February 04, 2026
Over the next few weeks, we'll be taking a position-by-position look at which players will likely be back with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2026, and which ones likely won't. Today we'll continue on with the wide receivers.
Regarding the polls below, they are your votes on what you think the Eagles should do, not necessarily what you think they will do. Please think of them more as approval polls for each player.
Previous "stay or go" polls
Shortly after the Eagles' 2025-2026 season concluded after bad playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, we took an in-depth look at whether or not Brown could be traded, purely from a financial perspective. The short-short version is that yes, he can. It would cause Brown's cap number in 2026 to rise substantially if traded before June 1, with less financial pain if traded thereafter. However, trading Brown would also free up a lot of cash and cap space from 2027 to 2029, which the Eagles will need to retain their many great young players on defense.
We also took an in-depth look at whether or not the team was likely to trade Brown or not, and concluded, that yes, he probably will be, based on the following points:
• He is clearly unhappy playing for the Eagles, and the Eagles have shown that they will trade players that no longer want to be here, like they did with Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz, Haason Reddick, and Bryce Huff.
• This may be the last offseason that the Eagles can get a good return for Brown in a trade, as (a) his value is only going to decrease with each passing year, and (b) there should be no shortage of interested suitors, right now.
• Ripping off the Band-Aid now will help the team retain players like Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith, etc. down the road.
Brown is arguably the best wide receiver in Eagles history, but the Eagles will not keep a player on the roster simply for cap purposes if that player doesn't want to play for the team or has become a poor fit. Go.
Smith' career stats:
| DeVonta Smith | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2021 | 64 | 916 | 14.3 | 5 |
| 2022 | 95 | 1196 | 12.6 | 7 |
| 2023 | 81 | 1066 | 13.2 | 7 |
| 2024 | 68 | 833 | 12.3 | 8 |
| 2025 | 77 | 1008 | 13.1 | 4 |
Obviously, if the Eagles do indeed trade Brown and they don't bring in some other alpha WR1, Smith would become the team's top receiver and dominate targets going forward. Ever since they traded for Brown in 2022, the Eagles have played four games in which Smith played, but Brown didn't (excluding the Week 18 "resting starters" game in 2025). Smith averaged seven catches for 97 yards in those games. He is also just a really good player and high-level competitor who feels ready to be the primary target in the Eagles' passing game.
Smith is under contract through 2028, and isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Stay.
The Eagles acquired Dotson via trade as training camp was wrapping up during the 2024 season. He basically just got a lot of cardio work in, running clear0outs all day for Brown, Smith, and Dallas Goedert. Dotson did make some plays in the playoffs, though. He caught a TD pass on the opening drive against the Packers, and he saved his biggest play of the season for the Super Bowl, a deep pass that he hauled in inside the 1, that eventually became seven points.
During his first season with the Eagles in 2024, Dotson did not really get the opportunity to build trust and rapport with Jalen Hurts before the start of the season. Perhaps a full offseason with the team would spur Hurts to give him more looks?
Nope! His usage basically remained the same:
| Jahan Dotson | Targets | Rec | Yards | TD |
| 2024 | 33 | 19 | 216 | 0 |
| 2025 | 36 | 18 | 262 | 1 |
The Eagles can do better if they part with Dotson, and maybe so can Dotson on another team. Go.
Cooper had a good training camp after the team signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent. He appeared in 13 games, and made nine receptions for 92 yards on 11 targets, while playing something of a "dirty work" role in the Eagles offense after Johnny Wilson was lost for the season with an injury.
However, Cooper's most notable moment of the season was was when he was called for a dumb taunting penalty against the Commanders that knocked the Eagles out of a goal-to-go situation, with a Tanner McKee INT following thereafter. That penalty may have cost the Eagles the 2 seed (not that it would have mattered).
Cooper will have a chance to be on the 2026 roster as well, but he'll still have to earn his way on. Back in camp.
For some odd reason the Eagles played guys like Dotson and the atrocious Xavier Gipson as their primary punt returners when they had Covey on their practice squad. If you'll recall, in the Eagles' loss to the Cowboys, Gipson foolishly fielded a punt inside the five yard line, and then fumbled on the return.
After Covey replaced Gipson, the Eagles' punt return units improved immediately.
Covey is under contract through the 2026 season. He'll have a chance to be back on the roster, but the team has been oddly unwilling to commit to him as their full-time primary punt returner over the years. Back in camp.
Wilson is a massive receiver at 6'6, 228 who carved out a dirty work role as a physical blocker his rookie season in 2024, though sometimes he was a little too aggressive, as he committed four penalties (3 holding, 1 OPI). He wasn't much of a threat as a receiver, catching only five passes for 38 yards and a TD. He played a little over 400 snaps, and actually started four games.
In 2025, he was poised to repeat that role, but during a training camp practice he suffered a season-ending injury to his knee and ankle. Wilson will have to prove that he is fully recovered in 2026, and will have to earn his way back onto the roster. Back in camp.
Green = Stay
Red = Go
Blue = Will be back in camp in 2025, but a 53-man roster spot is not a given.
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| QB | Jalen Hurts (stay) | Tanner McKee (stay) | Sam Howell (go) | |
| RB | Saquon Barkley (stay) | Tank Bigsby (stay) | Will Shipley (stay) | A.J. Dillon (go) |
| WR | A.J. Brown (go) | DeVonta Smith (stay) | Jahan Dotson (go) | Darius Cooper (back in camp) |
| WR (cont.) | Britain Covey (back in camp) | Johnny Wilson (back in camp) | ||
| TE | ||||
| OT | ||||
| OG | ||||
| C | ||||
| ED | ||||
| iDL | ||||
| OBLB | ||||
| CB | ||||
| S | ||||
| K/P/LS |
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