The Philadelphia Eagles received some good news from the league ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.

NFL insider Aaron Wilson reports that the Eagles have been granted roster exemption for international player Laekin Vakalahi.

This means that Vakalahi, though still being paid, will not count towards the Eagles’ 53-man active roster if he makes the cut.

The Eagles Accidentally Stumbled Upon Vakalahi Last Year

The Eagles signed Laekin Vakalahi, a former rugby star from Australia, last May following the 2024 NFL Draft.

The 6’5″, 318-pound 22-year-old Aussie never played football before coming to America.

“I never thought I’d ever play American football, the closest I ever got was playing Madden on my Xbox and I only played on a free trial, so it was always the Green Bay Packers,” Vakalahi told ESPN following his signing.

The Eagles consider Vakalahi as an offensive tackle and as an athletic man that big from Australia; he has drawn comparison to Jordan Mailata.

The only major difference between Mailata and Vakalahi is how they were discovered.

Mailata was intentional, while Vakalahi was by complete accident.

“It’s a bit of a funny story,” Vakalahi said. “My mum and my dad were in Hawaii just on a holiday, and a friend of Eagles international scout Chris Naeole walked past my dad and saw he was a big guy and he started talking to him. They had a conversation and my dad said I’ve got some boys, so they started talking about my younger brother Kobe. He’s a big boy but he’s not of age.”

Vakalahi did not make the Eagles’ final roster cut last year, but he was signed to the practice squad.

He did not play a regular-season snap for the Eagles in 2024, however, that could change after spending one year working hard behind the scenes and taking notes from Mailata at Jeff “Stoutland University.”