Just looking for things to talk about until FA starts and draft season starts in full force.

For a team and HC that has always emphasized "being together" and having a great team culture, what must have been happening behind the scenes this year that we'll never know about? Obviously the AJ drama was a big thing as was KP/Siri designing one of the most putrid offenses you'll ever see at the NFL level.

But what could have been very telling was the 2 outside players we acquired.

We signed Za'Darius Smith on Sept 11 and at the time he signed, he said things like he had other teams calling but chose the Eagles because of the culture and being winners, etc....genuinely sounded excited to be joining the team. One month later he decides to retire.

Traded for Jaire Alexander on Nov 1 and he too sounded excited to be joining the team saying things like he felt healthy, motivated and ready to bring energy to the defense. 10 days later he decides to "step away".

Did they come in from the outside and then after seeing what was going on within the organization influence their decision?

And even during the search for the OC....guys like Daboll and McDaniel weren't interested (both chose other OC jobs) and even Declan Doyle took a different OC job. What was their perception that made them not truly interested in taking the same job with us?

I'm sure it wasn't quite as bad as 2023, but all these things certainly allude to a level of dysfunction within the organization. What other signs can we point to for that? And can it be fixed? Can Sirianni get this team back on track as far as "the culture" and "being together"? What kind of effect will the new offense with Mannion impact this?

I think there’s probably multiple factors at play here to be honest.

AJ didn’t help matters but I think there were very likely others who were frustrated with the offense and the production.

We lost BG, CJGJ, and Slay during last offseason (I know BG came back) and therefore lost a lot of experience and some big locker room guys.

The offense struggled and it seemed that Sirianni got more involved in the offense. That meant he wasn’t as focused on the culture and the CEO stuff and it then suffered.

When you need an eight foot tall positivity bunny to get thru the season it probably wasn't that good.

24 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I think there’s probably multiple factors at play here to be honest.

AJ didn’t help matters but I think there were very likely others who were frustrated with the offense and the production.

We lost BG, CJGJ, and Slay during last offseason (I know BG came back) and therefore lost a lot of experience and some big locker room guys.

The offense struggled and it seemed that Sirianni got more involved in the offense. That meant he wasn’t as focused on the culture and the CEO stuff and it then suffered.

Good point and fair to wonder how much the offense's struggles impacted Sirianni's ability to maintain the culture.

Defense seems like it's on the right path. I think those were just bad coincidences

Lazy, Sloppy, Stupid

Its not at all fair to wonder about the offense because Siri caused the bad offense.

If you really need to assign 50% of his blame to also him, have fun.

The offense being bad started de domino effect. That's why it's so hard to win in the NFL, everything needs to work well for a team to have a real chance to make it to the Super Bowl.

As an outsider looking in to the Team, I don't really care about a "culture" in a Professional Sport, where there are millions of dollars being made by Coaches and Players. Go do your job to the best of your ability.

Was something "off" this past season? Maybe. Probably. That obviously can happen when existing players/coaches leave and new players/coaches come in. I'm sure it happens to all Professional Sports Teams Organizations at some point.

I had no pre-conceived expectations that they were going to repeat as SB Champs. Extremely difficult to do so. Heck I'm kinda surprised they win 11 games and made the playoffs.

1 hour ago, LacesOut said:

As an outsider looking in to the Team, I don't really care about a "culture" in a Professional Sport, where there are millions of dollars being made by Coaches and Players. Go do your job to the best of your ability.

Was something "off" this past season? Maybe. Probably. That obviously can happen when existing players/coaches leave and new players/coaches come in. I'm sure it happens to all Professional Sports Teams Organizations at some point.

I had no pre-conceived expectations that they were going to repeat as SB Champs. Extremely difficult to do so. Heck I'm kinda surprised they win 11 games and made the playoffs.

I know right even if inside you hate your coach or the person lined up next to you there is no reason to not do your job! I mean I go to work everyday with someone that 90% of the time I would love to throat punch but I still show up and do my job because I love it and it provides for my family. I can only imagine how much more effort I would put in making millions of dollars

What was happening behind the scenes? Unless a player or coach speaks out directly about any of this issues one can only speculate (and the possibilities are endless).

18 hours ago, EaglesAddict said:

Good point and fair to wonder how much the offense's struggles impacted Sirianni's ability to maintain the culture.

I guess we will never know right? But what I will say is I think it may have been a double impact right? Because Sirianni got more involved in the offense and I don’t think that’s a good thing at all.

18 hours ago, LacesOut said:

As an outsider looking in to the Team, I don't really care about a "culture" in a Professional Sport, where there are millions of dollars being made by Coaches and Players. Go do your job to the best of your ability.

Was something "off" this past season? Maybe. Probably. That obviously can happen when existing players/coaches leave and new players/coaches come in. I'm sure it happens to all Professional Sports Teams Organizations at some point.

