We're only five weeks into the 2026 NFL season, but it is already crystal clear that it is not going to be a special one for the Philadelphia Eagles. More bluntly, if you're a Birds fan, this season sucks. And, spoiler, it is only going to continue to suck.

However, Howie Roseman and the Eagles are in a position to choose their suckage path the rest of the season. 

• One is to try to compete for a division title in the craptastic NFC East, and if successful pretend that anything can happen in the playoffs. 

• The other is to maximize the value on likely soon-to-be outgoing players, and reset the roster for another long-term run.

The decision really shouldn't be all that hard. They should choose the reset.

The Eagles suck in a way that isn't likely fixable

Let's first establish how the Eagles suck this season.

To begin, as we have seen over the last decade, the Eagles have had their best seasons when their offensive line is dominant. The 2026 Eagles O-line, as currently constructed, is one of the worst in the NFL. Of course, the biggest domino to fall in the deconstruction of the line was the unexpected retirement of Lane Johnson last week.

There are all kinds of iterations of Eagles records when Johnson plays and when he doesn't. The one that I use is from 2016 on, after the Eagles fired Chip Kelly and began running a normal NFL offense. Since 2016, the Eagles are 98-43-1 (0.694) when Johnson plays, and 15-29 (0.341) when he doesn't. Whatever iteration you fancy, they're great when he plays, bad when he doesn't. They're 0-2 since he retired, and the offense has looked dysfunctional in both games.

But the offensive line's problems go well beyond the loss of Johnson. 

LG Landon Dickerson did not have a good training camp, and he had his worst game as a pro Week 1 against the Commanders. He subsequently went on injured reserve. The Eagles then moved starting C Cam Jurgens to LG, and Drew Kendall filled in at C. 

Jurgens then proceeded to play poorly at LG for three games before he reported concussion symptoms and was traded to the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile, Kendall sustained a knee injury and did not play Week 5 in London against the Jaguars.

In the Eagles' loss in London, Tyler Steen suffered a shoulder injury, but did return to the game.

The only Week 1 starting offensive lineman who was still standing at one point was Jordan Mailata, who described losing Johnson and Jurgens last week as "a week from hell."

Remember the 2020 season (4-11-1), when the Eagles had a new offensive line configuration nearly every week? Well, the 2026 season is shaping up to be a repeat of that.

Spoiler: Week 6 will bring yet another new offensive line starting five.

Everything the Eagles do is dependent on great offensive line play. Without it, they have the following issues:

• They are a running football team, and they simply can't run it. It doesn't help that Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby are currently out with injuries — and the team lost Will Shipley with a foot injury during their loss in London — but on Sunday they rushed 18 times for 22 yards.

• The scheme that Sean Mannion is trying to install must have a functioning run game in order to marry the run and the pass. Without a successful run game, all the under center stuff and the play action stuff that was promised this summer is not going to be effective. And, in fact, the Eagles' offense has been horrendous when running play action from under center in the limited times they've even tried it this season.

• Jalen Hurts has plenty of strengths, but he is not a quarterback who is going to consistently get the ball out quickly. That's just not his game. And when he does not get good protection, he is forced into a style of play that is not a strength. To Hurts' credit, despite poor line play he put the Superman cape on in wins over bad opponents Weeks 1 and 2, but that was never a sustainable way to win, which was proven over the last three losses.

• The coaching staff has not figured out enough other creative ways to mask their various issues and get the offense jumpstarted. There haven't even been hints this season that they are capable of it.

The combination of the dismantled offensive line and the ineffective scheme that relies on it is very likely not fixable.

This ain't 2024

"We're early on in this season, and our job is to continue to find out what we do best, what we don't do quite as good, and try to attack that way," Nick Sirianni said last Wednesday. "I think quickly we forget that only a mere two years ago, in 2024, we sat in the same situation, and we made some adjustments and we got on a roll. I think sometimes we conveniently forget those things."

Sirianni is trying to play the role of the calm flight attendant during severe turbulence, as he should. And certainly, if you win a Super Bowl, pointing back to adversity that the team faced during that season is a natural reaction.

But... Stop, lol. This is not 2024.

Through five games during the 2024 season, the offense had gained 1,834 yards. They were averaging 366.8 yards per game. This season through five games... 1,311 yards, or 262.2 per game. That would be 104.6 fewer yards per game.

The 2024 offensive line was intact and playing well, and the Eagles had a run game that they could hang their hat on. They at least had an identity to lean into.

Following the Eagles' Week 4 loss to the Rams, Sirianni acknowledged that the team "obviously" did not yet have an identity.

But more troubling is that it's hard to figure out anything the offense does well. There's no identity now, and no identity on the horizon.

But they can still win the NFC East!

