The wet, hefty snowflakes that fell across the Philadelphia region Saturday blanketed buildings and streets with slushy snow — and more is predicted Sunday.
While Saturday’s snowfall — recorded at about half an inch in the city, and topping two inches in the immediate suburbs — was melting by the afternoon, a new storm Sunday could bring another round.
Forecasts for the city and surrounding suburbs project 1 to 3 inches.
“Expect more snow tomorrow than what you saw today,” said Mike Lee, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.
Here’s what to know about the snow, and the chances for more this weekend.
Traffic on the eastbound Schuylkill Expressway (I-76) is moving slowly as snow falls in the region midday, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. Temperatures in the afternoon were expected to approach 40 degrees, so any precipitation that lingered was likely to turn to rain. Sunday will be colder, the source being a coastal storm.
‘Wet and slushy’
With temperatures right around freezing, the snow that fell Saturday morning and early afternoon was “definitely wet and slushy,” Lee said.
By midafternoon, the snow had stopped. Half an inch was recorded in Center City, while in the nearby parts of the collar counties, totals hovered around 1 to 2 inches, reaching 3 and 4 inches closer to the Lehigh Valley.
While some of that snow was melting throughout the day Saturday, Lee noted that the melt could turn into black ice on roadways as temperatures fell at night.
And Sunday offers another chance for snow to accumulate around the region, Lee said.
Daniel Burton, of Wynnefield, is with his kids Apollo, 9, and Finley, 13, enjoying the snow at Belmont Plateau as the sunset lights up the Philadelphia skyline Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.
“There’s a little bit better chance for the Philadelphia area” to get snow from that system, Lee said.
Philadelphia and the Main Line could get 1 to 3 inches of snow Sunday, with snow predicted to start at daybreak and last through the evening, said Melissa Constanzer, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.
South Jersey could see the greatest totals, Constanzer said, given the coastal nature of the storm.
“If you’re planning on going anywhere Sunday, expect travel to be impacted,” Constanzer said. Even if snow is not accumulating, she said, visibility could be a challenge.
Crews should have time to clear roads by Monday morning, Constanzer said.
That’s likely it for snow in the near future, with dry weather predicted to start next week, Lee said. Monday night is forecast to see the lowest temperatures of the season so far, reaching 13 degrees in Philadelphia, according to the weather service. The high Tuesday is forecast to top out at 23, with a low Tuesday night of 11.
Springfield Hospital has a new buyer, with the same local investor group that bought Taylor Hospital in September agreeing to purchase it for $1 million.
Bankrupt owner Prospect Medical Holdings said in a court filing Friday that it now plans to sell Springfield Hospital and an associated parking garage to KQT Aikens Partners 2. The group paid $1 million for Taylor.
Todd Strine, one of the investors involved in KQT Aikens, declined to comment Saturday on the Springfield development. The company has been trying to find healthcare tenants for Taylor, which is in Ridley Park. Among the goals is reestablishing emergency services there, according to local officials.
At Springfield, KQT Aikens is replacing a partnership of Restorative Health Foundation and Syan Investments LLC, which won an October auction for the hospital property with a $3 million bid but was not making progress toward closing the deal, Prospect’s filing said.
Prospect sent a letter on Dec. 11 giving the partners a Dec. 15 deadline to complete the purchase. When that did not happen, Prospect terminated the agreement, the filing said. Restorative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A challenge for any buyer of Springfield Hospital is a deed restriction that requires 24-7 emergency services at the site. The KQT Aikens deal is contingent on township officials removing that restriction. The KQT Aikens agreement also calls for local taxing authorities to set the assessment of the Springfield Township property at the sale price, as happened at Taylor.
Jeff Rudolph, president of the Springfield Township Board of Commissioners, said in an email that local officials look forward to restoring the property to a productive use.
“Prospect will determine the ultimate buyer of the property and, while the township plays no role in that process, we look forward to discussions with the new owner about any proposed future use of the site,” he said.
Taylor and Springfield Hospitals were part of Crozer Health, which was Delaware County’s largest healthcare provider. That was before Prospect’s bankruptcy a year ago led to the closures last spring of Taylor and Crozer-Chester Medical Center, which was an important safety-net provider for low-income Chester residents.
Prospect had closed Springfield in early 2022, and Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill in the fall of 2022. In both cases, Prospect blamed the closures on staffing shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Albie Crosby has come across several talented athletes over his two decades as a high school football coach. But DJ Moore was “always one of the elites in that group.”
It makes sense, considering the success the 28-year-old is having in his eighth NFL season.
The Chicago Bears receiver, who graduated from Imhotep Charter in 2015, has been a critical part of the passing game since his arrival in 2023, while etching his name into franchise history.
The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018, and Moore caught a 25-yard game-winning touchdown to seal a thrilling 31-27 comeback victory over the Packers in the wild-card round. St. Joseph’s Prep graduates D’Andre Swift and Olamide Zaccheaus also scored as the Bears (12-6) advanced to the divisional round for the first time since 2011 and will face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday (6:30 p.m., NBC10).
The wild-card matchup was Moore’s first NFL playoff game, and he’s experiencing his first winning season since his senior year at Imhotep.
