Eagles offensive lineman Josh Sills will be allowed to continue his football career, at least for now.
Sills, who was accused of sexual assault, was found not guilty of charges of rape and kidnapping Friday in Guernsey County, Ohio. The charges had been connected to allegations that in December 2019, Sills had forced a woman to engage in sexual activity against her will.
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After the verdict, the NFL took Sills off the NFL commissioner’s exempt list. He was placed on the list on Feb. 1, and thus wasn’t allowed to practice with the Eagles or travel with them to Arizona for the Super Bowl, where they lost 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles issued a statement Friday evening that saying that Sills will be placed on the 90-man training camp roster.
“We are aware that the legal matter involving Josh Sills has been adjudicated and he was found not guilty,” the team said in a statement. “The organization has monitored the situation. The NFL has removed him from the Commissioner’s Exempt List, and he will return to the active roster.”
Sills, a guard, was one of three undrafted free agents to make the team last season. He got into one game during the regular season.
Sills’ chances of making the 53-man roster this season might be more difficult after the Eagles drafted Tyler Steen in the third round and recently signed veteran free agent Dennis Kelly.
Sills, whose hometown is listed as Byesville, Ohio, began his collegiate career at West Virginia before finishing up with two seasons at Oklahoma State.
Sills was indicted in February by a Guernsey County Common Pleas Court grand jury on one count of rape and one count of kidnapping, both first-degree felonies. The indictment stemmed from an incident that occurred in December 2019 in which a woman reported she was forced to engage in non-consensual sexual activity with Sills.
The trial began Tuesday after 100 people were called as potential jurors, a higher number than usual given Sills’ notoriety in the community as a standout high school football player for Meadowbrook High School near Columbus, Ohio.
Testimony in the trial showed that the alleged victim was with a group of friends that had been barhopping when Sills joined them in the evening.
Following the verdict, Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement that he still believes the victim in the case.
“In America, criminal convictions require proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Yost said. “The jury did not see it, and I thank them for doing their duty under the law.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl. Material from the Columbus Dispatch was used in this report.
