March 30, 2026
Colleen Claggett/PhillyVoice
Could a reunion with OG Mekhi Becton be in store for the Eagles, who badly need iOL depth?
The Eagles have always prided themselves on having one of the sport's best offensive lines and also great o-line depth.
In 2017, they won the Super Bowl with two backups starting on the offensive line – LT Halapoulivaati Vaitai and LG Stef Wisniewski. In 2024, Fred Johnson filled in at LT for four games when Jordan Mailata went on injured reserve, and OG Tyler Steen – a 2023 third-round pick – started two games after losing the starting battle in training camp to free agent reclamation project Mekhi Becton.
The Eagles usually pad their depth with a mixture of veterans and high draft picks, but right now, they have neither for an interior offensive line that declined rapidly last year. C Cam Jurgens struggled coming off back surgery and LG Landon Dickerson underwent two separate knee surgeries after the Super Bowl and also struggled to play well and stay healthy.
The backups on the inside right now are second-year center Drew Kendall, a 2025 fifth-round pick who did not reach 100 snaps as a rookie; Jake Majors, an undrafted rookie from Texas who spent most of 2025 on the practice squad; and Willie Lampkin, a 5-foot-11 guard/center who was also an undrafted free agent and didn't play a single snap last season.
It's safe to say the Eagles will be adding to this position, both in the draft and in late free agency.
Here are the best remaining free-agent interior OL who'd be good fits for the Eagles:
A former Bears second-round pick, Daniels has started almost every game he's played in throughout his eight-year career and should be too good for this list, but he's been massively injury-prone. He played one game with Miami last year after signing a three-year, $24 million deal and then tearing his pec in the opener. He was released in February. In 2024, after signing a three-year deal with the Steelers, he suffered a torn Achilles in Week 4. In 2020, he played just five games before tearing a pec. He has played left guard, right guard and center. He's a good player and just 28 but because of his injury history might not find a starting job. The Eagles could be an ideal spot for Daniels to resurrect his career, especially with the shaky health status of Dickerson and Jurgens. Daniels would probably get on the field sooner than later. Before free agency started, our Jimmy Kempski wrote about Daniels as someone who'd make sense for the Eagles.
The Eagles like backups who can play multiple positions. Van Roten, the pride of UPenn, has played guard and center throughout his 14-year career (with a few emergency snaps also at OT). The 36-year-old is a true overachiever, an undrafted free agent and undersized lineman who has started 105 of the 144 games he's played in, along with four career playoff games. He's not a mauling road grader like most Eagles interior linemen, but with the new offense there could be an emphasis on smaller, more mobile linemen. He was the 19th-highest-rated guard in pass blocking last year of any guard who played at least 800 snaps, per PFF.
Cappa, 31, is an eight-year vet who was a third-round pick of the Buccaneers and became a starter by his second year. He was on the Bucs team that won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady in 2020 but didn't play in the postseason because of an ankle fracture. He started all 19 games, playoffs included, for the Bucs in 2021 and signed a deal in the offseason with the Bengals but missed Cincinnati's postseason run to the AFC title game because of an ankle injury. His play declined in 2024 and he was released after the season. Last year, he signed with the Raiders and started eight games. For his career, Cappa has mostly played right guard but last year played more than 300 snaps at center. He has 104 career starts and has played in three postseason games. That's good experience for a backup.
A nine-year veteran, Patrick has played center and guard. He played in Green Bay under HC Matt LaFleur – the coaching mentor for new Eagles OC Sean Mannion – from 2019-2021, and in 2024 with the Saints he played for OC Klint Kubiak, which gives him plenty of experience in the kind of scheme that Mannion is expected to implement into the Eagles' playbook. Patrick has started 65 career games for four different NFL teams. He has played in five postseason games, starting three of them. But he's also been on injured reserve in three of the past four seasons. At this stage, he's an ideal one-year backup who has experience at multiple spots and scheme familiarity.
Christensen is only 29 and has started 35 of his 59 career games for the Panthers, who drafted him in the third round out of BYU in 2021. He has played right guard, left guard, left tackle and center. He has also dealt with injuries, including a biceps tear, broken ankle, and torn Achilles. His only year as a full-time starter was 2022 although he was supposed to start in 2023 before the biceps tear in Week 1 ended his season. You could do much worse for a backup and he'll only be 30 in September.
The Eagles could be moving away from maulers and more toward athletic linemen, but they did re-sign backup OT Fred Johnson and maybe lightning can strike twice again with Becton. For those with short memories, the mammoth Becton was the 11th overall pick in 2020 by the Jets and GM Joe Douglas to be a cornerstone left tackle but struggled with his weight and conditioning and started just 30 games in four seasons before being cut. The Eagles inked him to a one-year deal after the 2024 draft and worked him at guard. He won the starting RG job and helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl, then signed a two-year deal with the Chargers but struggled again and was released after one season. Maybe he's not an ideal fit anymore, but he's available and played his best football for the Eagles. He could be signed on another cheap prove-it deal.
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