“When you look at it, no winning seasons since high school. It’s crazy,” Moore told Marquee Sports Network ahead of the Bears-Packers game. “This is my first time in this thing, too, so I’m just going with the flow and working hard.”
That aspect of Moore has never changed.
He always wanted to be the best, Crosby said, who took over at Simon Gratz in late December after spending nine season at Neumann Goretti. Moore was the talk of the area. His skills caught the attention of coaches while he was in grade school, Crosby among them.
When Crosby became the head coach at Imhotep in 2012, Moore was in his sophomore season and played receiver, running back, and was the team’s kicker. He still holds the Philadelphia Public League record for most kicked points.
As a junior, he helped ignite Imhotep’s run to its first-ever state championship appearance. However, the Panthers got trounced, 41-0, in the PIAA Class 2A championship game by South Fayette of Allegheny County. That didn’t matter to Crosby, because his players had the experience of a lifetime at Hersheypark.
Imhotep finished 12-2 during Moore’s senior campaign. While it lost to Archbishop Wood in the first round of Class 3A playoffs, moments from that year have stuck with Crosby.
Former Imhotep star DJ Moore, who now plays for the Chicago Bears, caught a game-winning touchdown in his first NFL playoff game.
“We played Trinity High School, and into the third quarter, our kids started cramping up,” Crosby said. “Injuries started happening. We lost our quarterback. So the next week, we played Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia, and I had to put DJ in at quarterback.
“Then, we had another national game where we played against Friendship Collegiate Academy outside of D.C., they thought they got the team with DJ at quarterback. … First play, quarterback’s back, and DJ’s at wide receiver. We throw a little screen to DJ, and he takes it 80 yards.”
Moore finished with 35 receptions for 1,012 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2014 and was the No. 12 player in Pennsylvania, according to 247Sports.com’s recruiting rankings.
Despite the accolades, he’s a “private young person” off the field. He also had a strong support system, and his mother, Cookie Ridley, used to attend every game, Crosby recalled.
“He had an advantage when he turned to the sideline, he knew that there was loved ones looking out for him,” Crosby said. “His mom was one of the team moms, and she made sure that all the kids felt loved. He was a special kid because he embraced that. There was never no jealousy. He loved that his mom loved everybody. It speaks volumes of a young person that can share their parents.”
Crosby often brings up Moore’s journey when he’s coaching his high school or seven-on-seven team. But when he thinks about the impact he may have had on Moore, Crosby hopes he offered more lessons about life than football.
“I’m super proud of him,” Crosby said. “To be the father that he is, be the husband that he is, to be the son and brother that he is. All that is what makes me extremely proud.”
During his three seasons at Maryland and five with the Carolina Panthers — who drafted Moore in the first round with the 24th overall pick in 2018 — his teams compiled 13-24 and 29-53 records, respectively. With the Bears, he’s having career highlights.
In his first season, Moore finished with a career-high 1,364 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Last year, he had a career-best in receptions with 98. He hauled in six touchdowns and had 682 receiving yards in 2025.
Moore will have the crowd behind him on Sunday, and his former coach also will be cheering for him and the Bears back in his hometown.
“I’ll be rooting for him like crazy,” Crosby said. “Rooting for him, rooting for Olamide, and Swift.”
The Flyers face the New York Rangers on Saturday before embarking on a three-game road trip through what some are calling the new Death Valley.
Whether they will have reinforcements as the team heads west to face the Vegas Golden Knights, Utah Mammoth, and Colorado Avalanche is the big question.
According to Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, who spoke Saturday morning at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Bobby Brink is a “possibility against Vegas.” Brink was placed on injured reserve on Thursday, retroactive to Jan. 6, when he was injured on a blindsided hit by Anaheim Ducks forward Jansen Harkins just 2 minutes, 38 seconds into the first period.
It had seemed earlier in the week that the winger would return, but he was not on the trip for the losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, and he has now missed six games. Brink skated Saturday morning and, if he is good to go,they’llappreciate having back his production — 11 goals and 20 points in 41 games — and chemistry with Noah Cates.
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař is considered day-to-day. It’s uncertain if he’ll travel with the team on their road trip.
Goalie Dan Vladař‘s status for the road trip is a little more up in the air.
“At this point, I’d say day to day,” Tocchet said. “It depends [on] how he feels after therapy. So it’s like, one of those things every 24 hours, you kind of, you get better or not? What percentage? So it’s hard to really pinpoint things exactly.”
Vladař suffered what looked to be a lower-body injury in the first period against the Buffalo Sabres, when he wasn’t sure where a missed shot by Josh Doan went before Rasmus Dahlin scored a power-play goal. The netminder, who is one of Czechia’s three goalies for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, allowed two goals on five shots in one period of action during the Flyers’ 5-2 loss on Wednesday.
According to a team source on Thursday afternoon, the Flyers may have avoided the worst-case scenario on his injury. While the early findings are positive, they won’t know more for a few days. Whether or not he goes on the trip is to be determined.
“Yes, I think,” Tocchet said before adding, “still got to talk to the doctors on that, because if he’s not going to play in the games [maybe not]. Is there a possibility for the third game? Maybe. That’s what we’ll decide.”
