Taking a look at this franchise, I think we are about to experience several years of a decline. Here are the factors that lead to this conclusion:

1. The offensive line needs to be rebuilt. LJ's time is coming to a close. Dickerson and Jurgens may never be the same as they were in younger years. Tyler Steen showed himself to be just average. The OL is no longer dominant and replacements will be needed on 4/5 of the line.

2. The cap is set to work against the Eagles. More than any other team in the league by far, the Eagles use void years which creates dead cap space in later years and after the contract expires. In 2 or 3 years, the Eagles will be cap strapped and forced to let go good players. The Eagles also have free agents who they will not be able to sign in 2026. We can expect a continued degradation of the talent on the roster.

3. Hurts is limited if he is not a legit threat to run. Part of Saquon's success in 2024 was tied to the threat on the ground that Hurts presented. Defenders did not know who to key on a good deal of the team. Take away Hurts' legs, and the offense stalls. Can he continue to withstand the beating that he will take on the ground as he gets older? Can the Eagles afford to move on from him at this stage?

The Eagles full court press culminated in a SB victory in 2024. However, the bill will be coming due soon, and team's record on the field will likely take a hit.

1 hour ago, Procus said:

Taking a look at this franchise, I think we are about to experience several years of a decline. Here are the factors that lead to this conclusion:

1. The offensive line needs to be rebuilt. LJ's time is coming to a close. Dickerson and Jurgens may never be the same as they were in younger years. Tyler Steen showed himself to be just average. The OL is no longer dominant and replacements will be needed on 4/5 of the line.

2. The cap is set to work against the Eagles. More than any other team in the league by far, the Eagles use void years which creates dead cap space in later years and after the contract expires. In 2 or 3 years, the Eagles will be cap strapped and forced to let go good players. The Eagles also have free agents who they will not be able to sign in 2026. We can expect a continued degradation of the talent on the roster.

3. Hurts is limited if he is not a legit threat to run. Part of Saquon's success in 2024 was tied to the threat on the ground that Hurts presented. Defenders did not know who to key on a good deal of the team. Take away Hurts' legs, and the offense stalls. Can he continue to withstand the beating that he will take on the ground as he gets older? Can the Eagles afford to move on from him at this stage?

The Eagles full court press culminated in a SB victory in 2024. However, the bill will be coming due soon, and team's record on the field will likely take a hit.

I kinda chuckled at the Dickerson/Jurgens "younger years" comment...they're 26 and 27 years old. Age won't be a factor for them, it's moreso whether or not they can get back to 100% physically. Jurgens is concerning because it's his back and he had surgery last offseason. Will a mostly full offseason enable him to get back? Don't know. As for Dickerson, do we even know what his issue(s) are? Ankle? Knee? He made some comment last night about not even being sure he will be back to full health by the start of next season. That...uh...is not good.

Steen is just a guy. We can get by with him but we can do better for sure. And yeah, LJ will be a big question mark next year assuming he doesn't retire. So, you're right in the aspect of overall OL concerns, but we won't be replacing 4 out of 5 starters. Dickerson and Jurgens will be back...it's just a matter of if they'll be back at 100% or will we have to deal with another season of subpar play from them? I'm sure OL depth will be emphasized in the offseason.

I agree that Hurts is more of a mediocre QB when he isn't a threat to run. His running prowess is why he has succeeded like he has in the NFL thus far. Take that away and what are we left with? Mediocre-ness.

Lots of work to do this offseason, for sure. I'll leave the cap stuff up to Howie...there will indeed be big decisions looming this offseason and next offseason and a lot of money is about to be allocated to the defensive side of the ball.

1 hour ago, EaglesAddict said:

I kinda chuckled at the Dickerson/Jurgens "younger years" comment...they're 26 and 27 years old. Age won't be a factor for them, it's moreso whether or not they can get back to 100% physically. Jurgens is concerning because it's his back and he had surgery last offseason. Will a mostly full offseason enable him to get back? Don't know. As for Dickerson, do we even know what his issue(s) are? Ankle? Knee? He made some comment last night about not even being sure he will be back to full health by the start of next season. That...uh...is not good.

Steen is just a guy. We can get by with him but we can do better for sure. And yeah, LJ will be a big question mark next year assuming he doesn't retire. So, you're right in the aspect of overall OL concerns, but we won't be replacing 4 out of 5 starters. Dickerson and Jurgens will be back...it's just a matter of if they'll be back at 100% or will we have to deal with another season of subpar play from them? I'm sure OL depth will be emphasized in the offseason.

I agree that Hurts is more of a mediocre QB when he isn't a threat to run. His running prowess is why he has succeeded like he has in the NFL thus far. Take that away and what are we left with? Mediocre-ness.

