February 14, 2026
The 2025-2026 season is completely in the books, so now feels like an appropriate time to take some questions for an Eagles mailbag. This is Part II of a two-part mailbag (Part I here).
Question from @masonmoh2: Gut prediction: Will Jalen Hurts be the Eagles' starting QB in 2027?
Oooh, coming in hot! Lol. There will be a lot of readers who do not like that I even answered this question, but I believe it's valid and worth unpacking a bit.
The answer is yes, of course I think Jalen Hurts will still be the Eagles' starting quarterback in 2027. We're one year removed from the guy being the Super Bowl MVP, and he was legitimately stellar during the 2024 playoffs. He completed 71.4% of his passes, he threw 5 TDs vs. 1 INT, he averaged 8.0 yards per pass attempt, and he ran for 194 yards on 5.7 yards per carry and 5 TDs. He was the MVP runner-up in 2022 and the best player on the field during Eagles-Chiefs I. He was an already good quarterback who raised his level of play during two playoff runs.
However, in a lot of ways, he had a down season in 2025. A couple weeks ago, we published our first Eagles-only mock draft of the season. Within it, I had the Eagles selecting a quarterback in the second round, with the following explanation:
Jalen Hurts had a great 2022, then a down 2023, then another great season (or at least finish) in 2024, and then another down season in 2025. Each time Hurts has faced serious adversity with the Eagles, he has bounced back with a strong season. He will be under pressure to play well in 2026, and if he doesn't it wouldn't be the worst thing to have a young talented quarterback to groom in the background.
But also, Tanner McKee is under contract for one more season, and he could be moving on to a new team in 2027. At a minimum, the Eagles will need a new QB2 in 2027, and drafting one would save the Eagles ~$5-10 million on a good veteran backup.
I know that many of you reading this will hate the suggestion of a second-round quarterback, and I hear you, but they highly value the QB2 spot, and, you know, they've done this before!
A number of people objected to the notion that Hurts had a down season in 2025. Uhhh, I'm sorry, but were we watching different games? The scheme and the play calling certainly didn't help, but as a passer, a number of Hurts' old bad habits resurfaced, and he was not much of a threat as a runner.
Last offseason, the discourse surrounding Hurts was exhausting. You had people saying freaking Geno Smith (lol) was a better quarterback. My personal feeling on a lot of those silly rankings was that a lot of people either discounted or ignored Hurts' contributions to the run game. Not only did he make his own plays with his legs, but he also kept opposing defenses honest on zone reads, making defenders account for him as a runner and giving Saquon Barkley more favorable numbers in the box on his runs during his historic season.
As we had mentioned throughout the back half of the 2025 season, I was told that Hurts did not like having a lot of designed QB runs in the game plan. And sure enough, his rushing attempts per game were way down. He had rushed for over 600 yards each of his previous four seasons, but in 2025, just 421. He did not seem to want to utilize a highly effective part of his skill set, and the rushing offense suffered as a whole.
If Hurts isn't willing to heavily utilize his talents as a runner, the reality is that he is not maximizing his effectiveness as a quarterback. And you know what? Some of those silly rankings of a year ago kinda become more valid if we're looking at Hurts strictly as a passer.
Interestingly, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that "one question around the league" is if the Eagles will select a quarterback with a high pick.
Transcribed: "One question around the league is, 'Do they draft a quarterback, maybe on Day 2,' apply a little bit of pressure on Jalen Hurts, who I believe is at a crossroads right now after the way last season went. Jalen Hurts was drafted in the second round, eventually replaced Carson Wentz, who got a massive deal just that offseason before. Does that same thing now happen to Jalen Hurts, eventually?"
Hurts would probably have to be really bad on the field and problematic off of it for the Eagles to make some kind of seismic change at quarterback next offseason. And again, I don't see that happening. But certainly, there's going to be pressure on Hurts to play better in 2026 than he did in 2025.
Question from @IPartyWithMarty: After reports came out over Super Bowl weekend that the Eagles have not yet discussed trading [A.J. Brown], and based on comments he made on Micah Parsons' podcast, do you think the odds of him returning are increasing or do you think that's all "for show" to keep his trade value up?
In case you're unclear what's being asked here, here's a snippet that someone cut up of A.J. Brown's appearance on Micah Parsons' podcast.
Some Eagles fans — who I assume are hopeful that Brown doesn't get traded this offseason — watched that video and proclaimed, "OH HELL YEAH HE'S COMING BACK, BABY!" And, I get it. Brown is a great player. The Eagles are a better team when he is happy and playing well, and the most ideal situation would be if he came back and played like he did in 2022 and 2023.
