5 Eagles thoughts: Is there any reason they need to add a safety immediately?

With minicamp two weeks away, some thoughts about the Eagles and the state of their current roster and front office.

By Geoff Mosher
PhillyVoice Staff

Jimmy/for PhillyVoice

The Eagles need a safety – but do they need him now?

Eagles minicamp is a little more than two weeks away, and even then, it's voluntary and somewhat experimental. The first round of OTAs will be May 26-27.

Last year, Cooper DeJean took reps at outside cornerback during the initial OTAs, which was a fun potential position-switch storyline for late May.

Looking back, maybe it should've been a bigger deal that C Cam Jurgens and LG Landon Dickerson were sideline spectators in the spring, with each coming off surgeries. 

Who knows what the Eagles have in store for this year's spring camps. But here are some thoughts about the current state of the roster:

Why haven't they signed another safety?

The Eagles are still without a legit starting safety opposite second-year pro Andrew Mukuba, who only played 10 games last year. They have a plan. Howie Roseman has said many times this offseason that he will continue to add there in the coming months, even after the draft.

For Roseman, that usually means a bargain free-agent signing, a trade or both. But there's really no reason to rush.

At this point, there's no knock-your-socks-off free agent on the market who has "automatic starter" written all over him, maybe except Donovan Wilson. Any team that might have an excess at any position will want to get through OTAs and most of training camp first to make sure they're ready to move on from someone.

If the Eagles don't bring in a safety before the start of OTAs, that will enable more reps for in-house candidates, including Michael Carter II, rookie Cole Wisniewski, and second-year pro Brandon Johnson. They can also get DeJean some work there as they continue to figure out his long-term future.

It would still be a shock, to me at least, if they entered Week 1 with Marcus Epps starting alongside Mukuba.

Year 3 is big for Will Shipley

Year 3 is always an important season for Eagles draft picks. They become eligible for an extension after it, and those who play well in it are often rewarded for it.

You can count on the first three draft picks from 2024 – Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and Jalyx Hunt – to get extensions next offseason unless any of them suffers a major injury or just completely falls off, which appears very unlikely. At the very least, Mitchell will have his fifth-year option picked up.

What about Will Shipley?

The 2024 fourth-round pick took a slight step back in 2025, which was hard because he didn't exactly fill up the stat sheet as a rookie. Here's a look at Shipley's first two seasons:

Shipley having about half as many carries in his second season and just five more receptions really didn't move the needle, although he did become the primary kick returner and averaged about 27 yards per return on 29 returns.

With Saquon Barkley getting so many of the team's total RB touches, it was hard for Shipley – and even for No. 2 Tank Bigsby – to find their niche in the offense. But maybe Sean Mannion's new offensive scheme can benefit Shipley's skill set. Shipley has some explosion in him, and when he came out of Clemson the Eagles believed he had pass-catching upside.

If Mannion's new run schemes can get Shipley bounced to the outside a little more, and if the pass offense can involve him on third downs, there could an interesting role for Shipley in 2026 that there hasn't been in his first two seasons. 

OL jobs up for grabs

By the time training camp rolls around, most starting jobs and even most key backup jobs have been decided.

But this spring and summer should offer some fun and fierce competition on the offensive line. We know who the starters are, but the backups are veteran Fred Johnson and a bevy of draft picks over the past two years who'll be duking it out to determine the pecking order.

The most interesting battles will be on the interior. Second-year pro Drew Kendall, a 2025 fifth-round pick, only played 80 snaps last year – most of them in the "resting starters" season finale – but fared well and is the lead candidate to be the top backup center, but can he also be the top right/left guard off the bench? He has almost no experience there and has the body type of a true center.

Given the injury history of Dickerson, backup guard is an important spot. The only other candidates currently on the roster are Willie Lampkin, who was claimed off waiver last year while injured and didn't play a single snap; sixth-round rookie Micah Morris; the massive 340-pound Hollin Pierce; and 2025 practice squad center Jake Majors.

Lampkin, who was initially an undrafted free agent signed by the Rams, is only 5-foot-9 and 290 pounds – undersized even for center, let alone guard. Morris has great guard size at 334 pounds but was only a one-year starter at Georgia. Pierce, an Eagles undrafted free agent last year from Rutgers, might actually be too big for guard – he's 6-foot-8, 341 pounds, and played tackle in college – ya know, like most football players at that size. Majors, a center at Texas, is a long shot to even make the 53.

If there's a position on offense likely to see a veteran addition between now and the season, it's interior o-line.

Name to know

The Eagles last week announced a slew of front-office promotions and hires, the most notable being Adam Berry's promotion to assistant general manager to replace Alec Halaby, who left to pursue other opportunities, and the addition of former Jets GM Mike Maccagnan.

Most front-office executives are nameless, faceless people to the public unless they're a former GM, like Maccagnan and Joe Douglas. Most fans are unfamiliar with roles and backgrounds for team personnel executives.

One name to be familiar with is Phil Bhaya, a Haddonfield native and riser through the chain. The Eagles just promoted him to vice president of player personnel, a pretty big title. 

League sources familiar with the Eagles have told me for a few years that Bhaya is viewed in the building as a major asset to the scouting department, known for being organized and having strong communication skills.

Bhaya joined the team in 2014 as a scouting assistant and became a college scout in 2016, eventually taking over the Northeast region by 2020 and Southeast by 2021 before becoming director of draft management and then director of college scouting.

Cart before the horse?

There seems to be some strange obsession already with Eagles rookie QB Cole Payton.

Ever since the Eagles drafted him in the fifth round, he's been quite the topic of conversation for fans and media. Last week, WIP added a new layer of hype for the North Dakota State standout:

Let's all take a deep breath before we put Payton in Canton. Yes, he'll make the 53. Yes, he has incredible athleticism that could help him get on the field in some capacity as a rookie, maybe.

But there's a reason his comp is Taysom Hill and not other actual athletic starting QBs. He's very unrefined and needs a lot of work on his technique, carriage point and footwork. As noted previously, plenty of NFL teams wondered if he would fare better at an entirely different position.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/5-eagles-thoughts-safety-will-shipley-offensive-linemen-cole-payton-scouting-department-nfl-ota-training-camp/

Yeah I mean it’s May there’s no need to rush to sign a Safety. Give the reps to the rookies and I doubt there’s a veteran out there that wants to sign with a team before TC anyway. But they do need to add a good Safety at some point and in fact they may need 2 (depending on how the younger guys look).

How about AJ to the Chargers for Derwin James and a 2nd

Howie knows that there are going to be some cuts over the next 3 months that can fill the safety position.....and there may he even some trade possibilities. There's a lot of time and NFL roster changes coming up.

Will Shipley is an average RB.....Again, there are going to be some guys available over the next 3 months. However, Shipley is cheap and can fill the role.

I'm really concerned about the offensive line and OL depth. Dickerson and Jurgens have to prove they are healthy. Johnson will eventually regress due to his age and his body. Mailata needs to refocus but may have hit his developmental peak. And with Stoutland gone, I'm concerned how well the younger guys will develop. Dissing Stoutland causing him to resign was one of the stupidest things this team has done in a long time. The new OL coach, Chris Kuper is relatively unproven and he has a huge job ahead of him.

And any young QB has to have time to develop but also get some playing time. Cole Payton has to make big strides this year because McKee is leaving next year in free agency and Dalton is just an insurance policy......We have to see what Hurts and Mannion do together this year, but the only way he loses his job is if he gets hurt.

I think defensively, they are going to be dangerous....a top 5 unit...

Offensively, they have all the skill players. But the OL and the new OC leave tons of questions