August 7, 2023   2 MIN READ

Leo’s Back

Plot Twist: Leo Returns To Birds In New Role

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The Eagles once again brought back Matt Leo, the Australian defensive end who’s been with the team for four seasons but has never actually made the 53-man roster.

But in his latest stint with the team, Leo is changing his role.

About a week after retiring from the playing field, Leo is moving to the front office, as the Eagles announced his return as “Defensive & Football Operations” assistant.

The move into football operations likely means Leo will get heavily into analytics and doing special projects for defensive coordinator Sean Desai.

The 6-foot-7, 280-pound Leo – from Iowa State via Adelaide, Australia – originally came to the Eagles in 2020 as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program that allows teams to have an international player practicing with team without occupying a roster spot for two seasons.

 

Matt Leo

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES PHOTO: Matt Leo, who retired from playing defensive end, returns to the Eagles’ front office.

He spent two seasons with the Eagles on the international roster exemption, each time getting waived at the end of training camp and re-signed to the practice squad.

In 2022, the team signed him to a Futures Contract in January, had him compete at OTAs and training camp and again waived him at the end of camp before re-signing him to the practice squad.

The Eagles re-signed him again this year before waiving him July 25 while announcing his decision to retire.

– Geoff Mosher (@geoffmoshernfl) is co-host of the “Inside the Birds” podcast and staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.

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About The Author

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Geoff Mosher is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years experience covering the Eagles, the NFL and other college and pro sports across several different multimedia platforms. He is co-host of the acclaimed Inside the Birds podcast, the leading podcast for intel on the Philadelphia Eagles, and co-host on 97.3 ESPN's drive-time show. He has also hosted on Philadelphia's sports-talk station, 94.1 WIP and 97.5 The Fanatic. Geoff was the lead Eagles Insider from 2012-2015 for NBC Sports Philadelphia, where he wrote for the website and appeared daily on the station's TV shows, including Quick Slants, Philly Sports Talk, Eagles Pregame/Postgame Live and Eagles Extra. Prior to joining NBC Sports, Geoff worked the Eagles beat from 2005-2012 for the Wilmington News Journal, where he broke several major news stories and also won an Associated Press Sports Editors award under the category of Breaking News for his coverage of the sudden death of Phillies play by play broadcaster Harry Kalas. Geoff has appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter, NFL Network, NBC Sports Network, FOX29, 6ABC and has conducted interviews for Sirius/XM NFL radio and countless other radio stations across the country.

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