Although the team source also stated that Rasmus Ristolainen’s early findings were also positive and that they may have avoided the worst-case scenario, the defenseman will not make the trip west.
“I don’t think it’s a long-term. Is it a week thing? Maybe,” Tocchet said. “If I say a week and it’s not seven days, you guys (the media) are going to kill me. But it’s definitely a week. It could be eight days, nine days, I don’t know.”
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen will not travel with the team on their three-game road trip.
Ristolainen is out with an upper-body injury. When and how the injury was sustained is unknown. He was a full participant at morning skate and took power-play reps with the top unit in Buffalo on Wednesday, but then did not skate in the game that night.
It’s another unfortunate setback for the 31-year-old blueliner. He made his season debut on Dec. 16 in Montreal after undergoing surgery on a right triceps tendon rupture in late March. It followed a pair of procedures in 2024, which also repaired a ruptured triceps tendon. Flyers general manager Danny Brière said last April that the injury was similar, although he wouldn’t confirm whether he suffered a torn tendon again.
The 76ers nearly pulled off their first win over the Cavaliers this year, after Wednesday’s blowout loss. But in the final moments, the Sixers just couldn’t close it out.
After Wednesday’s loss, Nick Nurse changed his strategy entering Friday’s game, electing to match Cleveland’s two-big lineup of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen with his smaller lineup instead of trying to equal their size.
“The choices are, go big and try to match their size or make them match yours,” Nurse said. “For the most part, I think the guys we had in there were the guys we wanted in there.”
Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr. both got a lot of run off the bench, while Jabari Walker got just four minutes, and Andre Drummond and Jared McCain didn’t play at all. Grimes scored 14 points with seven rebounds and four assists, and Oubre scored 12 points and grabbed two offensive rebounds.
Nurse also turned to Trendon Watford for two key stretches in the second and third quarters. Watford scored just four points on two shots, but grabbed two offensive rebounds, and the Sixers were plus-five with him on the floor.
“We had just a little bit of a rough patch in the second with execution and ball handling, and decided to go with him for that,” Nurse said. “I liked them having to play our smaller lineup [more] than I did our bigger lineup.”
McCain, the Sixers’ 2024 first-round pick, has mostly played limited minutes since returning from a meniscus tear and a torn UCL in his thumb. But Friday, McCain had his first DNP since November. Before his season-ending injury last year, McCain was named Rookie of the Month and showed promise, but even with Nurse open to a smaller, guard-heavy lineup, he didn’t factor into the game.
Maxey struggles
After putting up just 14 points on 5-for-16 shooting in Wednesday’s blowout loss to Cleveland, Tyrese Maxey didn’t fare much better on Friday. Maxey shot 9-for-23 from the field and 2 of 8 from three-point range, ultimately scoring 22 points in the loss.
Maxey said that the back-to-back set’s two games felt a bit like a playoff series, with both teams making adjustments after Wednesday’s “Game 1,” turning Friday into something like a Game 2.
Most of the Sixers’ defensive adjustments worked, especially on Cavs star Donovan Mitchell, who shot 4-for-13 from the field after a 35-point game on Wednesday. But Maxey couldn’t find a way to break free offensively.
“They do a good job on all my ball screens, they put a lot of attention on me,” Maxey said. “A lot of times, even when I come off a ball screen with Joel and Jarrett Allen’s guarding him, I’m just stringing them out, he stays on me, and I’m throwing it back to Joel. And then, I missed some good looks tonight.”
The Cavaliers threw a lot of bodies at Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey to confuse him on offense.
Nurse agreed that Maxey wasn’t as accurate as usual, especially from three-point range.
“They got some great size,” Nurse said. “They did a pretty good job of putting two on him a lot. He didn’t get a whole lot, I thought, at the basket.”
But despite Maxey’s struggles, the Sixers were able to keep the game competitive until the final moments, getting the ball to the weak side and giving more opportunity to the Sixers’ other stars, like Joel Embiid, who had a team-high 33 points.
Defense
The Sixers focused their game plan heavily around Mitchell on Friday, especially with Cavs guard Darius Garland out with a foot injury he suffered on Wednesday.
Unlike in the previous matchup, they kept Mitchell in check. Jaylon Tyson ended up doing the most damage, scoring 39 points on 13-for-17 shooting, including making 7-of-9 three-point attempts. But despite the ultimate result, the Sixers made progress defensively, Sixers forward Paul George said.
“We held Donovan to a rougher night, Mobley to a rougher night,” George said. “We didn’t predict Tyson would go for 40, but that’s basketball. It was his night tonight …But when you go into a game and we follow the game plan to make it as tough as possible for Donovan, I thought we executed that.”
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was held to only 13 points in Friday’s Sixers loss.
That defense also led to more offense. The Sixers had 11 steals, and scored 32 points off of 18 Cavaliers turnovers, with 21 of those points coming in the first half.
But the final, game-losing possession, with Evan Mobley getting the ball from Tyson for an easy dunk in the paint, was an example of where the Sixers still need to grow defensively.
“There’s still steps,” George said. “There’s a long way. I still think we’ve got to get to where we’re not giving up so many layups and baskets at the rim. I thought we did fairly good.”
