It’s going to be hard to make this roster. That statement is neither informative nor surprising. We’ve been talking about how ‘loaded’ this Philadelphia Eagles team is seemingly since the victory parade in February.

They endured the expected losses of the free-agency frenzy. They retooled with some low-risk, high-reward signings. Then came a stellar draft class. Dare we say this team might be better than it was the last time we saw it?

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Dallas Goedert is back, thanks in part to Jalen Hurts. Most of the starting jobs have been locked up, with maybe the significant exceptions being right guard, strong safety, and the outside corner spot across from Quinyon Mitchell.

We know who many of the reserves are, too. Again, this roster is loaded, so we’re probably talking about a couple of handfuls of jobs on the 53-man roster (if that many). Did we mention it’s going to be hard to make this team?

Several of the Eagles‘ familiar faces are among the number who could leave by September

Call it the cost of doing business or the numbers game. Whatever you call it, it’s the nature of the beast in the NFL. Every team is going to lose good players. It happens every summer. With only 53 spots on the active roster and 16 on the practice squad, it’s impossible to hang on to everyone.

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Fourteen players were added during free agency. Then came a ten-man draft class. Tough decisions will need to be made, and one of those tough decisions involves saying goodbye to familiar faces. Don’t look now, but these guys are on notice, and they have some very short leases.

Eli Rick & Tariq Castro-Fields

Truthfully, you can argue Eli Ricks on and off this roster. An underwhelming few workouts by Tariq Castro-Fields help his case somewhat. He has allowed too many plays for a guy who needs to be as impressive as possible, but if Eli struggles, that may reopen the door some.

Patrick Johnson

Philadelphia didn’t bring Patrick Johnson back just so they could cut him, did they? That may be precisely what they have done. We know Nolan Smith and Kalyx Hunt are ahead of him on the depth chart, and Josh Uche, Azeez Ojulari, and Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. are, more than likely, ahead of him also.

Worth mentioning: Lewis Cine

Philadelphia brought Lewis Cine in on January 6, presumably to give him a jump on the coming season. Reed Blankenship, Sydney Brown, Tristin McCollum, and rookie Andrew Mukuba are all ahead of him on a safety depth chart that may only feature five on the Eagles’ 53-man regular-season roster. If anyone else is added between now and September, Cine may have a few issues.

Brett Toth

If Brett Toth can’t make this team as a backup center, he may not make this team at all. The problems are as follows: One, he doesn’t do the job very well, and two, Philadelphia drafted a good center in Drew Kendall.

Kenyon Green

Kenyon Green isn’t a familiar face, but he’ll be watched closely as he was part of the trade that shipped off C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Green was expected to challenge for a starting right guard position, but it seems that job is Tyler Steen’s to lose. We’ll see what happens, but Trevor Keegan may be the better backup.

Johnny Wilson

Philadelphia has tried to find a big receiving target for a while. This seemingly dates back to the Tyree Jackson experiment. Wilson doesn’t catch the ball as well as he should, and when he wasn’t present for the media-attended voluntary OTA practices, Terrace Marshall made a name for himself. So did Danny Gray. Make no mistake. Wilson isn’t guaranteed anything. He could very well be left off this roster.

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Familiar Eagles face unexpected fights for a roster spot