I had no pre-conceived expectations that they were going to repeat as SB Champs. Extremely difficult to do so. Heck I'm kinda surprised they win 11 games and made the playoffs.

16 hours ago, Cheesteakitis said:

I know right even if inside you hate your coach or the person lined up next to you there is no reason to not do your job! I mean I go to work everyday with someone that 90% of the time I would love to throat punch but I still show up and do my job because I love it and it provides for my family. I can only imagine how much more effort I would put in making millions of dollars

Sometimes I think we get caught up thinking it's a professional sport and people are making millions and players/coaches should just "do their job", etc. But there is definitely something to be said about a "work environment" (i.e., culture of the place you work at).

I'm sure most of us can relate to having someone we work with being an A-Hole and you can't stand him and all that. Maybe even a couple people. But if you worked in a place where dysfunction was evident everywhere between the managers and employees, you'd want to get the F out of there as soon as possible, right? Let's say you were relatively well off financially and weren't desperate for money and you took a job somewhere that was going to pay you well. You start the job and then start noticing things and say to yourself "damn, this place if F'd up" and not what I though it was. Are you sticking around? Doubtful. That's kinda what I think happened with Alexander and Smith.

1 hour ago, EaglesAddict said:

Sometimes I think we get caught up thinking it's a professional sport and people are making millions and players/coaches should just "do their job", etc. But there is definitely something to be said about a "work environment" (i.e., culture of the place you work at).

I'm sure most of us can relate to having someone we work with being an A-Hole and you can't stand him and all that. Maybe even a couple people. But if you worked in a place where dysfunction was evident everywhere between the managers and employees, you'd want to get the F out of there as soon as possible, right? Let's say you were relatively well off financially and weren't desperate for money and you took a job somewhere that was going to pay you well. You start the job and then start noticing things and say to yourself "damn, this place if F'd up" and not what I though it was. Are you sticking around? Doubtful. That's kinda what I think happened with Alexander and Smith.

Two girls that work for me one is 51 the other is 40 and they are constantly at each other's throats... Worse work situation I've ever had to deal with in 20 yrs. I absolutely hate it and asked to be transferred multiple times. No matter what I do or say to them it goes back to them fighting like children over the dumbest sheet.

Sorry your post made me think of my situation and needed to vent lol.

1 hour ago, EaglesAddict said:

Sometimes I think we get caught up thinking it's a professional sport and people are making millions and players/coaches should just "do their job", etc. But there is definitely something to be said about a "work environment" (i.e., culture of the place you work at).

I'm sure most of us can relate to having someone we work with being an A-Hole and you can't stand him and all that. Maybe even a couple people. But if you worked in a place where dysfunction was evident everywhere between the managers and employees, you'd want to get the F out of there as soon as possible, right? Let's say you were relatively well off financially and weren't desperate for money and you took a job somewhere that was going to pay you well. You start the job and then start noticing things and say to yourself "damn, this place if F'd up" and not what I though it was. Are you sticking around? Doubtful. That's kinda what I think happened with Alexander and Smith.

On the other hand, you had Phillips come in and praise the culture. You had Graham return from retirement and you had Slay do everything in his power to get here.

We do know that there are NFL players that did not like Fangio's coaching style (see Miami). What we don't know is what led to Smith and Alexander's decisions. Alexander wasn't even around this team.

6 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Two girls that work for me one is 51 the other is 40 and they are constantly at each other's throats... Worse work situation I've ever had to deal with in 20 yrs. I absolutely hate it and asked to be transferred multiple times. No matter what I do or say to them it goes back to them fighting like children over the dumbest sheet.

Sorry your post made me think of my situation and needed to vent lol.

I hear ya! I was in management at one job a long time ago and ended up hating it for the same type of reasons...dealing with bickering employees who constantly complained about each other. Since then in my ultimate career I'm now in I've passed over management opportunities. No thanks on that shite!

32 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

On the other hand, you had Phillips come in and praise the culture. You had Graham return from retirement and you had Slay do everything in his power to get here.

We do know that there are NFL players that did not like Fangio's coaching style (see Miami). What we don't know is what led to Smith and Alexander's decisions. Alexander wasn't even around this team.

Well to be fair, BG and Slay were veterans of the team...not newbies coming in to see it for the first time. But anyway, no we have no idea what led to Smith and Alexander's decisions. But in just compiling them into the overall picture of this team in 2025, it's fair to wonder if they just saw a shiteshow and decided they didn't want to be a part of a sinking ship.

No place is perfect. I think the players that came in and retired were probably just unhappy with their new roles in general and decided to step away. The Patriots under Belichick had a number of players speak out in regard to how miserable it was, but it still didn't prevent that organization from winning 6 super bowls.