Two men and a 17-year-old boy are in custody after they allegedly assaulted a delivery driver and stole $16,000 worth of weight-loss drugs outside a pharmacy in Bucks County, Bensalem Township police said.
On Wednesday, a delivery driver was dropping off two boxes containing the GLP-1 weight-loss medications Mounjaro, Ozempic, and Trulicity at the Smart Choice Pharmacy at 1941 Street Rd., Bensalem, when the “strong-arm robbery” occurred, police said in a news release.
The trio drove away in a gold Toyota, nearly striking a bystander recording the robbery on video, police said.
After 911 dispatchers were notified of the car’s location, Bensalem Township police stopped the vehicle a few blocks away, police said.
Police said they found the boxes of stolen drugs in the car and arrested Joshua Dupree, 41, of Tamaqua, Schuylkill County; Jahnoi Dawkins, 21, of Albany, N.Y.; and a 17-year-old male from New York City.
“Further investigation revealed that the suspects, Dupree, Dawkins, and the juvenile male, had traveled from New York to commit the crime,” police said. “Pharmacy staff reported that they had received suspicious phone calls and emails in the days leading up to the incident requesting information about the delivery order.”
The three were charged with robbery, theft, receiving stolen property, simple assault, and related offenses, police said.
District Judge Michael Gallagher set bail at 10% of $150,000 for Dupree and of $250,000 for Dawkins; the men were taken to the Bucks County Correctional Facility. The juvenile was taken to the Bucks County Youth Detention Center.
Tyrese Maxey could easily begin rattling off several games that the 76ers had already let slip away this season.
Both visits to the Chicago Bulls. Both contests against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons, including a Nov. 14 trip in which they led in the fourth quarter. Two games against the Toronto Raptors, a potential first-round playoff opponent.
That barely scratched the past 12 days. The Sixers on Jan. 5 lost in overtime to a Denver Nuggets team that intentionally rested the bulk of its rotation. Then, last Sunday, they surrendered a four-point lead with 20 seconds remaining in regulation in Toronto before falling in overtime. Then came Friday night, when the Sixers blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 117-115 defeat at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
And in the bunched-up Eastern Conference standings — where three games separated second place from seventh entering Saturday — Maxey acknowledged that “those hurt.”
“We’ve had plenty of them,” the star point guard added. “ … But it’s OK. You’ve got to keep going. We’ve got 42 more games, so can’t dwell on it.”
The consequence of such late collapses was immediately clear late Friday, when the 22-18 Sixers dropped from fifth place to seventh in the East. They also are quite acquainted with down-to-the-wire scenarios, entering Saturday tied for third in the NBA with 25 “clutch” games played, which is classified as a game with the scoring margin at five points or less with five minutes remaining in regulation.
Recent results, though, have shifted from the early season, when part of this team’s resurgent charm was its knack for flipping poor third quarters into valiant comebacks. Their three consecutive clutch defeats have dropped their record to 13-12 in such games, which partially mirrors a perplexingly average 10-11 home record.
“It kind of evens out a lot over the year,” coach Nick Nurse said after Friday’s game. “I thought we were really great early, and I think we’ve got to get a little bit better right now at it.”
The Sixers entered Saturday ranked sixth in the NBA in defensive rating in those clutch minutes (101.2 points allowed per 100 possessions), but 17th in offensive rating (109.7 points per 100 possessions). Standout veterans Joel Embiid and Paul George both attribute those offensive sputters to execution woes, particularly while still gaining rhythm with a finally healthy roster.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points in his team’s first win over the Sixers this week.
“We’ve just need to be organized,” Embiid said after Friday’s game, “and, I guess, keep running the same plays that are working.”
Added George: “We’ve got to probably drill it a little bit more. We’re out there together. We kind of know where we’re at. What we’re doing. What we’re running. What sets can we get into? Because the fact of the matter is they’re not going to make it easy for us.”
That starts with Maxey, the NBA’s third-leading scorer who will have the ball in his hands in crunch time.
He was self-critical after missing potential game-winners at the end of regulation and overtime against Denver, noting that he should have been more demonstrative in directing teammates and where he wanted the ball. He believed he and the Sixers had improved in that regard in their first matchup in Toronto, when he ripped off seven consecutive points — including what could have been a game-clinching deep shot — before the Sixers botched an inbounds pass. On Friday, Maxey shook loose for a game-tying floater with 8.1 seconds remaining before Evan Mobley’s winning dunk, but had been physically guarded throughout a 9-for-23 shooting night.
“Just not good enough down the stretch,” Nurse said of Maxey and the offense, “with either making a shot or getting a good enough one.”
During the final 3 minutes, 53 seconds — when Cleveland staged a 13-4 run to close the gap and seize the lead — the Sixers missed four out of their five shot attempts that came from Maxey, George, Embiid, and Kelly Oubre Jr. That put the Sixers “in scramble mode” on defense, Nurse said, whenever the Cavaliers turned missed shots or turnovers into transition opportunities. Maxey also emphasized an uptick in “broken plays,” such as loose balls and rebounds that the Sixers have not secured frequently enough in those crucial late minutes.
“Those come back to bite you,” Maxey said.
