PHILADELPHIA - Elijah Moore’s career has already taken plenty of sharp turns, and now the Eagles are the latest stop in a journey that has gone nowhere close to the path many expected when he entered the league as a second-round pick of the New York Jets six years ago.
Moore arrived in Philadelphia this offseason on a cheap, one-year deal and is now fighting for a spot on the Eagles’ 53-man roster. That reality looks a long way from the promise he carried after his rookie season in 2021, when he caught 43 passes for 538 yards and 5 touchdowns and seemed poised for a bigger breakout in the seasons that followed.
Instead, the climb stalled. New York sent him to the Cleveland Browns in 2023 after he reportedly demanded a trade. Moore then put together two steady years in Cleveland, finishing with 120 catches, 1,178 yards and 3 touchdowns across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but the leap that once seemed inevitable never came.
Last year was the roughest stretch yet. Moore managed just 9 catches for 112 yards in nine games with the Buffalo Bills before being waived in November. He spent the rest of 2025 on the Denver Broncos’ practice squad.
Now he’s trying to reset in Philadelphia, where he has been one of the more noticeable receivers in camp over the last week. With DeVonta Smith and Makai Lemon out because of hamstring injuries, Moore has picked up some first-team reps and has taken advantage of the opportunity by getting open and making plays.
“I think that life is not a linear path for any person...,” Moore said after Friday’s training camp practice. “And that’s there to teach you lessons.
I got kids, man. I got things I got to teach them outside of just having everything go my way.
What example would I set if everything went my way? I would have nothing to tell.
I think it’s brushing myself off and always having high hopes.”
That confidence has shown up on the field. Moore said he sees himself as the kind of receiver who can create problems once the ball is in his hands.
“I feel like I am super explosive,” Moore said. “I am a smart player and an accountable player. With the ball in my hands, I can make explosive things happen.”
He also showed in Monday’s practice that the day isn’t always clean. Moore ran a route to the wrong spot, and Jalen Hurts was picked off by Quinyon Mitchell for a pick-six. Moore answered on the very next snap, when Hurts found him on a big throw down the seam.
“Just kept pushing,” Moore said about the mistake. “Told myself that play is not going to make me.
You just keep playing. And that’s exactly what [Jalen] did.
He just appreciated how we responded, how you don’t let that keep building up. You just keep playing.”
Special teams may be another path for Moore to carve out a role. He wants to handle kick and punt returns, and with the Eagles still searching for a punt returner, that job could become a real opening for him.
“It’s something I got to continue to work on since I haven’t really done it since college,” Moore said. “I done it a couple games in Cleveland.
But I haven’t really done it consistently. It’s something I got to really focus at and continue to put my best foot forward out here.”
Moore’s future in the league remains unclear after everything that happened last season. The early expectations that came with his draft status may never fully return, but he believes this stretch in Philadelphia offers him his best shot to get back on track.
“As much people say that they would change it, I wouldn’t because of the man I think it’s made me to be,” Moore said about his rocky path. “There’s a lot I’ve got to learn about myself and correct about myself, and I don’t know how else it would have gotten challenged if it wasn’t for football.
So I look at everything in a positive light. I’m a better man because of it.”
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