Former Washington State slot receiver River Cracraft waived by Philadelphia Eagles

River Cracraft’s brief stint with the Philadelphia Eagles ended Thursday.

The former Washington State wide receiver, who was signed to a futures contract with the Eagles in January, was waived by the organization five days after the conclusion of the NFL draft.

Cracraft was originally signed to Philadelphia’s practice squad on Dec. 24, but never made an appearance for the NFC East club. Prior to that, the ex-Cougar slot receiver spent three seasons on and off with the Denver Broncos, and made one appearance for the team in 2019 against Chicago before being released.

It’s possible Philadelphia needed to unload wide receivers from its roster after selecting three wideouts in last weekend’s draft, taking TCU’s Jalen Reagor in the first round, Boise State’s John Hightower in the fifth and Southern Mississippi’s Quez Watkins in the fifth. Along with Cracraft, the Eagles waived former UMass receiver Marken Michel on Thursday.

After going undrafted in 2017, Cracraft, who caught 218 passes at WSU under Mike Leach, was initially signed to the Broncos practice squad in October 2017. The Southern California native was cut and re-signed by Denver multiple times and was ultimately promoted to the active roster in November 2018, returning a punt for 5 yards in his debut against the Houston Texans. Cracraft caught his first pass, a 44-yard reception, in the Broncos’ regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers.