The Eagles are promoting Joe Kasper to fill their defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator vacancy left by Christian Parker, a league source confirmed to The Inquirer on Monday.
The NFL Network first reported the news, which comes four days after the Dallas Cowboys hired Parker as their next defensive coordinator.
Kasper has a history with both the Eagles and Vic Fangio spanning five seasons. He began his NFL coaching career in Philadelphia in 2021 as the team’s defensive quality control coach, a position he held for two years. He left in 2023 to work for Fangio as the Miami Dolphins’ safeties coach.
When Fangio was hired as Eagles defensive coordinator in 2024, he brought Kasper with him to serve in the same role. Kasper had a hand in developing a stingy secondary, beginning with a group that allowed the fewest passing yards in the league (174.2 per game) and ranked No. 6 in passing touchdowns allowed (22) in 2024.
The Eagles surrendered the fewest passing touchdowns (14) in the NFL and were No. 8 in passing yards allowed per game (189.8) in 2025. Cooper DeJean spoke highly of Kasper and his impact on the defensive backs in the aftermath of the Eagles’ wild-card exit.
“[Parker] and Coach Kasper, what those guys mean to us in the DB room, how they coach, the intensity they bring, the passion they have for the game, means a lot to us,” DeJean said on Jan. 12. “Doesn’t go unnoticed.”
The Eagles will now be tasked with identifying a new safeties coach in addition to filling their vacant offensive coordinator job and any subsequent departures on the offensive side of the ball.
Staff writer Jeff McLane contributed to this article.
While the Eagles’ playoff run has long concluded, Philadelphians may notice a number of familiar faces on each team competing in the conference championships on Sunday.
From former Eagles players, coaches, and front office members to Philadelphia-area natives, all four remaining teams in the playoffs — the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots — feature local connections.
Here are the names and faces that may ring a bell when they pop up on your television screen. In the cases of the former Eagles players on the list, we’ve also examined why they’re no longer on the team.
Seattle Seahawks
CB Josh Jobe spent two seasons with the Eagles from 2022 to 2023 and appeared in 28 games, primarily on special teams. The 2022 undrafted free agent out of Alabama served as a depth cornerback behind Darius Slay and James Bradberry, but he got buried on the depth chart and was released at the end of training camp in 2024. Jobe, now 27, signed with the Seahawks two days later and earned a starting job this season in Mike Macdonald’s defense.
Josh Jobe evolved from his special teams role with the Eagles to a starting job in Seattle.
The Seahawks often use dime packages to get Jobe, Riq Woolen, and Devon Witherspoon on the field at the same time. According to Next Gen Stats, each member of the trio has allowed less than a yard per coverage snap in dime coverage, ranking among the top five cornerbacks in the league in that metric.
Long snapper Chris Stoll spent six years at Penn State from 2017 to 2022 and played in 48 games. In 2022, he won the Patrick Mannelly Award, given to the nation’s top long snapper. Stoll signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
Leslie Frazier has been the Seahawks’ assistant head coach since 2024, serving as a mentor to Macdonald, a first-time head coach. Frazier, 66, was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2010 to 2013 and has had multiple defensive coordinator jobs, but he got his NFL coaching start with the Eagles as the defensive backs coach from 1999 to 2002 under defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Among the players Frazier coached with the Eagles were Brian Dawkins and Troy Vincent.
Justin Outten, 42,is a 10-year NFL coaching veteran who is in his first year as the Seahawks’ running game specialist and assistant offensive line coach. He hails from Doylestown and graduated from Central Bucks West in 2002. Outten was a center on the football team and won the state championship as a sophomore in 1999.
Los Angeles Rams
OL Dylan McMahon was the Eagles’ 2024 sixth-round pick out of N.C. State. Somewhat surprisingly, he was the only member of the 2024 draft class who did not make the team out of training camp, instead signing to the practice squad. The Rams signed McMahon to their active roster off the Eagles’ practice squad in Week 2 that year to add depth to their banged-up offensive line. He started in the 2024 season finale at center and has spent the entire 2025 season on the Rams’ practice squad.
Omar Speights emerged as a football star as a Philadelphia high schooler.
ILB Omar Speights hails from Philadelphia and played his first three years of high school football at Imhotep Charter and briefly at Northeast High School. He moved to Oregon for his senior year. Speights, 24, signed with the Rams in 2024 as an undrafted free agent out of LSU and started 16 games this season.
ILB Troy Reeder, 31, is from Hockessin, Del., approximately 10 miles west of Wilmington. He spent his college career at Penn State (2014 and 2015) and Delaware (2016 to 2018). Reeder signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and won a Super Bowl with the team in 2021.
OLB Jared Verse, the 2024 defensive rookie of the year, grew up in Berwick, Columbia County. Despite playing three years of football at Central Columbia High School in Bloomsburg in northeastern Pennsylvania, Verse was not an Eagles fan (and has declared his distaste for their supporters). The Rams selected Verse 19th overall out of Florida State in 2024. He ranked second on the team in sacks this season with 7½.
Ray Farmer is in his sixth season with the Rams, his first as the senior adviser to general manager Les Snead. He was drafted by the Eagles in 1996 in the fourth round out of Duke and served in a depth role at linebacker for three seasons before suffering a career-ending knee injury. Farmer was the Cleveland Browns general manager from 2014 to 2015.
Drew Wilkins is in his first season as the Rams pass-rush coordinator. He is a Doylestown native and graduated from La Salle College High School in 2006.
Mike McGlinchey (74), pictured with Penn Charter teammates and fellow Matt Ryan cousins Jake McCain, Pat McCain, and Frank McGlinchey, is now considered one of the NFL’s best tackles.
Denver Broncos
RT Mike McGlinchey, 31, is in his third season as a starter with the Broncos and spent the first five years of his career with the San Francisco 49ers. He was born in Warrington and played football and basketball at Penn Charter. He is a cousin of Matt Ryan, the 15-year NFL quarterback who hails from Exton and also attended Penn Charter. McGlinchey was drafted by the 49ers out of Notre Dame with the No. 9 overall pick in 2018.
ILB Alex Singleton signed with the Eagles in 2019 and started 19 games (42 total appearances) in three seasons. He led the Eagles in tackles in back-to-back seasons in 2020 and 2021 (120 and 137, respectively). Singleton, now 32, signed a one-year deal with the Broncos in free agency in 2022 and has been with the team ever since. He started 16 games this season and led the team with 135 tackles, one year after suffering a season-ending ACL injury.
Sean Payton is in his third season as Broncos coach. He got his NFL coaching start with the Eagles as the quarterbacks coach from 1997 to 1998 under head coach Ray Rhodes, working with quarterbacks Ty Detmer, Bobby Hoying, Rodney Peete, and Koy Detmer. Perhaps more notably, Payton spent 15 seasons as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2006 to 2021 and won the Super Bowl in the 2009 season.
Joe Vitt was hired by Payton in 2023 as a senior defensive assistant. Vitt first crossed paths with Payton on the Eagles, as the assistant was the linebackers coach in Philadelphia for four seasons from 1995 to 1998. Vitt, 71, grew up in Blackwood, N.J.
Jordon Dizon is in his first season as the Broncos director of pro personnel and his eighth with the team. Between two stints in the Broncos front office, he was a national scout for the Eagles from 2022 to 2024.
Milton Williams (93) parlayed a career season that included a Super Bowl ring into a free-agent deal with the Patriots.
New England Patriots
DT Milton Williams spent the first four years of his career with the Eagles, the team that drafted him in the third round out of Louisiana Tech in 2021. He had a breakout year in 2024, amassing a career-best five sacks in 17 games (seven starts). After winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles, he signed a four-year, $104 million contract with the Patriots in free agency, making him the second-highest-paid interior defensive lineman on an average annual basis ($26 million per year).
Williams, 26, missed five games late this season with an ankle injury, but he returned in time for the playoffs. He notched two sacks in the wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Mack Hollins has had a nice year for a rejuvenated Patriots team but appears unlikely to play this week because of injury.
WR Mack Hollins also began his career with the Eagles, selected in the fourth round of the 2017 draft out of North Carolina. He was a member of the Eagles team that beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl that season. Since that year, the 32-year-old Hollins has been a member of four teams and joined the Patriots on a two-year deal this season. He is on injured reserve with an abdominal injury, but the Patriots opened up his practice window this week — he was listed as questionable for this weekend’s game on Friday’s injury report. Hollins had 550 yards and two touchdowns on 46 receptions in 2025, the second-best receiving total of his career.
ILB Christian Elliss spent nearly three seasons with the Eagles from 2021 to 2023. He served in a depth role, even in 2023 on a struggling defense under former defensive coordinator Sean Desai, and he appeared in 19 total games, primarily on special teams. The Eagles waived Elliss in December 2023 after signing Shaquille Leonard, and the Patriots claimed him. Elliss, 27, started 13 games this season (and played 15 games total) and ranked second on the Patriots with 94 tackles.
Christian Barmore is another former Philly high schooler who has reached the NFL pinnacle.
DT Christian Barmore grew up in Philly, starting in high school at Lincoln before transferring to Neumann Goretti. He orally committed to Temple, but he reopened his recruitment in 2017 and attended Alabama instead. Barmore was the Patriots’ second-round pick in 2021. The 26-year-old became a full-time starter this season, and had two sacks in 17 games (16 starts).
OT Caedan Wallace hails from Robbinsville, N.J., spending his high school football career at Robbinsville High School and then the Hun School. He helped the latter to three straight prep state championships (2016, 2017, 2018). Wallace, 25, played for Penn State from 2019 to 2023. He was drafted by the Patriots in the third round in 2024 and has served in a depth role over the last two seasons.
The Eagles reportedly are going to be on the market for a new defensive backs coach.
Christian Parker, who has served in that role with the Eagles under Vic Fangio for the last two seasons, is expected to become the next Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
Parker, 34, had become a hot commodity this offseason, as he was also reportedly slated to interview for the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator vacancy. He has risen quickly through the ranks, as he began his NFL coaching career with the Packers seven years ago as a defensive quality control coach.
In 2021, Parker joined Fangio’s staff with the Denver Broncos as defensive backs coach and followed him to the Eagles in 2024. Parker also held the title of passing game coordinator with the Eagles.
The Cowboys are working to hire Christian Parker as their defensive coordinator, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
Just 34 years old, Parker spent the past two seasons as passing game coordinator/DBs coach under Vic Fangio with the Eagles. Now gets his first DC job in the NFC East. pic.twitter.com/boxhtCnEvk
In a short stint in Philadelphia, Parker helped develop a pair of young, standout cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. The second-year players earned their first All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods under Parker this season.
The Eagles have boasted a strong secondary with Parker at the helm for the last two years. Last season, the Eagles defense conceded the fewest passing yards in the league (174.2 per game) and the sixth-fewest passing touchdowns (22). In 2025, the Eagles allowed the eighth-fewest passing yards (189.8) and the fewest passing touchdowns (14).
“I could say a lot of things about him, what he’s meant to me and Q, too,” DeJean said at locker clean out on Jan. 12. “We’ve had a routine of me and Q go meet with him two or three times a week just to go over the team we’re playing. Talk about different looks.
“I don’t think I’d be the player I am or I’d have the success that I’ve had without him. He’s poured a lot into me and Q, too, ever since we got here. I appreciate him for that. Not everybody notices him, and he doesn’t get the recognition that I think he should. But him and [safeties] coach [Joe] Kasper, what those guys mean to us in the DB room, how they coach, the intensity they bring, the passion they have for the game, means a lot to us. Doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Parker reportedly will replace Matt Eberflus, whom the Cowboys fired in January after one season leading one of the worst defenses in the organization’s history.
The Eagles could promote internally to replace Parker. Kasper is in his second stint with the Eagles, rejoining the staff in 2024 to serve as safeties coach. He had previously worked with Fangio in 2023 in the same role with the Miami Dolphins.
Kasper began his NFL coaching career with the Eagles in 2021 as a defensive quality control coach, a position he held for two seasons.
Vic Fangio could be going home with some hardware in February, just not the Lombardi Trophy.
The Eagles defensive coordinator is a finalist for the Associated Press assistant coach of the year award for a second consecutive season. Fangio, 67, is one of five finalists, along with Minnesota’s Brian Flores, Denver’s Vance Joseph, Seattle’s Klint Kubiak, and New England’s Josh McDaniels.
The winner will be announced at the NFL Honors ceremony on Feb. 5 in San Francisco, three days before the Super Bowl.
Fangio was the maestro behind another dominant Eagles defense in his second season with the team. The group finished tied for fifth in points against (19.3 points per game allowed). No team in the league conceded fewer passing touchdowns (14).
He helped his players garner leaguewide recognition, too. Cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell earned their first All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in their second seasons. Linebacker Zack Baun and defensive tackle Jalen Carter also earned Pro Bowl distinctions for a second straight year.
Fangio, who hails from Dunmore, Pa., won the assistant coach of the year award in 2018, his fourth and final season as Chicago Bears defensive coordinator, a position he left at the end of that season to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
For most of the season, the 2025 Eagles offense did not pass the eye test.
Execution errors plagued them. The Eagles suffered from negative plays and penalties on early downs, setting themselves up for third-and-longs and ultimately forcing them to punt early and often. Options were seemingly limited in the passing game. Rushing lanes failed to open for a previously dynamic running game.
But what do the underlying numbers reveal about the offense’s performance that could have implications going forward? Here’s one compelling advanced stat about each notable offensive starter, the first installment in a two-part series that will also analyze the defense:
Jalen Hurts ran less, and was less effective when throwing downfield, but was still good on designed runs.
Jalen Hurts
One stat alone can’t sum up the season for Hurts, who plays the most important position on the team. So, let’s dissect two.
First, the rushing component of his previously self-described “triple-threat” ability seemingly went by the wayside this season. Hurts, 27, averaged a career-low 1.7 designed rushing attempts per game this year, according to Next Gen Stats. That’s a notable decrease from his 2024 averages — 3.2 during the regular season and 3.8 during the Eagles’ four-game Super Bowl run.
Even though he had fewer designed carries this year, he wasn’t any less effective. On 27 designed runs, he collected 143 yards and nine first downs, including a touchdown, good for 5.3 yards per carry (his career average is 5.2).
Here’s the $255 million question: Why the decrease? Was it a matter of preserving the franchise quarterback, as Nick Sirianni suggested, or was it just a symptom of Kevin Patullo’s offense, as Hurts said? Will this trend persist in 2026, or will Hurts be called upon to use his legs to help invigorate the offense once more?
Second, the downfield passing game wasn’t nearly as effective for the Eagles in 2025, which hindered an already limited air attack. Hurts completed 47.9% of his downfield passes (10-plus air yards), according to Next Gen Stats, the lowest percentage of his five seasons as the starter.
Wins and losses were often reflected in his downfield completion rates. In the Eagles’ five losses this season (not including Week 18), Hurts went 10-of-17 for 233 yards, a touchdown, and an interception (58.8% completion rate) when targeting open receivers (at least three yards of separation) downfield.
His 65.6% completion rate when targeting open receivers downfield this year was roughly 25 percentage points lower than last season’s (89.3%). Again, can the next Eagles offensive coordinator reverse this trend and improve Hurts’ downfield accuracy in 2026?
The Eagles were fond of one specific kind of route for A.J. Brown.
A.J. Brown
At his end-of-season news conference, Sirianni noted that the next offensive coordinator will help “evolve” the offense. Perhaps that person will refresh the Eagles’ route concepts.
Brown, 28, ran a hitch route on a career-high 24.9% of his total routes run, according to Next Gen Stats. A hitch is a short route that starts vertical, then requires the receiver to plant his foot and turn toward the quarterback for a pass. Brown’s hitch rate this season was the eighth-highest among receivers who ran at least 200 routes.
Despite the lack of variety in his routes, Brown was still effective when targeted on those hitches. He collected 263 receiving yards and a touchdown on hitch routes, which ranked second in the league behind Dallas’ George Pickens (275).
Brown wasn’t the only Eagles receiver who ran a lot of hitches. The entire group ran hitch routes on 22.1% of its combined routes, which was the second-highest single-season rate by a receiving corps since 2016 (23.4% for the 2019 Chicago Bears).
DeVonta Smith showed he was more than merely a slot receiver in 2025.
DeVonta Smith
Smith may primarily line up as a slot receiver, but he was most effective when split out wide this season.
The 27-year-old receiver aligned in the slot on a career-high 57.1% of his routes, according to Next Gen Stats. Still, he posted career bests when he lined up outside in yards per route run (3.1) and yards per target (11.9). Smith trailed only Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba (3.8) and the Los Angeles Rams’ Puka Nacua (3.6) in yards per route run from the outside among 89 receivers (minimum 150 routes).
His yards per target increased when split out wide to the right. He averaged 13.9 yards per target from that alignment, which led receivers (with at least 20 targets). Smith was particularly efficient downfield, as he caught 12 of 17 targets for 300 yards and a touchdown (17.6 yards per target).
Will his efficiency on the outside change how frequently he lines up in the slot going forward?
When the Eagles could prevent defenses from blowing up the backfield, the numbers show that Saquon Barkley was as effective as ever.
Saquon Barkley
Barkley eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for a second consecutive season (1,140), but he didn’t come anywhere close to his total of 2,005 from 2024.
He didn’t get much help up front. According to Next Gen Stats, Barkley tookhits behind the line of scrimmage on47.1% of his carries, which was the ninth-highest rate among 49 running backs (minimum 100 attempts) this season.
By comparison, the 28-year-old running back was hit behind the line of scrimmage on 37.7% of his carries in 2024.
This season, Barkley averaged 1.1 yards before contact per carry, trailing his 2.4 clip from last year. When he was hit behind the line on 132 carries, Barkley combined for 93 yards (0.7 yards per carry) and produced a single explosive run. On the runs without contact before the line, he averaged 7.1 yards per carry and had a 18.2% explosive run rate (both are above the league averages of 6.5 and 15.8%).
What can the Eagles do to improve their run blocking in 2026? Is it a matter of changing the personnel, banking on the improved health/performance of the existing players, or changing up the blocking schemes?
Dallas Goedert’s red-zone effectiveness was to a league-best standard in 2025.
Dallas Goedert
No player was more sought-after in the red zone this season than Goedert.
With his 10 red-zone touchdowns this season, the 31-year-old tight end accounted for 58.8% of the Eagles’ red-zone receiving touchdowns, according to Next Gen Stats. That was the highest share of any player in 2025.
Goedert’s 11 total receiving touchdowns were tied for the most among tight ends (with Arizona’s Trey McBride) and tied for the second-most among all players (trailing the Rams’ Davante Adams).
Hurts may look to someone else in the red zone next season. Goedert is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year.
The presence (or absence) of Lane Johnson (left) had an every-play effect on the Eagles running game.
Lane Johnson
The Eagles felt the absence of Johnson, the 35-year-old right tackle, in the seven games he missed at the end of the regular season because of a Lisfranc foot injury.
There was a difference in the running game’s efficiency with and without Johnson on the field, especially on carries to the right side. When Johnson was playing, the Eagles averaged 4.6 yards per carry (84 carries) on designed runs to that side, according to Next Gen Stats. Without him, going into Week 17, the Eagles averaged 3.2 yards per carry (97 runs) on those same runs.
In that same span, the Eagles amassed 26 yards before contact on designed runs to the right without Johnson (and 288 yards after contact).
Will Johnson be back for his 14th season with the Eagles, giving an instant boost to the running game? Or will he be unable to overcome his injury and call it a career?
Tyler Steen was up and down in his first year as a primary Eagles starter.
Tyler Steen
Steen, 25, was the only new starter in the 2025 Eagles offense, replacing Mekhi Becton at right guard.
He had his struggles in pass protection. According to Pro Football Focus, he conceded 37 pressures, which were tied for the third-most among guards with at least 500 pass blocking snaps. Those pressures broke down to two sacks, one quarterback hit, and 34 hurries on a total of 626 pass blocking snaps.
Is Steen the long-term starter at right guard? Or will he face competition in training camp again as Howie Roseman retools the roster for 2026?
Cam Jurgens is headed back to the Pro Bowl, but the numbers suggest it wasn’t his best year.
Despite earning a second-straight Pro Bowl nod, Jurgens was seldom dominant in the running game. According to Sports Info Solutions, Jurgens posted a 5.9% blown run block rate on more than 300 run blocking snaps, which reflects the percentage of blocking snaps on which a player had a blown run block. That rate led starting centers.
Can Jurgens’ struggles be attributed to his injuries? Or did the 26-year-old center simply regress, providing cause for concern for next season?
Landon Dickerson’s biggest issues were in pass protection.
Landon Dickerson
Like Jurgens, Dickerson also pushed through myriad injuries in 2025. After playing through a knee injury in the Super Bowl, he dealt with meniscus, back, and ankle ailments this season.
Dickerson wasn’t his sharpest in pass protection, allowing 33 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. That total is tied for the second-highest in his five-year career despite posting a career low in pass-blocking snaps (506). Those pressures broke down to five sacks, seven quarterback hits, and 21 hurries, finishing No. 13 in pressures among guards with at least 500 pass-blocking snaps.
Is the 27-year-old left guard capable of healing up and returning to his three-time Pro Bowl form in 2026?
Jordan Mailata was very good in pass protection in 2025.
Jordan Mailata
While the offensive line struggled as a whole, Mailata fared better than his counterparts in pass protection.
The 28-year-old left tackle conceded28 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, which ranked No. 6 out of 28 tackles with at least 600 pass-blocking snaps. The 28 pressures allowed were the third-fewest of Mailata’s six-year career as a starter. Meanwhile, Mailata’s 602 pass-blocking snaps were the third-highest total of his career.
It’s awards season, and not just for those in showbiz. The Eagles fell short of a Super Bowl repeat, but they’re still eligible for the next best thing — The Inquirer’s 2025 EEOYAAOS (Eagles end-of-year awards and other superlatives).
The name is a work-in-progress and subject to change next season. All jokes aside, while the year ended in disappointment for the team, there were bright spots that can serve as sources of encouragement for seasons to come. Here are the winners of this season’s superlatives, unilaterally selected by yours truly:
Quinyon Mitchell, left, and Cooper DeJean both became All-Pros in 2025.
Most Valuable Player
Let’s start this exercise off strong by breaking the rules (that don’t exist). There are two most valuable players on this year’s team, and they’re both on defense: Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.
Not-so-coincidentally, both second-year cornerbacks were selected to their first All-Pro team and Pro Bowl this year.
In a short period of time, Mitchell and DeJean have become cornerstones of Vic Fangio’s defense. Mitchell, 24, took on more responsibility within the scheme in his second season. Before the Week 9 bye, the 2024 No. 22 overall pick out of Toledo was often tasked with shadowing the opposing team’s top receiver.
According to Next Gen Stats, going into Week 8, Mitchell had at least 10 man coverage matchups against Tampa Bay’s Emeka Egbuka (16 matchups), the Rams’ Davante Adams (15), Denver’s Courtland Sutton (15), and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson (11). He conceded 43 receiving yards on four receptions against Sutton, but he held each of the other three receivers to 12 or fewer yards.
After the bye, Mitchell primarily aligned in the boundary, the short side of the field that typically garners less safety help. He had more passes defensed (9) than receptions allowed (6) across 29 targets and 233 coverage snaps in the boundary, per Next Gen Stats. His 20.7% completion percentage allowed in that alignment was three times lower than the season-long league average from that spot (65.5%).
DeJean was just as dominant from the slot, an important position in Fangio’s defense that is required to defend the run and pass. He finished the season with a 57.4% completion percentage and 5.9 yards per target from the slot. Both metrics rank below the league averages of 69.5% and 6.8, respectively.
They had their struggles (and successes) in the wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but their bodies of work throughout the year make them worthy recipients of the award.
If 2025 was his swan song in Philly, Dallas Goedert went out with a bang.
Offensive Player of the Year
This award nearly went to DeVonta Smith, but Dallas Goedert gets the slight edge. The 31-year-old tight end was Jalen Hurts’ most trusted receiver in the red zone, hauling in 10 touchdown passes inside the 20-yard line this season. That performance was particularly meaningful given the Eagles’ declining efficiency on the Tush Push.
Goedert’s 11 receiving touchdowns tied for the most among tight ends in 2025 and set a franchise record at the position. Goedert added two more touchdowns in the wild-card game — one rushing and one receiving — making him the first tight end in NFL history to rush for a touchdown in the playoffs.
This isn’t just about his red-zone performance, though. Goedert caught 73.2% of his targets, the most among the Eagles’ top three receivers (including Smith and A.J. Brown). He also started a career-high 15 games, which was particularly impressive coming off of an injury-riddled 2024 season.
He did not have his best year as a run blocker, although neither did any other player paving the way for Saquon Barkley. Still, it was a career-best year for Goedert in other areas heading into an offseason of uncertainty. He becomes an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year.
Jordan Davis was a force along the defensive line for the Eagles in 2025.
Defensive Player of the Year
Few Eagles players ascended as rapidly as Jordan Davis did this season. In his fourth year with the team, the 6-foot-6, 336-pound defensive tackle became the every-down player the Eagles sought when they drafted him No. 13 overall out of Georgia in 2022.
Davis played a career-high 61% of the defensive snaps in 2025, his first season playing more than half of them. Unsurprisingly, he was particularly effective against the run. According to Next Gen Stats, Davis notched a career-best 50 run stops, which are tackles in run defense that result in a negative play for the opposing offense. That total was the second-most among defensive linemen.
He showed some pop as a pass-rusher, too. Davis finished the year with a career-high 4½ sacks. His 22 pressures were a personal best, too, per Next Gen Stats. Davis could be in line for an extension this offseason as he enters the final year of his rookie deal.
Eagles punter Braden Mann has a strong leg and had a strong year.
Special Teams Player of the Year
There’s an argument to be made that Davis and Jalen Carter could share this award given their blocked field goals this season. But the unsung specialist of the season was Braden Mann,the 28-year-old punter. Some might even call him the Mann of the Year.
Mann, who signed with the Eagles in 2023 after spending the first three years of his career with the New York Jets, had the single best season by an Eagles punter in franchise history. He averaged 49.5 gross yards per punt, bringing his Eagles career average to a franchise-best 49.5.
In his Week 8 showing against the New York Giants, Mann averaged 57 net yards (subtracting return yardage) per punt, the most in a single game in franchise history. In a year where the Eagles offense punted a lot, Mann did his best to help out the defense and put opposing offenses in poor field position. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year and the Eagles would be wise to bring him back on a new deal.
Jihaad Campbell is off to an encouraging start to his career.
Rookie of the Year
Jihaad Campbell was the Eagles’ top rookie this season. He didn’t have much competition. Safety Drew Mukuba fractured his fibula in Week 12 against the Dallas Cowboys, prematurely ending his up-and-down rookie campaign.
Ty Robinson, Mac McWilliams, Smael Mondon, Drew Kendall, and Cameron Williams hardly played this year. Kyle McCord and Myles Hinton didn’t play this year.
Still, Campbell is a worthy recipient. He fared well as the starting inside linebacker alongside Zack Baun while Nakobe Dean recovered from his torn patellar tendon in his knee to start the season. In Weeks 1-6, Campbell played 94.3% of defensive snaps, then dropped off to 30.7% over the next eight games before Dean’s hamstring injury.
He flashed potential, especially in coverage. Going into Week 13, he had a 63% completion percentage when targeted, which ranked ninth-lowest rate among linebackers in 2025 (minimum of 15 targets) at the time, per Next Gen Stats. Campbell has plenty of room to grow, with more opportunities on the way in 2026, as Dean is a free agent this offseason.
Defensive backs coach Christian Parker’s talents have been recognized around the league.
Assistant Coach of the Year
It’s a big season for the Eagles defensive backs room at the EEOYAAOS. Christian Parker, the Eagles defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator, is earning his flowers as the team’s assistant coach of the year.
The 34-year-old assistant has helped Mitchell and DeJean reach great heights in their first two seasons in the league, especially this season in their All-Pro year. Parker also deserves some credit for the improved play of Adoree’ Jackson as the season progressed. The second outside cornerback spot seemed like a concern coming out of training camp, but the competition eventually stabilized as Jackson grew more comfortable in the defense.
How much longer will Fangio be able to keep Parker around in Philly? Parker is reportedly interviewing with the Dallas Cowboys for their vacant defensive coordinator job.
Jordan Davis celebrated a touchdown after running back a late fourth quarter blocked field goal against the Rams on Sept. 21.
Best play
Few plays brought more juice this season than Davis’ blocked field goal to seal the Eagles’ 33-26 Week 3 win over the Rams. Both Carter and Davis exploited the Rams’ weaknesses in their field goal unit to block a pair of three-point tries in the fourth quarter, but the image of the 6-foot-6, 336-pound Davis returning the loose ball to the end zone as time expired will live on in franchise history.
The play sustained the Eagles’ dominance over the Rams under Nick Sirianni, bringing their head-to-head record to 4-0 over the last three seasons (including the postseason).
Nolan Smith Jr. and the Eagles emphatically assisted Kenny Pickett and the Raiders to becoming the NFL’s worst team in 2025.
Best game
The Eagles offense was a tale of two halves for the majority of the season, making for some uneasy watches. One of the only exceptions was the 31-0 Week 15 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
In theory, the quality of the opponent should factor into consideration for this award. But the timing of this win is too important to ignore. This resounding victory came on the heels of the Eagles’ three-game losing streak, during which comparisons to the 2023 collapse intensified. The Eagles quelled some doubts by beating up on a bad team, although they ultimately faced the same postseason fate as the 2023 squad.
Fangio’s defense had never been more dominant. They limited the Raiders to 75 yards of offense, a new single-game franchise low for the Eagles and the fewest allowed by any defense during season at the time. Hurts bounced back from committing five turnovers the week prior in the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. He went 12-for-15 for 175 yards and three touchdowns, earning a near-perfect 154.9 passer rating.
Tank Bigsby averaged nearly six yards per rush even as the Eagles’ rushing offense struggled at times.
Biggest surprise
It took some time, but Tank Bigsby proved to be a solid addition this season. Immediately after Howie Roseman acquired him from the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for 2026 fifth- and sixth-round picks, he began the first four weeks of his Eagles career as a kick returner.
He wasn’t the right fit for the role. After a couple of muffed kicks, he was removed from the gig. But on offense, he made the most of his scant carries. He 58 rushes for 344 yards and two touchdowns. While the majority of his touches came against bad defenses (i.e. the Giants, Raiders, and Commanders), his 5.9 yards per carry ranked third in the league among running backs with at least 50 runs.
Bigsby is under contract through 2026, ensuring the Eagles have a solid RB2 option behind Barkley next season.
Jalen Hurts knows his way around a quote.
Best quote
Hurts is known for dropping bits of wisdom in his press conferences. He seems to have sayings for everything, including some of the hottest practices of training camp. After a sweltering practice on July 29, Hurts said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all,” a quote that has been attributed to a variety of prominent figures including U.S. Army general George S. Patton and Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.
Perhaps the second-best quote of the season came from Jordan Mailata, regarding another one of Hurts’ aphorisms: “That [stuff] is [freaking] hilarious. Like, how does one think of that?”
Jordan Davis: fun to cover.
Best locker room guy
Davis emerged both on the field and off of it this season. Not only was he dominant as a player in his fourth season, but his infectious personality also uplifted his teammates as he stepped into a leadership role.
No player was more gregarious in the locker room. Transcribing interviews was typically an exercise in trying to decipher quotes from a cacophony of laughter and yelling in the background, which stemmed from Davis. The 26-year-old defensive tackle earned the Eagles local media corps’ stand-up player of the year award, bestowed upon a player for their accessibility and honesty.
Plenty of others deserved the distinction, too. Jackson and Zack Baun landed on my ballot, in addition to Davis. Brown, Barkley, Dean, Brandon Graham, and Britain Covey are always insightful in their discussions with the press.
Best nonhuman source of positivity
Reggie the dog, the Eagles director of joy. Better luck next year, Positivity Rabbit.
At his end-of-year news conference on Thursday afternoon with Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni explained his decision to remove Kevin Patullo from the offensive coordinator position, pointing to a need for the Eagles offense to “evolve.”
The highest-paid offense in the NFL was stagnant for the majority of the 2025 season. A midseason spark in Weeks 7 and 8 — highlighted by under-center runs and play-action passes — was fleeting. The shotgun-heavy offense, while often capable of protecting the football and scoring in the red zone, was seldom explosive in the open field.
Patullo’s offense finished the season 19th in the NFL in scoring, 24th in total yards, and 13th in expected points added per play, which measures the average points added by the offense on each play. The next offensive coordinator has room for growth with a bevy of talent.
“I think it’s important to continue to evolve as an offense and that we go out and do what’s best for this football team,” Sirianni said. “Everything I do and every decision I have to make, I have to do that — just like Howie does, just like Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie does — with the intent of [it] being the best thing for the football team.”
Sirianni said he removed Patullo from his post in the best interest of the team, but he didn’t outright fire the 44-year-old coach. For now, Patullo remains on staff. Sirianni said he will “see how it plays out,” acknowledging that Patullo will likely have opportunities elsewhere.
Patullo was a first-time offensive coordinator and a first-time offensive NFL play-caller. Will the pendulum swing in the other direction regarding the next offensive coordinator’s résumé? According to The Athletic, the Eagles have seasoned play-callers Brian Daboll and Mike McDaniel at the top of their candidates list.
What is Sirianni’s criteria for an offensive coordinator hire this time around? Again, he used a familiar word to sum up his broad aspiration.
“You’re looking to continue to evolve as an offense,” Sirianni said. “And I’m looking to bring in a guy that’s going to best help us do that.”
Later, he expanded on his criteria, without giving too much of an ideal candidate profile away.
“You always want someone that has a great vision and great conviction of things that they believe in and what they want to do,” Sirianni said. “You always want to have somebody that has the players on their mind first, and we’ll be able to attract a lot of good candidates because of the players that Howie’s assembled to be on our football team.
“You want somebody that has great vision, great conviction in what they do, is able to coach fundamentals well, to help the players get better. Because I believe in that. That can connect with guys. Because I believe in that. That has the mental toughness, because I believe in that.”
Ultimately, Sirianni said he wants to “find the best guy that fits the Philadelphia Eagles.” But is the best guy the one who will bring his own offense? Or is the best guy the one who will infuse his ideas within Sirianni’s scheme?
In 2024, when the Eagles hired Kellen Moore as their new offensive coordinator, Sirianni emphasized that they would “mesh” their systems. They would continue to do the “good things,” Sirianni said, that had become staples of Eagles offenses past, all while incorporating “new ideas.”
On Thursday, four days removed from the wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Sirianni wasn’t ready to discuss his precise degree of involvement in the 2026 Eagles offense.
“It’s way early,” Sirianni said. “Those decisions don’t have to be made for a long time, and as the head coach, you always have to [have] oversight of everything. And again, this year, obviously, I did. I got involved more in the offense as the end of the season came, because that’s what I needed to do as the head football coach there.”
While Sirianni will make the final decision on the next offensive coordinator, he won’t be the only person with input. He said he plans to use a variety of “resources” to inform his choice, including feedback from Jalen Hurts, among other prominent figures in the organization.
Hurts, the 27-year-old franchise quarterback, will enter his sixth season as the starter with his seventh play-caller. Two of his offensive coordinators, Moore and Shane Steichen, departed for head coaching gigs after brief stints in the role. In the past, Hurts has expressed a desire for consistency at the position, but he acknowledged on Monday the changes didn’t stop him from winning a Super Bowl last season.
Nick Sirianni, right, says he will seek feedback from Jalen Hurts, among others, in his choice of a new offensive coordinator.
Regardless, the Eagles aren’t necessarily in search of a Vic Fangio-esque candidate as their next offensive coordinator — someone who has no intentions of moving on to a head-coaching job — according to Roseman.
“It’s a great compliment when guys get head coaching jobs from here, because it means we’re having tremendous success,” Roseman said. “So as much as you’d like to have continuity, and I’d like to have guys here for a long period of time, we want to win. We have an urgency to win right now. And if that comes with the ramifications that we lose good people because they’ve earned head coaching jobs, we’ll live with that.”
There is no one way to be an offensive coordinator, Sirianni said. Everyone has different philosophies and visions for what it takes for an offense to be successful.
But there is only one acceptable outcome for an evolved Eagles offense and its new coordinator moving forward.
“It’s about finding the guy that best fits us, that gives us the best chance to get back to the top of the mountain where we ultimately want to go,” Sirianni said.
A punter is like someone’s breath — you likely only notice it if it stinks.
The Eagles have taken whiffs of poor punters in the past. Just a few years ago, one of the team’s biggest concerns entering the offseason was Arryn Siposs, who struggled in Super Bowl LVII with his botched punt in the fourth quarter that contributed to the Eagles’ loss.
The Eagles don’t have to have that concern anymore. Siposs’ successor, Braden Mann, is fresh off his third season with the Eagles, from which he emerged as the most consistent of the team’s specialists. Mann registered a franchise-best 49.9 yards per punt in 2025 and has averaged 49.5 yards in his Eagles career, the best mark in team history.
Will he have a chance to continue that dominance? Mann, 28, is one of the team’s 19 pending unrestricted free agents. On Monday, even with the season’s demise still fresh, he wasn’t hiding his hopes for the future.
“I’ve loved my time in Philly, and hopefully that continues,” Mann said. “It’s just been a blast for me, personally, just kind of working my craft and seeing what happens. Excited to see any opportunities here or anything that comes.”
A Houston native, Mann said he has spent the last few offseasons living in Dallas, the hometown of his wife, Kylie. He prefers training in Dallas in the spring because of the windy conditions, which are standard in the Northeast during the football season.
Braden Mann (center) said this year’s Eagles, including long snapper Charley Hughlett (left) and kicker Jake Elliott (right), were close-knit despite the way things ended.
The veteran punter noted that purposely practicing on bad-weather days in the offseason translated to better punts during the season, especially in Philly and on the road vs. Buffalo. Mann had to punt through it all — rain, wind, and snow.
“I worked really hard to try and improve on punting in less-than-ideal conditions, which obviously we had a lot of this year,” Mann said. “I used to go out on good-weather days, and now I purposely go out in the offseason on days where it’s raining or cold or windy. I think it’s really helped me, just being able to control the ball a bit better.”
Mann ranked sixth in the league this season in yards per punt, with his longest attempt hitting 70 yards in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs. But just 27.8% of his punts were downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, below the league average of 39.3%.
That’s not all on Mann, but he noted that he wants to get better at some of those deeper punts this offseason.
“Going forward, just trying to improve on maybe some of the weird punts,” Mann said. “Like the ones where you get really close to the end zone or trying to get aggressive with pinning the other team deep and not getting too aggressive, I guess, is the best way of putting it.”
Mann has a special perspective, joining the Eagles during a trying 2023 season and reaching the pinnacle with a Super Bowl last year. After another early playoff exit, the punter acknowledged the team has the potential to rebound once more. He called the 2025 team “one of the closest groups I’ve been with” in his six-year NFL career, which began with the New York Jets.
“I think it’s just the time we spent,” Mann said. “I think everybody’s wanting to reach toward the end goal, but you’ve got to enjoy the days on the way there. Even last year, we went so long and it wasn’t so much the actual Super Bowl. It was the daily stuff to get there that made us so tight. So it was kind of similar this year. I think it’s a culture thing, which has been really good here.”
Once the dust settles on the season, Howie Roseman will determine whether Mann will continue to be a part of that culture for years to come.
Jalen Hurts will begin his sixth season as the Eagles’ starting quarterback in September. He is about to have his seventh play-caller. Kevin Patullo, the 44-year-old, first-time offensive coordinator, was removed from his position on Tuesday in the aftermath of the Eagles’ wild-card exit. Now, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles will be tasked with hiring the team’s next offensive play-caller. The team’s last two internal promotions — Patullo and Brian Johnson — were finished after one season. If the team decides to fill the vacancy with an outside voice, here are eight candidates they could consider:
Brian Daboll is out of work after a mostly bad tenure with the Giants but is respected in league circles for his offensive mind.
Brian Daboll
Could the Eagles tap a division rival’s former head coach as their next offensive coordinator? Daboll, 50, was fired in November in the middle of his fourth season with the New York Giants. He has a history with Hurts, serving as Alabama’s offensive coordinator when Hurts was there in 2017, which culminated in a national championship.
Daboll has extensive experience as an offensive coordinator at the NFL level, serving in that role with the Cleveland Browns (2009-10), Miami Dolphins (2011), Kansas City Chiefs (2012), and Buffalo Bills (2018-21). With the Bills, he helped develop a young Josh Allen. But could he be bound for another head coaching gig? He is reportedly interviewing with the Tennessee Titans.
Kliff Kingsbury received high marks for his work with Jayden Daniels in 2024.
Kliff Kingsbury
How about another division rival’s former offensive coordinator? The Washington Commanders fired Kingsbury, 46, following their 5-12 season after two seasons in that role. He has worked with various notable quarterbacks, including Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, Kyler Murray with the Arizona Cardinals, and Jayden Daniels with the Commanders.
At the NFL level, Kingsbury called plays as the Cardinals head coach from 2019-22 and with the Commanders. While he came up in the “Air Raid” scheme, his offense in Washington attempted to strike a balance between the run and pass. He is drawing head coaching interest, though, as he interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens on Monday.
