15 minutes ago, Texas Eagle said:

Philly sports dark era is here. No light at the end of the tunnel for any team really.

4 minutes ago, greendestiny27 said:

Doesn't feel like this is rock bottom at all either. Feels like we just started the tumble and there's a lot more falling that's going to happen. 

7 minutes ago, greendestiny27 said:

If AJ gets traded, give me more quality picks in 27'. We have enough in this draft and it's not the strongest either. Start to load up on the 27' draft. Maybe a team like NE, Balt etc would be more willing to give up a 1st in 27' rather than this year. Most of the smoke was AJ won't fetch a 1st but maybe they'd be more willing to give that up in 27. If it's a 2nd in 26' I wouldn't be happy with that at all. If you have to sweeten the deal by throwing in a day 3 pick to make the 1st happen in 27' so be it.

I feel like this would be more likely anyways, just with how his contract is structured. I think they will agree to a trade in principle, but won’t have it go through until June 1. Which I tend to think they would value a first round pick in 2027 over a lesser round pick in 2026. Furthermore, a team like buffalo who reportedly was willing to give up a first round pick for waddle in 2027, I could see them going to the Eagles and offering that same type of deal.

39 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I wouldn't say they completely blew it. This core team took them to 2 SB's and won 1. Not a dynasty, but that's absolutely incredible. Better than the 2017 group and on par with the Rollins/Utley/Howard Phillies.

Now...I do think the party is over. But on the bright side, this is when Howie really shines.

I think Mailata, even at 29...as an OL may have a longer runway. Jurgens (and even Dickerson) may show another spark, although I wouldn't bank on it. Devonta Smith has the potential to age quite well with his style of play.

Lane, Barkley, AJ, Hurts, Baun are all foundational players that, IMO, are just incompatible with the future of this team given the new runway to success. Doesn't mean you trade/cut them now due to obvious cap issues...but they just shouldn't factor into any plans whatsoever.

No, not completely blew it when you look at it as a whole, but I think last year and 2026 had the potential for that dynasty. Just look at the current SB matchup. The Eagles SHOULD have rolled to a 2nd straight Lombardi, but they completely misplayed every move since last year.

Agree that none of those players should be foundation players for the next era. It's why I'm so bullish on Dean. I think Dean (despite his injuries) and Campbell would be a tremendous duo. It's why I'm extending Tank Bigsby this offseason if he's willing. I also agree with Mailata and DeVonta, but just pointing out they aren't young anymore. Jurgens coming back 100% healthy could be one of the biggest things to happen for 2026. He WAS a top center in 2024.

I wasn't trying to be doom and gloom, just more realistic about where the team is from an age standpoint and how some decisions could and should have been different.

52 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

It seems like it could be but what's eye opening is how fast time is flying. What felt like a young team is suddenly a team aging out of their prime. Just look at the offense. I see A LOT of question marks and guys on the back end of their prime. A transition year just ages them more

Lane will be 36 if he comes back

Saquon turns 29 in 2 days

Mailata will be 29 in 2 months

AJ Brown, if back 29 in June

Dickerson, if back turns 28 when the season starts.

Jalen turns 28 in August

Cam Jurgens will be 27

DeVonta is 27

Tyler Steen will be 26 for the season. They youngest piece of the puzzle is the worst of the bunch.

No TE, WR3 currently signed.

The core of this team was just entering their prime for Super Bowl LVII and hit their prime for SB LIX and 2025 was the year to really take advantage of players at their peak performance.

The Eagles completely blew it. It started with the we can't sign anyone in the offseason and ended with the KP mess. I know sustained success is great, but when you had a roster like the Eagles had coming off the SB win, it might have been smarter to go all in for 2025 and 2026, even if it puts you in cap hell to make tough decisions a few years down the road.

They could have brough back some combination of Becton, Isaiah Rodgers, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams rather than letting them all walk. Hell Rodgers and Becton could have been brought back without messing too much with the Eagles cap.

