The Philadelphia Eagles added former Rutgers cornerback Robert Longerbeam to their practice squad on Tuesday, giving the sixth-round pick a new landing spot after Baltimore waived him during cutdown weekend.
Longerbeam was selected by the Ravens with the 212th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, making him the first Rutgers player chosen that year. He also continued a run of Scarlet Knight defensive backs hearing their names called in the draft, following Max Melton in 2024 and Christian Braswell in 2023.
Baltimore moved on from Longerbeam on Sunday while trimming its roster to 53 players. He cleared waivers and became a free agent. Scarlet Nation is hearing the Ravens had interest in re-signing him to their practice squad, but he ultimately looked elsewhere.
Philadelphia needed another corner after finishing its roster, and Longerbeam was healthy enough to be available after a torn patellar tendon wiped out his rookie season before it began. He spent 2025 on injured reserve because of the knee injury suffered in training camp, then came back this offseason and put together eight tackles and a pass deflection in the 2026 preseason.
Longerbeam is now the second former Rutgers player to land on a practice squad this week, joining tight end Shawn Bowman, who signed with the Arizona Cardinals yesterday.
At Rutgers, Longerbeam played five seasons after flipping from Temple when Greg Schiano returned and Fran Brown joined the staff. He appeared in 53 games and made 31 starts, piling up 154 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, five interceptions and 37 pass breakups. He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors twice and served as a team captain.
His best college season came in 2024, when he started 11 of 12 games, led the Big Ten with 13 passes defended - 11 breakups and two interceptions - and finished with 45 tackles. He sealed a win at Virginia Tech with a late interception and added another pick in the Rate Bowl against Kansas State. He also ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.
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The Minutemen and Scarlet Knights have met five times before, and Rutgers has had the upper hand in the series. Games like this do not usually carry the weight of a league opener, but they can still say plenty about where a team stands when the calendar flips to September. For Rutgers, it is the kind of early test that can build momentum, sharpen a roster, and give SHI Stadium an immediate sense of what the fall might hold. [Read more 🡒]