Browns now have requested a head coach interview with Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase. pic.twitter.com/nxO3tZxMtl
Scheelhaase, 35, is currently serving as the Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator. It’s just his second season coaching in the NFL, including his 2024 stint as a Rams offensive assistant and passing game specialist, but he has made a quick impact. Scheelhaase has helped coach Sean McVay orchestrate a passing game that led the league in yards in 2025 and ranked 10th in 2024 with Matthew Stafford as its quarterback.
He doesn’t have NFL play-calling experience. However, he called plays at Iowa State in 2023 as offensive coordinator under new Penn State coach Matt Campbell (Sirianni’s roommate at Mount Union). The Eagles might have to get in line — according to multiple reports, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Cleveland Browns have requested interviews with Scheelhaase regarding their head coaching vacancies.
From yesterday:#49ers OC Klay Kubiak emerging as future head coach candidate#FTTB
Could the Eagles tap the offensive coordinator for the team that knocked them out of the playoffs this year? Kubiak, 37, doesn’t call plays under San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, so the Eagles could attempt to interview him. Is he ready for that responsibility? Kubiak, the middle son of former Houston Texans and Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, has spent all five seasons of his NFL coaching career with the 49ers. Among his previous titles were offensive passing game specialist (2024) and assistant quarterbacks coach (2022-23).
Todd Monken had some success with Lamar Jackson before John Harbaugh’s staff was fired earlier this month.
Todd Monken
The 59-year-old Monken is the most experienced candidate on this list, as he concluded his 37th season coaching (11 at the pro level) this year. He spent the last three seasons as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator under former coach John Harbaugh, working with dual-threat quarterback Lamar Jackson, who won his second NFL MVP award under Monken in 2023, and All-Pro running back Derrick Henry. Monken served in the same role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-18) and the Cleveland Browns (2019).
But would Monken be willing to part ways with Harbaugh, who is bound to get hired to another head coaching gig this offseason? According to The Athletic, one of the issues that led to Harbaugh’s firing in Baltimore was his unwillingness to oust Monken. Monken has interviewed with the Browns regarding their head coaching gig, too.
Mike McDaniel was Vic Fangio’s boss in Miami and would be his peer in Philadelphia, under this scenario.
Mike McDaniel
Could Vic Fangio reunite with his former head coach? McDaniel, 42, was fired by the Dolphins last week after four seasons as their head coach and offensive play-caller. He is part of the Shanahan coaching tree, having worked with both Mike in Denver and Washington and Kyle in Atlanta and San Francisco, including a stint as the 49ers’ offensive coordinator in 2021. Like Shanahan’s offense, McDaniel’s scheme is known for its emphasis on speed and misdirection. He has expertise in the running game, having spent four seasons as the 49ers’ running game coordinator (2017-20). McDaniel reportedly will interview for head coaching jobs (Browns, Falcons, Titans, and Ravens) and an offensive coordinator position (Detroit Lions), so he is in high demand.
Doug Nussmeier has experience with the Eagles, but the current Saints offensive coordinator would have to come to Philadelphia in a lateral move.
Doug Nussmeier
Could the Eagles turn to a familiar face to fill the vacancy? Nussmeier spent the 2024 Super Bowl-winning season as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach under Kellen Moore. While the running game was the focal point of the offense, Hurts was efficient as a passer that year, completing a career-best 68.7% of his passes and throwing just five interceptions, his lowest total as the starter.
When Moore departed for the New Orleans Saints’ head coaching job, he took Nussmeier with him and made him offensive coordinator (with Moore as the play-caller). The 2025 season was Nussmeier’s first with that title in the NFL, but he’s been an offensive coordinator at various college programs, including Fresno State, Washington, Alabama, Michigan, and Florida.
Frank Reich was a head coach in Indianapolis and Carolina, and also has a winning past in Philly.
Frank Reich
The familiar faces don’t end with Nussmeier. Reich, the former Eagles offensive coordinator (2016-17) under Doug Pederson, could be available after spending the 2025 season as Stanford’s interim head coach. With the hiring of new coach Tavita Pritchard, Stanford announced that Reich would stay on as a senior adviser. But could he be lured back to the NFL? He brings six years of NFL head coaching experience with Sirianni and the Indianapolis Colts (2018-22) and the Carolina Panthers (2023). Reich also worked with Sirianni while he was the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers (2014-15) and Sirianni served as quarterbacks coach.
The Eagles’ 2025 season came to an end sooner than many expected Sunday night, with an underwhelming 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers ending the dream of a Super Bowl repeat.
With the offseason officially here, The Inquirer has identified the most significant questions the team will face as it attempts to avoid the sting of a premature exit at this time next year.
Do you expect a change with embattled offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo?
The offense’s performance this season did not reflect well on Patullo. The unit finished the year 19th in the league in scoring, 24th in total yards, and 13th in expected points added per play, which measures the average points added by the offense on each play.
For comparison’s sake, here’s how the 2023 Eagles offense fared under former offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who was fired in the offseason: No. 7 in scoring, No. 8 in yards, and No. 9 in EPA per play.
The Eagles seem certain to move on from Kevin Patullo as the play caller.
Yes, that season was different, as the Eagles lost six of their last seven games. But both the 2023 and 2025 offenses regressed substantially following Super Bowl appearances. The 2025 Eagles returned 10 of 11 offensive starters from the Super Bowl-winning team, and yet the most expensive offense in football couldn’t make it past the wild-card round.
While all of the offense’s shortcomings this season can’t be pinned exclusively on Patullo, something has to change. If the Eagles fire a coordinator and decide to hire an external replacement, there’s always a chance that person would want to handpick his own assistants. In 2024, Kellen Moore brought in former quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier. Vic Fangio overhauled the defensive staff. — Olivia Reiner
Is there any reason to expect changes with A.J. Brown or any of the other skill-position stars?
Four of the offense’s big five skill players — Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Brown, and DeVonta Smith — are under contract through at least 2028. Brown is under contract through 2029. Dallas Goedert, meanwhile, is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year.
Given Goedert’s status as a pending free agent, his future as an Eagle is in question. The 31-year-old tight end had a career year with 11 touchdowns, plus two more in the postseason. After an injury-riddled 2024 season, he stayed mostly healthy and started 15 games in 2025. But he’s an aging — and potentially expensive, given his touchdown output — tight end who took a step back as a run blocker this year.
It would be expensive for the Eagles to move on from A.J. Brown.
Then, there’s the elephant in the room. Will Brown be back in 2026, let alone finish out his contract in Philadelphia? He voiced his frustration with the offense’s inconsistency earlier in the season. While he made an impact on paper during the regular season and eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for a fourth straight year, he also was part of the problem at times, especially in the wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He finished with three receptions on seven targets for 25 yards.
Brown’s contract would be very difficult to move. Cutting him before June 1 would incur $72 million in dead money in 2026. The Eagles would still be on the hook for $43 million in 2026 if they traded him, too. But, as our colleague Jeff McLane wrote, would a change of scenery benefit the 28-year-old wide receiver, send a message to the locker room, and eventually clear some salary-cap space? — Reiner
Besides Goedert, which Eagles are scheduled to become free agents? Which members of that group will be the highest priorities for the team to re-sign?