This was a rare week for the Sixers to play two consecutive games apiece against the Cleveland and Toronto, who also are in the thick of those muddled East standings. The Sixers are now 0-3 against the Cavaliers, officially losing the tiebreaker before a final meeting in March in Cleveland. They have finished the regular-season series against the Raptors at 2-2.
The positives? The Sixers have clinched a 2-1 tiebreaker against the Orlando Magic, whom they play only three times in the regular season. And they hold a 2-1 lead over the Celtics before their final matchup in March in Boston, and 2-0 lead over the New York Knicks ahead of two home games next weekend and just before the All-Star break.
Sixers forward Dominick Barlow was back in the rotation after suffering a back contusion earlier this week.
Maxey enthusiastically clapped when asked earlier this season about his team’s abundance of close games, believing they would hold long-term benefits. Nurse added that, whenever he is asked about this topic at coaching conventions, he stresses that defensive execution is “equally important — maybe more” than offensive execution.
“And then, like anything else,” Nurse said, “it takes some work. It takes some repetition. It takes some focus. And then it takes belief.”
The past 12 days have demonstrated that the Sixers still have room to grow in those areas. Because they let three consecutive clutch games slip away, which caused them to slip down the crowded East standings.
“We’ve got to close games,” Embiid said, “and we’ve had a lot of games that [we] probably wish we could take it back.”
City revenue officials expect to collect more than $35 million in new BIRT payments this year from the expanded pool of taxpayers, even with slightly lower tax rates.
“This is applicable to every sole proprietorship, limited-liability company, incorporation, or partnership engaged in a business, profession, or activity for profit in the City of Philadelphia,” said Scott S. Small, trust counsel in the Philadelphia-area office of Fiduciary Trust International, a New York-based advisory firm for families and business owners.
“Think of folks that have houses they rent. Daycare in their homes. For-hire drivers at Uber or Lyft. Estates and trusts that own property,” Small said. “A return now has to be filed, regardless of whether you made a profit.”
Even with extensive city guidance, “it becomes a logistical nightmare” for small taxpayers, who may have to hire professionals to figure out what they owe and exemptions that can reduce the total, said Will Gonzalez, who runs CEIBA, a Latino business and economic education group.
Business taxes and the general difficulty of doing business in Philadelphia were “the number one issues” reported in a survey of 200 city businesses by the Independence Business Alliance, a chamber of commerce for LGBTQ+ business owners, that was presented to members of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s tax reform commission last year, said Zach Wilcha, the alliance’s chief executive.
“Small businesses pay on revenues, sales, profits [there is a separate net profits tax along with the BIRT income tax], and wages,“ Wilcha said. ”People love being in Philadelphia; they want to stay here. But they feel the tax structure is forcing them to leave.”
Eliminating the BIRT’s income tax and curbing the revenue tax has been a longtime goal of business advocacy groups like the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. It was a goal of business members on the tax reform commission. City leaders in the end decided on gradual rate reductions instead, a move tax commission chair Richard Vague called “disheartening.”
The BIRT tax rate on sales is dropping by half a penny per $1,000 this tax season to $1.41 per $1,000 of sales. And the income tax is decreasing to $57.10 per $1,000 of profits from $58.10. The city plans to slowly cut the revenue tax to zero and the BIRT income tax by half by 2039.
But this year, far more taxpayers will be paying the tax, which is due by April.
Philadelphia formerly exempted businesses that gross less than $100,000 in sales per year from paying BIRT. That exemption failed to survive a court challenge. Under the “uniformity clause” of the Pennsylvania state constitution, taxes can’t exempt whole classes of taxpayers based on income.
“It’s the same reason we can’t have a [state or local] tax just on billionaires, or millionaires,” Small said.
A smaller-business exemption on the city’s use and occupancy tax exemption is also gone, leaving more small-business owners liablefor that 1.21% a year tax, paid in monthly installments.
Among Pennsylvania communities, only a minority, including Radnor Township and other Main Line communities, charge similar business taxes.
Kathleen McColgan, Parker’s revenue commissioner, says Philadelphia expects to collect “an additional $35 million to $40 million in fiscal year 2026″ from the broadened BIRT. The city has earmarked that money for “commerce and business development.”
City officials have said they will spend $7.5 million this year for programs to help new taxpayers figure out how to manage the city’s complicated tax programs and exemptions.
In recent years, the city has collected BIRT from around 40,000 larger businesses, McColgan said. She estimates that 50,000 businesses that have paid other city taxes will start owing BIRT for the first time. Roughly 25,000 other registered businesses that hadn’t incurred any taxes in recent years before might also owe.
City officials could provide no estimate of how many businesses that never registered to pay taxes may be required to pay BIRT for the first time.
To spread the word, McColgan said the city sent around 80,000 notices to registered business taxpayers in and outside the city, plus 119,000 postcards to businesses “who may have a responsibility to file” from lists the city purchased from a private vendor.
Besides the promised multilingual tax education and assistance for first-time filers, officials noted that the city has an array of tax discounts that can reduce the small-business burden.
First-time filers can get an extension if they can’t get the form in by April 15, but they will still owe the tax accruing from that date with any late fees.
And, after the first year, taxpayers are expected to pay the next year’s BIRT in advance, in quarterly installments.
