September 06, 2026
Philadelphia Eagles training camp is in the books, and the start of the NFL season is only six days away, so let's do a mailbag or two, shall we? Thanks as always for doing half the work for me. This is Part II of a two-part mailbag. Part I here.
Question from @AdamMillis: Who’s a backup right now that could end up starting by the end of the season? Jeremiah Trotter comes to mind first.
I think that there's an argument that Trotter is a better player, right now, because he has had more time in the scheme, he understands where he needs to be, he can anticipate where the ball is going, and he has Vic Fangio's trust.
However, if he is better, it's marginal at best. Jihaad Campbell is a far more gifted player in terms of size and athleticism and the only way he is going to get better is if he plays. Their respective ceilings aren't close. Campbell has All-Pro potential. Trotter does not. So Campbell (rightfully) is going to play.
If Campbell is just bad for some reason and he is making losing plays, could they make a switch? Sure, but I think they'll be patient there, and in my opinion Campbell played well enough as a rookie that there's little reason to anticipate that he'll falter.
The spot that I would look at is LG. If Landon Dickerson gets banged up again like he did in 2025 and his body simply won't cooperate, I do think it's possible that a fresh Drew Kendall could fill in and be a better player.
But also, if any of the three starting interior linemen go down, Kendall will be the first guy off the bench. He's easily the top backup candidate to start games this season.
Question from @theronlongley (via Bluesky): I'll admit, somewhat surprised that Brandon Graham wasn't invited to re-join the team this summer and there hasn't been much chatter. I believe he said if there was a chance to re-join the team this year, for him it would have to start in training camp. Jimmy's thoughts?
I thought BG was a quality player for the Eagles last year for the 10 games he played after coming out of retirement. He was a productive enough role player, making eight tackles (two for loss), and three sacks. He also filled in at times on the interior when the Eagles were thin there due to injury, and he played reasonably well. I think the Eagles also really valued his positive attitude in the locker room.
However, he only played 120 snaps, or 12 per game. And you're just not going to pay those types of guys much money.
My understanding is that the Eagles made an offer, but it was near the veteran minimum. I don't think BG is trying to break the bank by any stretch, but he also doesn't want to play for veteran minimum-like money. So I think that's where the impasse is. BG said during the summer that if he were going to play this year, he would have liked to been able to ramp his body up in training camp.
I don't necessarily think that there's a zero percent chance that he'll back, even if it's not on his terms. But the Eagles do seem to feel OK about their D-line depth, so I think it would take some combination of injuries for that to happen.
Question from @Footba11Joe (via Bluesky): Would you expect Tanner McKee to get a contract at a backup or QB-competition level next year on the open market? Would that fetch a third-round comp pick? If so, is that the starting bid for any trade?
If we just fast-forwarded to free agency with every player on the roster having the exact same value that they have right now, McKee wouldn't get a contract anywhere remotely close to the third-round comp pick level. I think he could get someone to give him $5-10 million, somewhere in that range. We'll see if he has to play during the season, and if that changes his value.
But, one weird positive to tanking McKee's value this offseason if that if the Eagles truly like him as they have repeatedly said they do, then they might be able to retain him themselves at a much cheaper cost. (Of course, if I were McKee, I'd be eager to see if another team enthusiastically threw their support behind me, since the Eagles decided that I'm not definitively better than a soon-to-be 39-year-old Andy Dalton.)
Question from @SkullCowBird: In years past, do any other “too stubborn to cut” candidates similar to Andy Dalton come to mind? How’d they end up?
Back in 2016, Eric Rowe was not going to stick on the Eagles' roster. He was a Chip Kelly pick who had a disappointing rookie season, and he was not the profile of corner that new DC Jim Schwartz preferred. The Eagles kept Rowe through final cuts, and were able to trade him to the Patriots for a 2018 fourth-round pick.
In that instance, keeping Rowe through cuts made sense. He was still only 22, heading into his second season, and he had intriguing physical traits. He had value. In the case of Dalton, I'm not sure who exactly will want him. We'll see.
Question from @RickP25057744: Who’s your bet to lead the team in interceptions this year?
Playing alongside Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, Riq Woolen is going to see a lot of targets come his way this season. On that point alone, I'd like his chances of leading the team in INTs. But I also thought he showed a knack for reading routes, making plays on the ball, and then finishing when he got opportunities to make big plays.
Question from @fritztastic (via Bluesky): How are the Eagles only 5.5-point favorites over Washington? In Philly! They look terrible. Or do you think we're in for a season of 17-13 wins all year long? Dominant defense, just enough offense.
I've actually seen it some places at 4.5. Lines tend to be very low the first week of the season, but, still, I don't understand it either. That team is not only very bad, but they're also going to be missing the best player on their team (Laremy Tunsil), their top cornerback (Trey Amos), one of their best edge defenders (Dorance Armstrong), and some other contributors.
Question from @RonJAdams: Who is the favorite to return punts?
It's still Britain Covey. I expect him to be a gameday callup from the practice squad.
Question from @dpomerantz (via Bluesky): Curious who will replace Lane Johnson as captain when he retires next year? Quinyon, Jalen Carter or Coop?
Fangio loves Mitchell, and the way that he works on and off the field. If I were creating odds, he'd be the favorite.
Question from @SteakKingNFL: If there was a royal rumble of all Eagles reporters who comes out with the belt, excluding BLG?
I think the obvious strategy would be to team up on BLG and just get him out first, like they used to do with Andre the Giant back in the day. I'd probably go with Andrew DiCecco. He's the strongest of the beats.
Question from @Infante54: What’s the worst butchering of your last name?
My name isn't hard. Kemp-ski. Pretty simple! I'm not one of these other Polish guys with the super long consonant-laden "-ski" names.
But I had this one college professor, who taught English no less, who would be taking attendance and he'd be like, "James Kempesti?" Like, Kem-pess-tee. Bitch, where you seeing a "t" in my name?
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