That clip is a big nothingburger for me. If Brown would prefer to play somewhere else, where he can put up bigger numbers than he has in Philly the last two seasons, then the Eagles will likely oblige. They typically do when a player wants out. There's a growing list of examples to point to, like Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz, Haason Reddick, and Bryce Huff, to name a few.
What the Eagles are not going to do is trade Brown for less than what he's worth. If Brown had said something like, "Get me the hell out of Philly," all that is going to do is (a) scare teams away from trading for a potential problem player, and (b) entice them to send the Eagles lowball offers. And then a trade won't happen.
The Eagles are smart. And Brown is smart. And really, my understanding is that there is no animosity between Brown and the Eagles' front office. They can work together and say all the right things to find a solution that makes sense for all parties.
Question from @French_92: Do you think that if A.J. isn’t on the roster next season (even though I think he will be), that [DeVonta Smith] has the ability to fill his role, or has he been able to produce the way he has because A.J. [made it easier for him]?
DeVonta is a killer. I absolutely believe that he has the skill and mental makeup to be the focal point of an NFL passing attack.
And, frankly, I think that if anything, he has been held back by being the No. 2 option because he hasn't been targeted as much as he should be.
Question from @stevecleff: Howie always tries to avoid drafting for need. If Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson retire and A.J. Brown is traded, could he possibly address all that in free agency? My guess is the A.J. trade would be for a future 2 that performance could turn into a 1, which would mean no immediate help.
Let's first dispel the notion that the Eagles don't draft for need. They most certainly do, as does every team. However, I think that what Howie does well when drafting for need is that he is a "needs attacker," meaning, he will trade up in the draft so that he's getting a very good prospect at a position of need. In recent years, he's not typically just reaching for lesser prospects for the sake of filling positional needs. And then I think that what he also does well is trading back when need does not equal the value of the pick.
I understand that's not really what you're asking. I think that what you're saying here is that they like to sure up any obvious glaring needs with at least competent players in free agency, so they're not forced to draft for need. And yes, I agree that they try to do that.
If Dickerson and Johnson retire and Brown is traded, then no, the Eagles can't replace all three of those guys in free agency.
You're not going to have to worry about that, though. As noted in our "stay or go" series, Johnson is scheduled to make $41.7 million in cash this season. I would be stunned if he walked away from that. Dickerson is scheduled to make $19 million. That'll be tough to turn down, too.
Question from @ElevationRadio: Why were the Eagles so reluctant to make Britain Covey the punt returner last season? Avery Williams, Jahan Dotson, and Xavier Gipson all clearly struggled.
You can also add in Tank Bigsby on kick returns.
I think they just didn't want to have a return specialist occupying a spot on the 53-man roster, if that's all they did. In the 5 games Gipson played in, the Eagles did manufacture a couple of targets for him, whereas that wasn't going to happen with Covey. That's all I got. (Pretty dumb reason, if that's right.)
Question from @flashgordonfann: I guess the writing is on the wall for Jake Elliott. Think the Birds draft a kicker, maybe grab one in free agency? If so, who do you like?
Elliott has a bad contract that'll be tough to get out of this offseason. He's probably not going anywhere, and once again may not even get training camp competition. We'll see.
The kicker I had my eye on was Ole Miss' Lucas Carneiro, but he decided to return to school in 2026, which for the Eagles' purposes is probably a good thing. (I would never select a kicker with a high pick, to be clear, and I think the Eagles learned their lesson on that with Alex Henery.)
Question from @silverdj7: What possible UFAs from the Packers could follow Sean Mannion over to Philly?
A player who I think makes a lot of sense for the Eagles if they trade Brown is Romeo Doubs. He was one of three outside free agents we profiled last week.
Just taking a peek at the Packers' free agents, two other guys make some sense to me:
• OG/OT Darian Kinnard: The Eagles traded Kinnard to Green Bay for a sixth-round pick just before the start of the 2025 season. Kinnard is a restricted free agent, so if the Packers don't tender him (I don't imagine they will), the Eagles have some familiarity there.
• TE John FitzPatrick: FitzPatrick is a blocking tight end from Georgia who tore his Achilles in Week 17 last season. He shouldn't cost more than the league minimum, and therefore more or less won't count against the cap. The Eagles could put him on the PUP list to start camp, and probably into the season, maybe get something out of him a little deeper into the season.
Obviously, those two guys are not household names. 😂
Question from @RJankowich: Any desire to get back into the podcasting game? 🙏
Yes.
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