While they've built an incredible defense via the draft, Howie has been piss poor at keeping the cupboard full on offense. They have no depth behind the bloated salaries of the starters. They've ignored TE so much that there's not a single TE under contract.

Now we're looking at another offseason of having to watch good players walk. 6 starters, 8 if you want to count WR3 and Big Fred starring half the season and a few key contributors are UFA.

Reed Blankenship, Jaelan Phillips, Nakobe Dean, Adoree Jackson, Dallas Goedert, Braden Mann, Jahan Dotson, Fred Johnson, Brett Toth and even Grant Calcaterra. If they aren't brough back, they have to be replaced. Who is getting replaced with an upgrade? Maybe CB2, WR3?

If they re-sign Jaelan Phillips, they might as well have just kept Josh Sweat. Phillips is projected to potentially get between $70-80 million over 3-4 years.

Should have just given Sweat his $74 million in return for 12 sacks and 4 FF. You get top production from a home grown guy and you save the 3rd round pick you dealt for Phillips.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but when you take a step back and look at the overall big picture, it's easy to say they EFFED UP big time.

The cap is real…

23 hours ago, NYEagle said:

I've actually stated that it is very hard to do this, that between the NFL intentionally making it difficult with lowering draft picks based upon record, scheduling (playing a harder schedule), the Salary Cap (basically making it impossible to keep your best players over time), the refs, injuries, etc....it is REALLY HARD.

What makes it harder though is when Sirianni not once, but twice was allowed to put incompetent OC's in place in Brian Johnson and Kevin Patullo. It is hard enough to win a Super Bowl, I don't need my f'ing head coach making it near impossible with absolutely asinine OC hiring decisions.

I'm not really sure exactly how much Sirianni has been involved in the coordinator picks. Ultimately the entire FO is onboard with the decision. When a team loses coaches due to poaching after a successful, winning season, it's very common to promote from within to keep stability and familiarity. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. After 2022, we promoted Brian Johnson. He may have been a little green at the time, but he wasn't terrible. But we went outside the franchise and hired Desai as DC and Patricia as whatever that was, instead of promoting Dennard Wilson and the defense completely fell off a cliff.

Our offense obviously didn't perform up to expectations last season and changes needed to be made. I don't think this all was the fault of KP, but he's the scapegoat for now. I put just as much blame on the player leaders (team captains) on the offense for allowing distractions to affect gametime attitudes. As a coach, you can have great talent to work with, but if you have players that aren't happy after wins, you'll find yourself trying to appease people instead of what's important --- or your players will do that on their own.

Maybe KP ends up as the oline coach since he knows so much better than Stoutland.

Kind of sucks from a cap perspective that if a player retires you still have to pay out their money.

I still feel like Lurie and Howie are hoping Mannion grows into the hc eventually. They would have been ahead of his projection and can keep him here and wouldn't have to worry about losing him.

5 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Maybe KP ends up as the oline coach since he knows so much better than Stoutland.

That is evidence of just how bad Nick's judgement is letting KP stay in place and destroying things with Stout.

Looking back at last year, Howie wasn’t great but letting guys like Sweat and Williams walk was a no-brainer. As good as Williams has been, the Eagles had to save some money for future contracts with Carter, DeJean, Mitchell. Isaiah Rodgers was definitely a Miss, although somehow Adoree Jackson turned out to be serviceable. Baun was always the right guy to keep with Dean hurt. The NFL lacks great LBs. You don’t let them leave.

Nolan Smith unfortunately couldn’t build on his breakout playoffs and got hurt again, leading to the Phillips trade. Hunt took the leap quicker than expected. Ojomo played well enough as a rusher that the Williams loss was somewhat mitigated. Remember Williams got an insane contract at the time. Credit to him for proving to be worth it. Mukuba was starting to come along until Sydney Brown went full Sydney Brown.

Where Howie stunk was in FA/draft at acquiring a real backup swing tackle. He missed every draft target and Lamm was a dried up husk when he got here. He signed Harrison Bryant at TE, and promptly traded away the only backup capable of blocking a little for Metchie, who he traded away for another useless player in Michael Carter. Alexander was a terrible deal. He was done physically anyway, putting aside his mental issues.

