Eagles Roster Moves: Ben VanSumeren Placed On IR, Za’Darius Smith Signed

It’s a very tough blow for Eagles fullback Ben VanSumeren.

On the season’s opening kickoff, he suffered a non-contact injury and was carted off the field.

Reports are that he tore his patella tendon.

Eagles FB Ben VanSumeren tore his patella tendon Thursday night and will be out for the season, per league sources. pic.twitter.com/mL5pOuNOS9

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 5, 2025

That’s something that will end his season after playing just one special teams snap.

It’s a very rough break for an undrafted free agent who carved a spot out on the team as a special teams ace and then gave up being a linebacker so that he could help the team better as they looked to implement a fullback.

It remains to be seen if that will happen or not as he wasn’t healthy for a single offensive snap.

It’s made worse by the fact he rehabbed an injury suffered last year shortly after he transitioned to FB just to make the roster this year.

One would hope the team brings him back and gives him a chance to actually fulfill the role they’ve seen for him the past two seasons.

With his being out for the year, the team placed him on IR to clear the roster spot.

We have signed DE Za’Darius Smith and placed FB Ben VanSumeren on Injured Reserve. pic.twitter.com/YxdEsI9KfM

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 5, 2025

Evidently the Eagles front office felt similarly about how poor the DL did bringing down the QB last night as they agreed to a deal with veteran Za’Darius Smith.

Smith is a three-time Pro Bowler who was also selected to the NFL Top 100 three times, with the last instance of both coming after the 2022 season.

He’s a career mover as he’s been with the Ravens, Packers, Vikings, Browns, and Lions in ten years in the league.

He spent the first half of last year with the Browns and the back half in Detriot. Across the two teams, he put up 9 sacks with 25 pressures and 35 tackles.

Since 2018, the only year he posted less than 5.5 sacks was in 2021, when he was injured in the first game of the season. He’s otherwise averaged just under 10 sacks per season since then.

He was not in camp with any teams, so will likely take a bit to ramp up and at least start as a second-string rotation guy.

The deal bringing him to Philly is reportedly worth $4.25 million with up to $4 million in incentives.

That’s a good deal for the Eagles because his signing after the start of the year means they could cut him if it doesn’t work out and not have to pay the remaining salary. He was also cut by the Lions as they tried to navigate the salary cap, so he doesn’t count against the comp pick formula the Eagles were trying to work.

Ideally, he makes all that money, though, because he comes in and produces at a high level and helps the Eagles to their end goal of a championship.