job."

The Eagles traded up 15 spots to draft McDougle with the 15th overall pick in 2003. But the former Miami star never lived up to expectations. McDougle was plagued by injuries his first two seasons and missed all of 2005 after he was shot during a robbery in Miami before the start of training camp.

McDougle returned in 2006 and appeared in 14 games, recording one sack. But he sat out last season with a triceps injury.

"Every year he showed the determination to come back," Heckert said. "We thought long and hard about this. We're keeping so many defensive linemen that we couldn't rationalize keeping another one."

(sportingnews.com)