Lots of work to do this offseason, for sure. I'll leave the cap stuff up to Howie...there will indeed be big decisions looming this offseason and next offseason and a lot of money is about to be allocated to the defensive side of the ball.

I don't think people want to accept this/acknowledge it....Hurts is always who he has been and is not a pure pocket passer....the RPO and the threat of him running is what he is and he no longer wants to do that (for the life of me I cannot understand WHY he doesn't want to)....its been a few games this season he has under 200 yds passing and that is why people are always comparing him to other quarterbacks in the league....he is not an elite QB and never has been so unless he works on the mechanics and fundamentals at his position, we will be stuck with what we just saw all this season....

This team needs to find an identity again. Once they do that everything seems to take care of itself.

Not sure if the identity of 2024 is replicable though. The tush push will be gone and this Oline needs to be rebuilt.

It's always best to build off the positives. It's easy to say, "well this player was not great this year, so we shouldn't expect anything else moving forward." But the truth is, most players will get better with experience. Not everybody will be a star, but it's reasonable to expect improvement (at least up until a certain old age for players at certain positions).

Starting with the defense:

Jalen Carter had a bit of a letdown year, but he's still the most game planned for player on our defense by opposing offenses. It's reasonable to expect him to keep learning and have a bounce back season next year. Jordan Davis is returning for another year and is coming off his best season while also entering a contract year. Nolan Smith's season was derailed a bit by injury, but he was really coming around late in 2024. He still has a lot to learn, but works hard to do that. I expect an improved version of him next season. Jalyx Hunt finished this season strong and should make not re-signing Philips not that big a deal. He was the most improved player on the defense (Maybe tied with Davis). Baun was above average and put together another good season. Campbell showed real flashes filling in for Dean as a rookie. He should keep getting better and the playing time he had this season was huge. Moro Ojomo was better this year than Williams was last year (and this year). He returns for another year. Mitchell and Dean are both All Pros in their 2nd seasons. There's no reason why they can't both keep getting better. Makuba was inconsistent, but he did show flashes as a rookie. He has a lot to learn, but again, the experience he got this year was huge.

It's unsure if we'll be able to re-sign Dean. Great if we do. I love how he plays. But we drafted Campbell just in case. We have good backups in Trotter Jr. and Mondon. We're still looking for a long term answer at CB2, but maybe we'll re-sign Jackson for another season. Maybe someone like Ringo or McWilliams steps up.

We have a pretty good, young core returning on defense and a coach that knows how to utilize them. Overall, I expect a little improvement on defense next year due to all the young stars growing and playing together.

Offensively, I look forward to putting this year's injuries behind us on the O-line. It was kind of a down year for all our offensive stars. I believe they'll work hard to be better next year. We lost Johnny Wilson and BVS very early this season and both were set to have bigger roles this year. Wilson will return for sure. I suspect they'll be able to re-sign BVS and have a true FB that can block. We do have big questions at TE as we approach the start of the new league year. I don't know what to expect. Tyler Steen is being dismissed by a lot of Eagles fans, but this was only his 1st full season starting and he was our most consistent OL. He was above average, but not yet a pro bowl level player or anything. But dismissing him like he can't build off of 2024 is ignorant. His play this year and the fan's lack of appreciation reminds me of Seumalo when he was here. Steen should have a good future. The other guys should all play better --- especially if they can remain mostly healthy.

22 hours ago, Procus said:

Taking a look at this franchise, I think we are about to experience several years of a decline. Here are the factors that lead to this conclusion:

I can't agree with you more. Let's look top to bottom.

Ownership is a A+

GM and roster building is in the top 3 in the league.

Coach - 5 years , 5 playoffs, 2 super bowls, 1 super bowl win.

Coordinators - 1 is great and the other is about to be replaced

Assistant coaches - among the best at developin gtalent in the league

Difference makers with time left - Lane Johnson (1 year), Saquon (2 years), Mailata (5+ years), AJ (3 years and he's gong nowhere - check his cap hit), Smitty (4+ years), Carter (5+ years), Baun (5+ years), Mitchell (5+years) DeJean (5+ years)

Good playeres - Hurts, Jurgens, Dickerson (might be a difference maker again), Davis, Campbell (could be a difference maker), Blankenship, Mukuba, Phillips, Hunt, and Nolan Smith.

Your points -

1 - too soon to predict a long term decline. Remember "the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

2 - Howie is a master at the cap. WE'll be hard pressed to sigh other teams FA's but will sign most of our own.

3 - OK, but how far has Lamar gotten? While your main point is likely to be right, but going forward it's purely speculative. A new coordinator might increase his run. Will he get hurt? Maybe, maybe not.

Some balance -

We do have some holes aznd hard choices wwith our own FA's this year.