Even with the city’s initial guidance, many first-time taxpayers will need professional help to navigate all those rules and realize available discounts, Small said. “It’s a nightmare” for a layperson to attempt to follow all the instructions and file correctly.
“People want to pay their taxes,” CEIBA’s Gonzalez said. “It’s the right thing to do. They also need to pay their taxes, if they want to buy a house or send a child to college.
“But anyone who is going to pay the BIRT for the first time is going to need a city business license. And for that, they have to pay any outstanding tickets and bills. And that can be a lot to resolve all at once.”
His group and others have held online and remote workshops to advise drivers, independent home-health aides, and other first-time BIRT payers.
Gonzalez predicted “a rude awakening for Philadelphians” as the tax fits in. “Our economy is built on a lot of this gig work, and we’d hate to see people punished for making more money for their families.
“And this puts people in Philadelphia at a disadvantage. In a year we are celebrating the 250th year of the American Revolution that started with unfair tax concerns, we need to find a better way.”
Small, of Fiduciary Trust, said the Philadelphians he advises tend to complain without leavingthe city. “Folks kind of suck it up, and say, ‘It’s not as bad as it could be.’”
Still, many people have noticed how the city and state also offer incentives to bring in new businesses that aren’t given to regular taxpayers, he said. “The small guy gets the higher burden, while larger ones who have more ability to pay, pay less.”
The Eagles bowed out of the playoffs in the wild-card round, setting in motion an offseason that likely will feature a lot of change. Players and coaches will come and go, and the team won’t look the same when it takes the field for training camp in July. Some of that began right away, when offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo was relieved of his duties two days after the season ended.
We’ll keep you updated on the entire Eagles offseason at The Inquirer with news and analysis on the team as it goes through a critical offseason.
Is a new deal in the cards for tight end Dallas Goedert coming off a career season?
Roster decisions
Scheduled free agents
The Eagles have 20 pending free agents, 10 on offense, nine on defense, and punter Braden Mann.
Offense
TE Dallas Goedert: Goedert reworked his deal last offseason to stay with the Eagles and scored to a career-best 11 touchdowns, an Eagles tight end record. Considering the Eagles don’t have any tight ends on the roster, they may look to bring the 31-year-old back after he got through the season relatively healthy.
WR Jahan Dotson: The little-used third receiver could find a new home this offseason. WR3 is a tough position on this team behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and it seems unlikely the Eagles will find it worth bringing Dotson back.
OT Fred Johnson: Johnson left for free agency after last season, but the Eagles traded for him before the season for some insurance at tackle, and they needed it. It remains to be seen how the Eagles approach the draft and free agency, but Johnson’s return would put an experienced body on the depth chart.
TE Grant Calcaterra: As mentioned, the Eagles don’t have any tight ends. Calcaterra has been productive when the Eagles use him as a pass catcher, but he’s not a great blocker, and the Eagles need their tight ends to block.
OL Brett Toth: The do-it-all lineman has been a valuable asset in Jeff Soutland’s offensive line room. He can fill in at any position.
TE Kylen Granson: Granson was a big part of the Eagles’ special teams, despite having a limited role in the offense. The tight end position is in flux, but Granson could return as a depth piece.
OL Matt Pryor: The Eagles brought back a familiar and experienced face in the offseason for some depth. Pryor gave that and provided positional versatility. But he wasn’t all that great in relief.
RB AJ Dillon: Dillon started the season in the mix to get snaps behind Saquon Barkley, but he fell out of favor after the Eagles traded for Tank Bigsby. Dillon was inactive for most of the second half of the season and logged just 12 carries. The Eagles are pretty set at running back with Barkley, Bigsby, and Will Shipley.
QB Sam Howell: The Eagles weren’t comfortable with Kyle McCord as QB3, so they acquired Howell before the season. Will McCord be ready after spending the 2025 season on the practice squad?
FB Ben VanSumeren: VanSumeren changed positions from linebacker to fullback and made the 53-man roster, but his season ended on the opening kickoff in Week 1. The Eagles signed Kansas City’s Carson Steele to a futures contract. Will they bring back VanSumeren and have a fullback competition?
The Eagles got a good look at linebacker Jaelan Phillips after acquiring him at midseason.
Defense
EDGE Jaelan Phillips: The deadline acquisition stepped in right away and was a difference-maker along the defensive line. The Eagles need a top-end edge rusher to add to a unit that has Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith under contract. Phillips would make sense.
LB Nakobe Dean: Dean returned from patellar tendon surgery in the middle of the season and looked like he didn’t miss a beat. But the Eagles drafted his replacement last season in Jihaad Campbell.
S Reed Blankenship: Blankenship has been a big part of the defense for the last four years. He has started 50 games and is a leader. The Eagles are thin at safety, but it remains to be seen what Blankenship’s market looks like and if the Eagles will be in the mix.
CB Adoree’ Jackson: Jackson was up and down in training camp and to start the season, but he played his way into a starting job opposite Quinyon Mitchell. He’ll be 31 next season, and the Eagles probably want to get better at CB2.
S Marcus Epps: Epps stepped in as a starter after Drew Mukuba went down. He’ll be 30 before the season starts, though he could find his way back to the Eagles and compete for a job.