I know no workplace is perfect, and I was not insinuating that aspect. But everyone is different, everyone works for different reasons, but to me, if I could play a professional sport and make millions, I could put up with a ton of dumb ish. For a bunch of years. I would work my best and do my best, for as long as I could. Because that job and money is not lasting forever.

Hell I left a six figure job at JPMorgan Chase last summer, because I was burned out and couldn't stand the Corporate Sociopaths that I worked for.

Too each their own. Be happy. Life is not too long. 🤓😎

EaglesAddict, I think you're a jack hole and I would never want to work with, or for you.

If I had to though, can I punch you in the face every Friday at 3 pm? It would make my weekend. And it would also let you know that I can kick your fat lazy arse whenever I wanted.

😀🤣🤓

On 2/16/2026 at 4:42 PM, time2rock said:

What was happening behind the scenes? Unless a player or coach speaks out directly about any of this issues one can only speculate (and the possibilities are endless).

Speculate is what fans do best!

On 2/16/2026 at 9:12 AM, MR-CYN said:

When you need an eight foot tall positivity bunny to get thru the season it probably wasn't that good.

That was silly, and a bad look considering the circumstances. However, for background they had that bunny all season since training camp. The O line had it in another room. It was more of a joke that came out of training camp. Barkley said that week they moved it into the locker room. I don't think the team was taking it serious and drawing real inspiration from it.

On 2/16/2026 at 8:41 AM, EaglesAddict said:

But what could have been very telling was the 2 outside players we acquired.

We signed Za'Darius Smith on Sept 11 and at the time he signed, he said things like he had other teams calling but chose the Eagles because of the culture and being winners, etc....genuinely sounded excited to be joining the team. One month later he decides to retire.

Traded for Jaire Alexander on Nov 1 and he too sounded excited to be joining the team saying things like he felt healthy, motivated and ready to bring energy to the defense. 10 days later he decides to "step away".

Did they come in from the outside and then after seeing what was going on within the organization influence their decision?

And even during the search for the OC....guys like Daboll and McDaniel weren't interested (both chose other OC jobs) and even Declan Doyle took a different OC job. What was their perception that made them not truly interested in taking the same job with us?

I'm sure it wasn't quite as bad as 2023, but all these things certainly allude to a level of dysfunction within the organization. What other signs can we point to for that? And can it be fixed? Can Sirianni get this team back on track as far as "the culture" and "being together"? What kind of effect will the new offense with Mannion impact this?

It's a good point to bring up, but I don't think those 2 guys retiring were because the Eagles culture was bad. Neither player went to another team after that, so it wasn't the Eagles it was them. Smith was retired and waited to sign until after the regular season already started. The Eagles were scraping the bottom of the barrel since they were in need. They brought BG out of retirement as well. It's not like they made a splash free agent signing in March, this was a desperation move to kick the tires. The guy realized his body wasn't ready for the NFL season-long grind anymore and retired again. He didn't play somewhere else.

Alexander was cut by the Packers after a season ending injury, signed with the Ravens and only played 2 games and then they declared him a healthy scratch for 5 games. He wasn't good. This was another move to try and kick the tires for some depth.

I know brkmsn already noted this, but when Jaelen Philips was traded here (that was a more serious starter type move), he praised the culture as well. Slay and other former players still talk about how good a locker room it is. Baun re-signed here, could have got more money elsewhere. Smitty could have made a lot more money and been a #1 target for a team, but he chose to stay here. We're about to see some core defensive players sign new contracts in the next couple years. Over the years, a lot of players have joined from other teams and praised the culture.

The defensive players all season talked about how close they were, hanging out together outside of practice and things like that. The offense was a mess because of the coaching. We saw in 2023 how bad coordinators affected everyone, especially on defense. A year later and some key additions and the defense was great. The defense can absorb guys leaving from the SB team because of stability and coaching. People want to let Reed walk but he's one of the leaders and a captain. DeJean loves the team and culture and has become good friends with AJ Brown.

I think the issues this year were with Sirianni and Patullo and the offensive scheme, game plans and play calling. And the fact that they had no answers in how to fix it. That creates frustration that affects everyone. Multiple players including Mailata, Lane Johnson, AJ Brown and Hurts commented on the coaching and their frustrations. The new coaches have to come in and install a new scheme, deal with Stoutland leaving and earn the trust of the players and keep things together, have a solid process and execute coaching the offense better than last year. It may take some time to see how it goes throughout the season.

On 2/16/2026 at 9:41 AM, EaglesAddict said:

Just looking for things to talk about until FA starts and draft season starts in full force.

For a team and HC that has always emphasized "being together" and having a great team culture, what must have been happening behind the scenes this year that we'll never know about? Obviously the AJ drama was a big thing as was KP/Siri designing one of the most putrid offenses you'll ever see at the NFL level.