The Cowboys are 2-3, while the Giants and Commanders just tied in hilarious fashion on Sunday. The NFC East is wide open! 🥳🎉

So what?

The Eagles are unquestionably the most successful team in the NFC the last decade. They should be hunting for Lombardi trophies, not division title banners. Since they are not capable of winning a Super Bowl this season, based on all of the above, they should let the other three loser teams in the division compete for the right to get knocked out of the playoffs in the wildcard round.

What does a "reset" mean?

The Eagles still have a very talented defense to build around, and they are going to keep the Eagles in games all season, like they did for three quarters before they ran out of gas against the Rams, and for a complete game on Sunday against the Jaguars.

The suggestion here isn't to just tank the season and tear it all down. With the right moves, the Eagles can still compete as soon as next season. They don't have to go through a multi-season downturn.

But what they should do is trade players who aren't in the team's long-term plans for valuable future assets. And they should do it now, during the season, when it's typically a seller's market.

The following players make some level of sense to be traded during the season. We'll do this in alphabetical order:

• RB Saquon Barkley: Barkley still has juice, but turns 30 in February and has an expensive contract.

• LB Zack Baun: Baun is still playing at a Pro Bowl level, but he turns 30 in December and has a big contract. The Eagles also have capable young players at linebacker.

• OG Landon Dickerson: The Eagles somehow got a second-round pick for Jurgens. Dickerson could still have value for OL-desperate teams.

• TE Dallas Goedert: Goedert is still a good receiving tight end, but he turns 32 in January and is a free agent in 2027.

• iDL Moro Ojomo: Ojomo is going to cash in on free agency in 2027, and the Eagles likely won't be able to afford him.

• EDGE Nolan Smith: Teams around the league are always looking for help on the edge, and Smith could be a very good third guy for a contender. He becomes more expensive in 2027 on his fifth-year option, and is scheduled for free agency in 2028. The Eagles already committed a lot of resources toward Jonathan Greenard, and are likely to choose Jalyx Hunt over Smith long-term.

• CB Riq Woolen: Woolen was always sort of a one-year rental for the Eagles, and he has played very well so far this season. Teams are always in the market for good corners at the trade deadline.

To be clear, we're not suggesting that the Eagles can or will trade seven players in-season. And certainly, they shouldn't trade good players just for funsies. The value in return has to be worth it, with an in-season tax tacked on. The above seven still-valuable players just make the most sense if the Eagles were to try to stockpile future assets.

The Eagles currently have eight picks in 2027, and a bonanza of picks in 2028 (currently an extra 1 and an extra 2). By adding to those drafts, they can give themselves extraordinary flexibility to rebuild an aging roster without starting from scratch.

Let's be honest: The Eagles are already kind of resetting

When the Eagles traded Jurgens last week, they somehow got second- and fifth-round picks in return. That was an incredible return on investment for a player who was struggling, though notably at a position he shouldn't be playing. He played significantly better at center in the one game that he was there.

There's a sentiment that the Eagles would have done that deal in any season, no matter how good or bad the team is, because the trade compensation was just too good.

I couldn't disagree more.

Jurgens was a second-round pick. Roseman drafted him knowing that he would sit for a year. The coaching staff then invested a lot of time and effort grooming him to be Jason Kelce's successor. That venture was successful, as Jurgens was a Pro Bowl player (legitimately in 2024, not so much in 2025), and the starting center for a Super Bowl team. They also paid him well during the 2025 offseason, even though he was recovering from back surgery.

If the Eagles really thought that they had a good chance to compete for a Super Bowl this season, it's hard to believe that they would have traded a player they clearly like for a second-round pick, especially given all their offensive line issues they are already experiencing. Second-round picks are obviously valuable, but trading a starting offensive linemen in-season is a massive departure from Roseman's and the team's M.O.

The Jurgens trade was merely the first sign that the Eagles' front office sees where this season is headed.

Conclusion

The Eagles are going to get a long look at young players like Makai Lemon, Markel Bell, Drew Kendall, Willie Lampkin, and maybe at some point Eli Stowers. They'll get to see how those guys fit in long-term.

They also have an inordinate number of players who could have substantial value to other teams around the league, but who are also probably not long for the Eagles' roster. 

But most importantly, they have a general manager in Roseman who has extreme job security and can be bold about making drastic in-season moves for long-term gains; and an owner in Jeffrey Lurie who can see the big picture and prioritizes Super Bowls over short-term mediocrity. 

An awful 2015 season helped eventually lead to the team's first Super Bowl in 2017. An awful 2020 season helped lead to a Super Bowl appearance in 2022, and another eventual championship in 2024. A disastrous 2026 season really doesn't have to be a terrible thing.

The Eagles should (continue to) sell.

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