EDGE Brandon Graham: Graham came out of retirement and briefly changed positions when Jalen Carter went down and the interior needed a boost. Will he go back into retirement?
EDGE Joshua Uche: Uche seemed to be playing his way into a bigger role when the Eagles brought Graham out of retirement, which forced Uche to a lesser role. The Eagles are thin on the edge, though Uche seems to be more of a depth piece right now.
EDGE Azeez Ojulari: Ojulari ended up behind Uche on the depth chart and then missed most of the season after being placed on injured reserve.
EDGE Ogbo Okoronkwo: Okoronkwo made the team out of training camp as a depth edge rusher but suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4, the only game in which he played.
Special teams
P Braden Mann: Mann had a great season. He ranked fifth in the NFL in punt average (49.9 yards). It would make sense for the Eagles to want to bring him back.
Jordan Davis, left, and Jalen Carter could both be in consideration for new deals.
New deals?
There are a few players under contract who could be in the running for a new contract with the Eagles.
DT Jordan Davis: The Eagles picked up Davis’ fifth-year option last offseason and he remains under contract for the 2026 season. But after a breakout 2025 season, he likely earned himself a lot of money.
DT Jalen Carter: The Eagles likely will do what they did with Davis and pick up Carter’s fifth year, but it might be time for an extension now. Carter didn’t have his best season after a dominant 2024. The Eagles may be able to sign him to a more team-friendly deal, though Carter and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, may opt to play 2026 on his current deal and revisit the big-money deal next offseason.
DT Moro Ojomo: Ojomo is set to play the final year of his four-year rookie deal in 2026. The seventh-round pick has been a major success story. Will the Eagles look to lock him up beyond 2026? Will they be able to afford all of these defensive linemen with big contracts coming in the future for other defensive stars like Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean?
Contracted players who could be on the way out
The Eagles have some players on the 2026 roster who may not be here when training camp starts.
K Jake Elliott: Elliott has had two consecutive seasons where he didn’t perform well enough. His 2025 field goal conversion rate was just 74.1%, the lowest of any kicker who played a full season.
WR A.J. Brown: Will his frustrations with the offense cause him to ask for a trade? It would be a costly move for the Eagles, but they’ve willingly taken on dead cap in the past. The Eagles would have a big hole to fill if it came to that.
RT Lane Johnson: Johnson remains one of the best tackles in football, but his availability was an issue this season. He missed the final eight games of the season after suffering a Lisfranc injury in his right foot. The Eagles probably would love him back, but Johnson will be 36 in May and won’t play forever.
QB Tanner McKee: Will the Eagles look to ship McKee to another team for a draft pick? McKee’s Week 18 performance didn’t help their cause.
CB Kelee Ringo: Ringo remains under contract on his rookie deal, but he seems like a change-of-scenery candidate. He has struggled to get on the field with the Eagles, though he has been great on special teams.
Howie Roseman will be central to the selection of a new offensive coordinator.
Coaching staff changes
Patullo’s ouster kicked off an offseason that could see a few more coaching changes.
The Eagles, of course, are looking to hire an offensive coordinator. Nick Sirianni said he wants the Eagles’ offense to continue to “evolve” and the team appears to be going after some experienced play-callers to get their offense back on track.
Who else could be on the move?
For starters, special teams coordinator Michael Clay is not under contract for next season.
Additionally, defensive backs coach Christian Parker has been a popular name for defensive coordinator openings. Defensive line coach Clint Hurtt has been a coordinator before and, after his work with the Eagles’ front, could get some interviews.
A new offensive coordinator could mean more shakeup on the offensive staff, too.
Guard Joel Bitonio has been a respected member of a Browns team that has otherwise struggled for most of his tenure.
2026 free agency targets
What do the Eagles need most? What kind of players will be on the market?
First, the Eagles need to know what happens with the futures of key offensive players like A.J. Brown and Lane Johnson.
At the moment, they have just over $15 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap. That’s not a lot, but Howie Roseman has shown the creativity to use void years and spread cap hits out over multiple seasons.
Free agency begins March 11.
Position groups and players to target
Offensive line: Will Johnson return? Will Landon Dickerson ever be healthy again? Can Cam Jurgens bounce back? Big questions facing the Eagles, who need to restore their offensive line this offseason. Reinforcements likely will come via the draft, but free agency offers some options.
Indianapolis Colts right tackle Braden Smith, for example, has dealt with injuries but could provide insurance for Johnson and help the Eagles bridge their way to the next young tackle. Old friend Isaac Seumalo fits that bill, too, at guard. Same with Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio.
Wide receiver: Regardless of what happens with Brown, the Eagles could use some more help at receiver. They won’t be playing in the George Pickens pool, and probably not Alec Pierce, either, but what about Romeo Doubs, Kendrick Bourne, or Van Jefferson at WR3?
EDGE: Jaelan Phillips should be at the top of the Eagles’ wish list. Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith are the only two edge rushers under contract. The Eagles will draft at least one rusher, but they need a top-end talent like Phillips. If not Phillips, other top options would be Trey Hendrickson, Odafe Oweh, Boye Mafe, Joey Bosa, and Khalil Mack. There’s always the possibility of Roseman figuring out a way to trade for Maxx Crosby, too.