Kempski thinks Blankenship is the most likely Eagle to leave. Which is interesting because I think Reed is the most likely Eagle to stay. He thinks Dean could stay. Kempski is alone in those ones, most other beats think Reed stays and Dean is gone. He also thinks Brown is gone.

McLane has been one of the Eagles beats who thinks Brown stays.

Battle of the beats.

5 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Looking back at last year, Howie wasn’t great but letting guys like Sweat and Williams walk was a no-brainer. As good as Williams has been, the Eagles had to save some money for future contracts with Carter, DeJean, Mitchell. Isaiah Rodgers was definitely a Miss, although somehow Adoree Jackson turned out to be serviceable. Baun was always the right guy to keep with Dean hurt. The NFL lacks great LBs. You don’t let them leave.

Nolan Smith unfortunately couldn’t build on his breakout playoffs and got hurt again, leading to the Phillips trade. Hunt took the leap quicker than expected. Ojomo played well enough as a rusher that the Williams loss was somewhat mitigated. Remember Williams got an insane contract at the time. Credit to him for proving to be worth it. Mukuba was starting to come along until Sydney Brown went full Sydney Brown.

Where Howie stunk was in FA/draft at acquiring a real backup swing tackle. He missed every draft target and Lamm was a dried up husk when he got here. He signed Harrison Bryant at TE, and promptly traded away the only backup capable of blocking a little for Metchie, who he traded away for another useless player in Michael Carter. Alexander was a terrible deal. He was done physically anyway, putting aside his mental issues.

If I'm Howie I'm not in a rush to extend Davis or Carter after Cam and Dickerson. Let them play this year and prove they can be motivated and Carter won't do dumb stuff.

Just now, Sack that QB said:

Kempski thinks Blankenship is the most likely Eagle to leave. Which is interesting because I think Reed is the most likely Eagle to stay. He thinks Dean could stay. Kempski is alone in those ones, most other beats think Reed stays and Dean is gone. He also thinks Brown is gone.

McLane has been one of the Eagles beats who thinks Brown stays.

Battle of the beats.

If Dickerson retires I don't see how they eat Brown's cap hit as well. What a nightmare. Lane will add more.

Damn right. Nick may have ended his career as well with his stupidly. How many of us said this over and over all season yet the clown kept playing him. Lurie where are you? How much is enough?

2 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

If Dickerson retires I don't see how they eat Brown's cap hit as well. What a nightmare. Lane will add more.

Yep. Those funky contracts have a sting in their tail. Howie better hope the cap jumps again next year.

3 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Kempski thinks Blankenship is the most likely Eagle to leave. Which is interesting because I think Reed is the most likely Eagle to stay. He thinks Dean could stay. Kempski is alone in those ones, most other beats think Reed stays and Dean is gone. He also thinks Brown is gone.

McLane has been one of the Eagles beats who thinks Brown stays.

Battle of the beats.

I made the argument with Blankenship that it is a good free agent class at safety. Add on they tried to acquire Justin Reid in free agency last year. They might think it’s better to just upgrade with the money rather than just pay Blankenship.

As for Dean, I find it curious as to what kempski‘s reasonings were. But I made the hypothetical which I don’t think is very likely (think it’s like a 1% chance) that the eagles long-term thinking is baun’s last year here. And they’re going to trade him after 2026 (manageable to do so) that if they signed Dean, they could have Dean and Campbell as their guys going in 2027 and beyond. I still think he’s 99% gone.

Just now, Diehardfan said:

Dam right. Nick may have ended his career as well with his stupidly. How many of us said this over and over all season yet the clown kept playing him. Lurie where are you? How much is enough?

That's more on Howie to me. Where was he & Jeff last year? Hanging out on his yacht unavailable? This is unbelievable to me that this took place and his career is actually in jeopardy now or severely hampered.

1 minute ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I made the argument with Blankenship that it is a good free agent class at safety. Add on they tried to acquire Justin Reid in free agency last year. They might think it’s better to just upgrade with the money rather than just pay Blankenship.