Cap space is mimited and we'll have to choose one of these three - Phillips, Dean, or Gowdert.

After theone big signing above - there's Blankenship, Mann, and Big Fred to worry about.

Need a CB2. Goedert, Calcaterra, and Granson are all FA's with a below average TE draft class.

Need a WR3 who will get open and actually be a part of the offense. Other teams being able to cover Dotson 1 on 1 with their worst defender bottled AJ and Smitty up.

Bottom line - it all depends on drafting well.

i enjoyed reading your post, it was though provoking and the kind of topic that's fun to discuss. Thanks

It's clear we can't keep all the talent and I believe the focus will be on the defense over the next 2-3 years. Howie will allocate most cap resources there and the draft will be all about the offense. You keep Smitty, Hurts, add a bunch of new O linemen and hope the new OC makes it work with limited talent. Your defense should give you a chance to win most games as long as the scheme is not as incompetent as it was this season.

It's really hard to take advantage of your window, that's why I'm very glad they took the opportunity last year.

We should still compete, the defense is awesome and I believe Hurts can carry the offense with the right coach in place.

The one player that the Eagles really won't be able to replace is Lane Johnson. Have we seen his final playing days in the NFL? I doubt it - but how many more productive years does he have left as a player - two? After that, then what? LJ has arguably been the best offensive lineman of his generation. You just don't plug and play and new starter into that role. With the state of the offense in flux, I think we've been spoiled with this golden era of Eagles football we've seen over the past 7-8 years.

On 1/18/2026 at 10:59 AM, Procus said:

With the state of the offense in flux, I think we've been spoiled with this golden era of Eagles football we've seen over the past 7-8 years.

I totally agree. We've become so spoiled and jaded that after 5 straight playoffs, 2 Super Bowl appearances, and a Super bowl win - we still talk about firing the coach.

North Dakota

They are one good draft and a good OC hire away from being just fine and in the running.

Really need an OC that can be in Philly for the very long haul.

7 hours ago, Passepartout said:

Really need an OC that can be in Philly for the very long haul.

We just fired one that nobody was going to poach. We actually need another one that will get a lot of interview requests after the season.

I believe the state of the franchise is in Pennsylvania.

Several years of decline. I’ve heard that after Reid got fired, Chip Kelly got fired, DP got fired, and Wentz got traded. Maybe it’s time to stop predicting this nonsense. This is the same type of mentality I hear when people try and say Luirie’s a bad owner.

On 1/26/2026 at 7:43 AM, proveagle said:

They are one good draft and a good OC hire away from being just fine and in the running.

With our Defense and DC, we are always competitive . So you are correct. We are one good draft and a good OC away from being very competitive. Howie will kick the can forever.

Not one but two OC candidates hired to fix the offense.

The coaching and offensive changes now place more of a focus on who the Eagles choose to prioritize.

The strength of this team since pretty much the turn of the century has been the OL. With the departure of Stout and all the turnover on the line that will be coming up over the next couple of years, the Eagles will need to get this right to remain a dominant team. It would not surprise me if the Eagles have a losing record for the next 2-3 years. It happens.

state of the birds

5 hours ago, scottr@pictips.com said:

state of the birds

Seems like that at the moment. But this did happen in 2020, and Howie parlayed that into a helluva run and a dominant SB championship. The team needs Howie to be Howie a third time around right now, overhaul that offense and get an elite coaching staff in place.

On 1/26/2026 at 1:43 AM, proveagle said:

They are one good draft and a good OC hire away from being just fine and in the running.

"Being just fine” is a decline. The Eagles had the best roster in the league the last two years and it wasn’t close. That can’t continue forever.

Everything OP said is correct. This is what made the Patriots dynasty so incredible. They replaced everyone except Brady, Gronk, and Wilford.

9 hours ago, SB52 said:

"Being just fine” is a decline. The Eagles had the best roster in the league the last two years and it wasn’t close. That can’t continue forever.

Everything OP said is correct. This is what made the Patriots dynasty so incredible. They replaced everyone except Brady, Gronk, and Wilford.

I said in the running. E.g. - able to compete for a SB next year. The roster is still of that quality and I have faith they will improve it again. And Fangio stayed I think the D could be even better in year 3.

Patriots were a dynasty because they had amazing top down continuity on offense and defense for 20 years. Brady on offense and Belichick on D.

I made this same comment in another thread. That kind of continuity is where dynasties come from. Reid didnt start winning SBs until he got Spags and Spags is as big a reason as anything else why they won 3 and went to 5.

I am more excited to watch next season now that they cleaned house on offense and are bringing in a massively different scheme. Should be fun.

I think I'd feel a lot better about all of this if we got 2 rings on this run, not just the 1.