DeVante Parker retires: Ex-NFL WR joins interesting list of (almost) Eagles that never played a game for team

DeVante Parker decided to retire from the NFL rather than compete with the Philadelphia Eagles this summer, just two months after signing a free-agent contract with the team. Parker signed a one-year, $4.69 million deal with the Eagles, but Philadelphia only had to pay $1.2 million of the contract (the New England Patriots would have to pay the rest).

Essentially Parker was on borrowed time with the Eagles, not exactly competing for the WR3 spot because that role was going to a slot wide receiver (Parker plays the boundary and would have been depth for A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith). Parker decided to spend more time with his family after a nine-year NFL career. 

Parker never playing a down for the Eagles isn’t unusual for this franchise, who have had quite a few players that signed there and never played — or had deals fall through — over the years. Here are the most notable over the last 30 years: 

Jack signed with the Eagles in August of last season to compete for one of the open linebacker spots in training camp. While spending some of the first week with the Eagles at first team on the depth chart, Jack was relegated to second team on the second week and decided that was it.

In Jack’s first press conference. he revealed he had ambitions of being an electrician or a plumber before being lured back into football by Budda Baker. Jack was only retired for a few months before signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ practice squad, eventually starting a game and playing three.

Jack wore the Eagles uniform in a preseason game, but never suited up for them in the regular season. 

Mark Brunell

Brunell never signed with the Eagles nor was traded there, but thought he was going to Philadelphia based on his history with Jon Gruden. When Brunell was a backup quarterback with the Green Bay Packers, Gruden was hired to be the offensive coordinator with the Eagles in 1995. Brunell thought he was getting traded to the Eagles and reuniting with Gruden in Philadelphia. 

The Eagles worked out a deal for Brunell, but the quarterback was hesitant to accept a five-year contract as he would be backing up Randall Cunningham (Cunningham was benched four games into the 1995 season). The deal wasn’t completed and Brunell was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Goodwin was traded to the Eagles in 2020, but decided to opt out of the season due to COVID concerns. Goodwin’s rights actually reverted back to the San Francisco 49ers in 2021 because he never played a snap with the Eagles. 

The 49ers released Goodwin a day later, and sent a seventh-round pick to Philadelphia. Goodwin went on to sign with the Chicago Bears in April of that year. 

Gore actually never put on an Eagles jersey (similar to Brunell), but agreed to a free-agent contract with the Eagles during the legal tampering period in 2015. He agreed to sign a deal with Philadelphia that included $7.5 million guaranteed in the first two years of the contract, but backed out of the contract agreement because the Eagles traded Nick Foles a day later and allowed Jeremy Maclin to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Feeling he couldn’t win a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, Gore decided to sign with the Indianapolis Colts instead. This was one of the most bizarre moments in Eagles’ free agent history.