As for Dean, I find it curious as to what kempski‘s reasonings were. But I made the hypothetical which I don’t think is very likely (think it’s like a 1% chance) that the eagle long-term thing this is baun’s last year here. And they’re going to trade him after 2026 (manageable to do so) that if they signed Dean, they could have Dean and Campbell as their guys going in 2027 and beyond. I still think he’s 99% gone.

He said Fangio absolutely loves Dean, he's the leader of the defense, and the Eagles think he's a better player than Campbell and they don't like to let homegrown players leave the building.

Also and this is me interjecting Baun took a step back in 2025 and he's approaching 30. I think Dean probably leaves but I think there's a better chance he stays than some people. Some think it's a lock he's gone. I don't.

8 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

If I'm Howie I'm not in a rush to extend Davis or Carter after Cam and Dickerson. Let them play this year and prove they can be motivated and Carter won't do dumb stuff.

I find it hard to believe that the Eagles are not going to extend Jordan Davis. He’s playing on his fifth year option so if you wait to pay him and he plays as well as he did this year, you’re gonna have a Milton Williams situation on your hands. I kind of think his makes sense to get done now. Carter, you can simply wait because he still has the fifth year option after this year.

I'm pretty much out on Reed but wouldn't hate an extension. Great guy and all that but the lack of athleticism hurts too much for me. It's a pretty decent safety class, I'd bring in another one on day 2. I'd love Downs but that's a pipe dream.

Just now, Sack that QB said:

He said Fangio absolutely loves Dean, he's the leader of the defense, and the Eagles think he's a better player than Campbell and they don't like to let homegrown players leave the building.

Also and this is me interjecting Baun took a step back in 2025 and he's approaching 30. I think Dean probably leaves but I think there's a better chance he stays than some people. Some think it's a lock he's gone. I don't.

My case for them keeping Dean and saying was baun is gonna be 30 at the end of 2026 season going on 31. He has one year left on his contract at that point. There is 9 1/2 million in dead money but they save around 2 million against the cap if they trade him pre June 1 2027. Doubtful but the Eagles might consider trading him the last year’s contract when he’s probably gonna want an extension. And he probably still have at least some sort of value that they could get back in draft. Meanwhile, Dean is still young so if you’re gonna overpay at the position for a year and then move off of baun in 2027 it does make some sense to keep dean and Campbell together for long term.

I still think Dean is gonna get overpaid in free agency so it is still very unlikely to me.

10 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Damn right. Nick may have ended his career as well with his stupidly. How many of us said this over and over all season yet the clown kept playing him. Lurie where are you? How much is enough?

The guy was dancing around his living room last week - there's pain and there's injury. From what I heard, Landon is prideful to the point of arrogance - perhaps he's not accustomed to making excuses for poor play, hence the drama.

The odd thing about the McLane episode is he led off the episode saying he talked to a bunch of the Eagles OL who are out there at the Super Bowl and they all said they're healthy and feeling good. Then he says Dickerson could retire later in the episode.

4 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

The odd thing about the McLane episode is he led off the episode saying he talked to a bunch of the Eagles OL who are out there at the Super Bowl and they all said they're healthy and feeling good. Then he says Dickerson could retire later in the episode.

Yeah, that’s the part that was confusing to me in that podcast. Because he said that, but then he also said lane is still dealing with his foot issue and he’s working as hard as to get back to feeling 100%. There was some contradictory info that he said during that podcast in terms of OL

5 minutes ago, Waiting4Someday said:

The guy was dancing around his living room last week - there's pain and there's injury. From what I heard, Landon is prideful to the point of arrogance - perhaps he's not accustomed to making excuses for poor play, hence the drama.

Nothing more chastening than doing film review and seeing how much physically you've deteriorated in a few years. All of our egos would take a hit there

10 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Gronk and AP are likely first ballot. I doubt Roethlisberger is. Sherman eventually but he’ll wait. The rest, meh.

AP was great but half of his career was actually mediocre