Former Eagles Special Teams Star Finds New Home

On the day Eagles’ senior director of college scouting Anthony Patch left for a larger role with the Las Vegas Raiders, one of his department's best undrafted signings in recent years is also heading west.

Fourth-year receiver/punt returner Britain Covey signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, where he will get to team up with a good friend of his family, Rams star receiver Puka Nacua.

Puka’s older brother, Samson, is one of Covey’s closest friends.

An undersized, undrafted player out of Utah, the 5-foot-8, 183-pound Covey was a star with the Utes, but few wanted to take a chance on him because of his size deficiencies.

Arguably the best punt returner in the country during his final season at Utah when he was named a first-team All-American, Covey finished his college career with a school record 1,092 punt return yards, was second in receptions (184), third in all-purpose yards  4,241), and sixth in receiving yards (2,011) for the Utes. 

Covey led Utah in receiving yards in three seasons (2015, 2018, 2020).

He found his path to the Eagles’ 53 as the punt returner and took off in his sophomore season when Covey finished second in the NFL in punt-return average at 14.4 and led the league with 417 PR yards.

By last season, Covey seemed to be expanding his role into the offense when a broken scapula at New Orleans derailed his season. He did try to return for two games at the Rams and Ravens, but was having grip issues related to the original injury.

Set to be a restricted free agent after the season, the Eagles declined his tender, and Covey was free to sign elsewhere. That came Monday when the Rams signed him to a one-year deal.

In three seasons with the Eagles, Covey returned 68 punts for 771 yards, an impressive 11.3 average. He also added 11 kickoff returns for 236 yards, and had had 11 receptions for 76 yards on offense.

The Eagles made the postseason in all three seasons Covey was in Philadelphia and earned two NFC Championships. Although injured for Super Bowl LIX, Covey leaves the city with a ring as a Super Bowl champion.