But what could have been very telling was the 2 outside players we acquired.

We signed Za'Darius Smith on Sept 11 and at the time he signed, he said things like he had other teams calling but chose the Eagles because of the culture and being winners, etc....genuinely sounded excited to be joining the team. One month later he decides to retire.

Traded for Jaire Alexander on Nov 1 and he too sounded excited to be joining the team saying things like he felt healthy, motivated and ready to bring energy to the defense. 10 days later he decides to "step away".

Did they come in from the outside and then after seeing what was going on within the organization influence their decision?

And even during the search for the OC....guys like Daboll and McDaniel weren't interested (both chose other OC jobs) and even Declan Doyle took a different OC job. What was their perception that made them not truly interested in taking the same job with us?

I'm sure it wasn't quite as bad as 2023, but all these things certainly allude to a level of dysfunction within the organization. What other signs can we point to for that? And can it be fixed? Can Sirianni get this team back on track as far as "the culture" and "being together"? What kind of effect will the new offense with Mannion impact this?

I don't think either of those situations had anything to do with culture. I think they came here thinking they were going to get plugged in immediately because of their name/status and Vic likely wanted them to earn their roles and not just be handed to them. But of course this is just speculation on my part (too).

11 hours ago, NOTW said:

It's a good point to bring up, but I don't think those 2 guys retiring were because the Eagles culture was bad. Neither player went to another team after that, so it wasn't the Eagles it was them. Smith was retired and waited to sign until after the regular season already started. The Eagles were scraping the bottom of the barrel since they were in need. They brought BG out of retirement as well. It's not like they made a splash free agent signing in March, this was a desperation move to kick the tires. The guy realized his body wasn't ready for the NFL season-long grind anymore and retired again. He didn't play somewhere else.

Alexander was cut by the Packers after a season ending injury, signed with the Ravens and only played 2 games and then they declared him a healthy scratch for 5 games. He wasn't good. This was another move to try and kick the tires for some depth.

I know brkmsn already noted this, but when Jaelen Philips was traded here (that was a more serious starter type move), he praised the culture as well. Slay and other former players still talk about how good a locker room it is. Baun re-signed here, could have got more money elsewhere. Smitty could have made a lot more money and been a #1 target for a team, but he chose to stay here. We're about to see some core defensive players sign new contracts in the next couple years. Over the years, a lot of players have joined from other teams and praised the culture.

The defensive players all season talked about how close they were, hanging out together outside of practice and things like that. The offense was a mess because of the coaching. We saw in 2023 how bad coordinators affected everyone, especially on defense. A year later and some key additions and the defense was great. The defense can absorb guys leaving from the SB team because of stability and coaching. People want to let Reed walk but he's one of the leaders and a captain. DeJean loves the team and culture and has become good friends with AJ Brown.

I think the issues this year were with Sirianni and Patullo and the offensive scheme, game plans and play calling. And the fact that they had no answers in how to fix it. That creates frustration that affects everyone. Multiple players including Mailata, Lane Johnson, AJ Brown and Hurts commented on the coaching and their frustrations. The new coaches have to come in and install a new scheme, deal with Stoutland leaving and earn the trust of the players and keep things together, have a solid process and execute coaching the offense better than last year. It may take some time to see how it goes throughout the season.

Neither player went to another team because they couldn't since they were under contract with the Eagles. Slay and BG are/were veterans of our culture. Phillips praised our culture upon joining the team...he didn't say that after he was here for a while. Baun resigned here coming off a Super Bowl. Smitty still would have been here under contract through last year if he didn't sign an extension. Overall, we've have had a good reputation about culture so players hear about it and mention it upon signing here...i.e., "1st day on the job excitement". The bad culture I'm talking about wasn't observed until this past season so anything that happened prior to that doesn't really count towards what I'm talking about (talking about 2025 season only and how bad things got internally).

But I agree that the bulk of our problems was the offensive scheme and play calling. I just wonder how all those problems impacted the team/organization as a whole and if there was some internal dysfunction that created one of those "the tension in the air is so thick you can cut it with a knife" type things that outside players would have been much more quick to see and being that they had no real ties, they decided to cut ties real quick.

38 minutes ago, time2rock said:

I don't think either of those situations had anything to do with culture. I think they came here thinking they were going to get plugged in immediately because of their name/status and Vic likely wanted them to earn their roles and not just be handed to them. But of course this is just speculation on my part (too).

Smith was plugged in immediately and was our sack leader when he abruptly decided to retire. Alexander would have been given a legit shot but chose not to stay around long enough. But yeah, who knows what role any team dysfunction played in their decision and we'll likely never know. I'm just looking at them as possibly symptomatic of what was happening within the team during the year. As in, if things were going well, offense and defense clicking, vibes good, winning games....Super Bowl repeat a real possibility....would they have stayed?