As Reed Blankenship noted Sunday in the locker room: “It’s not going to be the same.”
“Who knows where we all end up?” the safety said. “That’s just part of the business side of it. They can’t keep us all. I wish they could.”
Blankenship is one of the Eagles’ nearly two dozen free agents. Like Blankenship, a few are notable players who may not be back.
Will the Eagles be willing to pay 31-year-old Dallas Goedert?
Let’s start with Goedert, who had a career year — the most prolific touchdown season in the history of Eagles tight ends. There are zero tight ends on next season’s roster as it stands. Along the offensive line, reserves Fred Johnson, Brett Toth, and Matt Pryor are free agents. So is wide receiver Jahan Dotson. Deeper reserves like running back AJ Dillon, quarterback Sam Howell, and injured fullback Ben VanSumeren are set to hit the market, too.
Blankenship, linebacker Nakobe Dean, and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips are the marquee names among the defensive free agents. Two more starters from Sunday’s game are also scheduled to be free agents: safety Marcus Epps and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Other free agents include edge rushers Brandon Graham, Joshua Uche, Azeez Ojulari, and Ogbo Okoronkwo. Punter Braden Mann’s contract also is up.
As for which players the Eagles will prioritize, it’s not hard to imagine them wanting to rework something with Goedert before they look elsewhere for a tight end. Phillips will be at or near the top of the priority list, too. The Eagles are thin at edge rusher and could use an impact player like Phillips at the top of the depth chart to pair with Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith. Blankenship’s position is a priority, but it remains to be seen what his market looks like and what the Eagles decide to do at safety. Rookie Drew Mukuba will be coming off a season-ending injury at one of the safety spots.
As for Dean, he may be the most expendable among the top free-agents-to-be with Jihaad Campbell waiting in the wings. — Jeff Neiburg
Howie Roseman has a reputation for being aggressive in all aspects of the Eagles’ business.
What is the Eagles’ salary-cap situation heading into the offseason? What does history say about their willingness to be aggressive on the free-agent front?
According to Over the Cap, the Eagles have $20.3 million in cap space for 2026. It is not a lot, partially because some Eagles have increases in their cap hit. Jalen Hurts’ cap number, for example, jumps from $21.87 million this past season to $31.97 million next season.
The Eagles have 40 players under contract and have eight draft picks. As it stands, they again will have a high-priced offense. Seven of the eight players with cap hits of at least $9 million are offensive players.
While there isn’t a ton of money available for Howie Roseman to play with, history shows us he is willing to be aggressive to create more room and to improve his roster to compete for a Super Bowl. He also has mastered the art of structuring contracts to game the NFL’s salary-cap system. — Neiburg
The Eagles moved up to select Jihaad Campbell in the 2025 draft.
How many draft picks are the Eagles scheduled to have in 2026? How aggressive do you expect them to be in moving draft capital to address other needs (or to move up in the draft)?
The Eagles are set to have eight draft picks, including three projected compensatory picks, in 2026:
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3 (from the New York Jets in the Haason Reddick trade)
Round 3 (projected compensatory pick for Milton Williams)
Round 4
Round 4 (projected compensatory pick for Josh Sweat)
Round 5
Round 5 (projected compensatory pick for Mekhi Becton)
Roseman has a track record of moving up in the draft, even if it’s just a couple of spots, to go get a player on the team’s short list. His most significant jump came in 2016 when he moved up six spots from No. 8 to No. 2 to select Carson Wentz. Last year, Roseman moved up one spot from No. 32 to No. 31 to get Campbell.
He goes after what he wants in veterans, too, with his most prominent example occurring in 2022 with his draft-day acquisition of Brown from the Tennessee Titans. Given that the Eagles have eight picks, Roseman has plenty of ammo to make moves and address the team’s needs. — Reiner
The limited availability of tackle Lane Johnson this season means the Eagles must consider the future along the offensive line.
Which personnel groups do you expect Howie Roseman to concentrate most on upgrading heading into 2026?
Where to begin? The Eagles still have a pretty solid roster, but they do have some flaws and are set to have a few holes.
They have no tight ends. They have no obvious answer yet for a Lane Johnson replacement. How long is Landon Dickerson going to hold up? They went heavy at offensive line toward the end of the draft last season, but they could soon need top-end talent.
They are in the market for wide receiver help, regardless of where the Brown saga leads them. They need edge rushers. They need cornerbacks. They may need a new kicker.
A high-impact edge rusher, like Phillips, should be high on the list of most important personnel groups to upgrade the talent level, and it will be interesting to see how the Eagles go about addressing tight end. They obviously will sign a few in free agency and could draft one. Could Goedert return?
There are a lot of unanswered questions right now. It’s that time of year.
The Johnson replacement is a tricky one, too. He still is very good when he’s on the field, but the clock is ticking. Same for Dickerson, who has had multiple surgeries and has played through plenty of pain. — Neiburg
Will another NFL team lead the charge to ban the Tush Push, as the Packers did last offseason?
Will the Tush Push be in the spotlight again this offseason? What are the mechanics of a potential rule change from a league/competition committee standpoint?
Earlier in the season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Tush Push was getting banned in the spring. This year, instead of detractors fixating on its aesthetics and its player safety risks, its officiating was called into question.
But false-start penalties mounted on the Eagles as the season progressed. Defenses improved at stopping the play, too. The Eagles grew less effective on the Tush Push and eventually, in short-yardage situations, stopped running it entirely. The last Tush Push the Eagles ran in the regular season occurred in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders. It failed, just like four of their previous six attempts.
The public outcry against the Tush Push seems to have dissipated with the Eagles’ waning efficiency. In fact, fans seemed to love the Buffalo Bills’ 10-yard push sneak for a touchdown in their wild-card win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bills were among the teams that voted to effectively ban it in the offseason, too.
Unless there is new injury data that suggests the play is dangerous, the path to a ban is unclear. The officiating of the play still would be an issue on a traditional quarterback sneak. Perhaps the league again would seek to eradicate an offensive player pushing the runner downfield on any play, which was illegal in the NFL before 2005. Ironically, it was legalized because it was difficult to officiate.
A rule proposal, either submitted by the competition committee or by one of the 32 clubs, would be the first step to getting rid of the play. That proposal would need at least 24 “yes” votes from the 32 owners at the spring league meeting to pass. Last year, the Green Bay Packers submitted an assisting-the-runner proposal, but it didn’t garner the requisite support. — Reiner
The Rams’ return trip to Philly next season should be among the highlights of the 2026 home schedule.
Who are the Eagles’ 2026 opponents?
In addition to their six division games, the Eagles will face the 2025 winners of the NFC North (Chicago Bears on the road), NFC South (Carolina Panthers at the Linc) and AFC North (Pittsburgh Steelers at the Linc); they’ll face the entire NFC West (Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks at the Linc, 49ers and Arizona Cardinals on the road) and the entire AFC South (Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts at the Linc, Jaguars and Tennessee Titans on the road).
The Eagles are scheduled to play nine home games in 2026. Dates are expected to be announced as part of the NFL schedule release in May.