Tight end: Dallas Goedert may be in the running to return. But if not, the Eagles could eye someone like Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts, who finally played to his potential this season. Pitts attended Abington and Archbishop Wood before playing at Florida in college. Other free agents include Isaiah Likely, David Njoku, and Tyler Higbee. The Eagles probably will use a draft pick on one, too.
Cornerback: Quinyon Mitchell eventually will re-sign at the top of the market, and you don’t see many teams spending that type of money on two players at this position. But there are some options the Eagles could target, like Tariq Woolen, Roger McCreary, and Jamel Dean. Will those players be too costly? We’ll see.
Safety: Reed Blankenship has been solid for the Eagles, but he’s not great in coverage. The Eagles could be looking to pair Drew Mukuba with a better player on the back line, and they could look to do that via free agency. Old friend Kevin Byard has been really productive with the Chicago Bears, though he could command a bigger contract than the Eagles are willing to give out. Los Angeles Rams safety Kamren Curl could be an option.
The 2026 NFL draft
The Eagles’ needs here will become clearer after free agency, though our Devin Jackson looked at a few potential targets at pick No. 23.
The draft will take place beginning on Thursday, April 23, in Pittsburgh.
Before that, there are some other key dates and events to look out for.
The East-West Shrine Bowl is on Jan. 27; the Senior Bowl is on Jan. 31; the yearly NFL Scouting Combine begins on Feb. 23; and teams have until April 15 to conduct visits, tests, and interviews with prospective draft picks.
Will there be more drama around the Tush Push this offseason?
League meetings
The annual league meeting is from March 29 to April 1 in Arizona. It is there that the Tush Push likely will be another big topic of conversation and could meet its demise.
But the Eagles’ lack of success using their signature play this season could result in some teams backing off a little bit. We’ll see.
There’s also another league meeting May 19 and 20 in Orlando.
2026 Eagles schedule
The Eagles’ opponents are known. They play home games vs. their three divisional opponents (Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants), as well as other games vs. the Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Houston Texans.
Besides their three NFC East road games, the Eagles also travel to play the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans.
It remains to be seen if the Eagles will get an international game.
The schedule is due out in May, but international dates will likely be released prior to that.
You don’t necessarily need to root for another team … but it’s perfectly acceptable to root for certain teams to lose more than others. Post-Eagles playoff fandom is less about loyalty and more about spite management.
You’re no longer picking a champion; you’re ranking villains.
Dugan Arnett, Life & Culture Reporter
I believe that Philadelphians should be free to root for any of the NFL’s remaining playoff teams. Except the Patriots, obviously. No one should ever root for the Patriots.
Tommy Rowan, Programming Editor
At this point, you’re rooting for fan bases. So I’m rooting for Bills fans. As a fan base, they’ve been through it. Despite an unprecedented four straight Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s, they have zero championship wins to show for it.
And there are some similarities between Buffalo fans and Philly fans. Our friends from up north routinely throw each other through card tables at game day tailgates like WWE wrestlers. The two fan bases could honestly be cousins. Real long-suffering Northeast football fans recognize real. So, Go Bills. … Until the playoffs are over.
Amy Rosenberg, Life & Culture Reporter
This is when being a transplant has its advantages. Buried ancestral loyalties can now resurface. My dad loved the Bills dating back to the Marv Levy era. I’ve always loved the Rams? Feels OK to go with the Bills. (Getting some Bills consensus here.) Anything remotely Boston, New England, or Dallas is obviously off-limits. Chicago could be a late pivot to root for. Birds, Bills, Bears.
Matt Mullin, Senior Sports Editor for Digital Strategy
Unsurprisingly, I have a lot of thoughts on this. Sorry! Like Biggie said, there are rules to this game, so I wrote you a manual. And these can be applied to almost any season — or any sport.
You absolutely cannot root for the team that eliminated you, so the 49ers are out. But! If they win it all, you’re allowed to say the Eagles basically finished second.
You can’t root for any NFC East teams — luckily that’s not a concern this year — or any teams that beat you during the regular season. Goodbye, Denver and Chicago.
In fact, you shouldn’t really root for any NFC team, since you’ve likely beefed with them all at one point. But if you must, pick one of the teams you beat. At least that way you’ll be able to convince yourself the Eagles were actually the better team. Would the Rams, who the Eagles beat in the regular season and last postseason and don’t really have a fan base to rub it in, making the Super Bowl be the worst? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean you have to support them.
You should also try to avoid rooting for the top seeds, since Philly loves an underdog. We’ve already eliminated the Broncos, but so long, Seattle.
That leaves three AFC teams. Again, any team that beat you this year is automatically out. So are the Patriots. You never root for the Patriots.
In five simple steps, we’ve now boiled it down to just two acceptable teams: the Bills and Texans. We’ll give the Bills the nod here since their fan base and Eagles fans seem to have a lot in common — even though their coach tried to kill the Tush Push over safety but still uses it regularly.
Sam Ruland
I think my ideal Super Bowl here would be Bills vs. Bears. Because the Bills have a good fan base, fun, loyal (all the things we said). And I have no negative thoughts on the Bears fan base either. Also, never forget Jason Kelce tailgating with the Bills Mafia. That’s gotta count for something.
