*Press Release as of 7 p.m. PT on April 30, 2022 and will be updated as needed on GoEags.com*
 
The dream is realized, and now the work begins for a trio of former Eastern Washington University football players, Talolo Limu-Jones, Tristen Taylor and Eric Barriere. Limu-Jones and Taylor signed as undrafted free agents with the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears, respectively, while Barriere earned a mini camp invite with the Denver Broncos.
 
The three are the first EWU football players to receive an NFL opportunity since Nsimba Webster joined the Rams in 2019 after signing a free agent contract and Jay-Tee Tiului signed with the Seahawks. In 2017, four Eagles advanced to the next level in Cooper Kupp (3rd round, Los Angeles Rams), Samson Ebukam (4th round, Los Angeles Rams), Kendrick Bourne (UDFA, San Francisco) and Shaq Hill (UDFA, Houston).
 
Limu-Jones appeared in 53 games for the Eagles (19 as a starter), which is tied for the sixth-most games played in school history. He hauled in 161 career receptions (15th) for 2,722 yards (seventh) and 21 touchdowns (10th) – an average of 16.9 per reception (tied for seventh). He averaged a touchdown every 7.7 career catches. Jones had 16 receptions of at least 40 yards in his career, including six as a junior in 2019, three in the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign, and six in the 2021 fall season.
 
Taylor played in and started more games than any other player in Eastern Washington history during his career, starting in all 60 of his appearances over six seasons. In 2021, Taylor earned second team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association, and he was selected as a member of the All-America third team by Hero Sports, Stats Perform and Phil Steele Publications. He was an All-Big Sky Conference first team selection after playing in and starting all 13 games for the Eagles.
 
Barriere leaves Eastern as the all-time leader in yards of total offense (15,394), passing yards (13,809) and passing touchdowns (121) which are also Big Sky Conference records. He holds EWU all-time records in completions (1,007), attempts (1,623), rushing yards by a quarterback (1,585), touchdowns responsible for (143) and points responsible for (882), among many other categories. His 42 starts in 51 games at the quarterback position is the second-highest mark in school history. He won the prestigious Walter Payton Award in the 2021 season, also finishing as the runner up in 2020-21 and fifth in 2019. Barriere had 17 games with 400 or more yards of total offense, also an Eastern record, and he won Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors 12 times. He was named the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year in each of his final two seasons. Barriere was named All-American by eight different publications in 2021. He ends his career ranked 11th in rushing touchdowns (22), third in yards of total offense per game (301.8), fifth in completion percentage (62.0%) and fourth in passing efficiency rating (154.5).