March 25, 2026
Now that we're more than two weeks into NFL free agency and the list of decent available players has been picked clean, we've been grading what each of the NFC East teams did.
NFC East free agency grades
Cowboys | Giants | Commanders
Here will finish out our free agency grades with the Philadelphia Eagles.
With each of the other three NFC East teams we began with the players they gained. However, the most notable aspect of the Eagles' free agency for the second consecutive offseason was the players they lost, so we'll start there.
• EDGE Jaelan Phillips: After attempting to trade for superstar edge defenders like Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons before the 2025 season, the Eagles did eventually land an established edge rusher in Phillips, who cost a third-round pick at the November trade deadline.
In eight games with the Eagles, Phillips had 28 tackles (four for loss), two sacks, four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a recovery. Those are just OK numbers, but Phillips' rushes often created sacks or other plays for teammates.
Based on snap counts, Phillips was Vic Fangio's top edge defender after the Eagles acquired him. The edges' snap counts per game, from Week 10 on (omitting the Week 18 "resting starters" game against the Commanders):
Phillips was a good fit in Philly, and Vic Fangio wanted him. Phillips called his trade to the Eagles "the best day of his life," and he was a bigger edge defender than Hunt and Smith.
• Jaelan Phillips: 6'5, 266
• Jalyx Hunt: 6'3, 252
• Nolan Smith: 6'2, 238
He brought a bit of a power element to the Eagles' edge rush, whereas Hunt and Smith rely more on their speed.
And the Eagles tried hard to re-sign him, but the Panthers ultimately signed him away on a four-year deal worth $120 million. In the aftermath, the loss of Phillips opens up a pretty big hole on the edge, but the cost the Panthers paid is nuts, and the Eagles were right not to match.
It is also worth noting that at a price tag of $30 million per season, Phillips will almost certainly qualify in the compensatory pick formula in the third-round tier.
• LB Nakobe Dean: After being selected in the third round of the 2022 draft, Dean had a role on special teams as a rookie, and his 2023 season was cut short after just five games after he suffered a Lisfranc injury.
But in 2024, Dean had a breakout season, collecting 128 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble, two recoveries, and a game-sealing INT Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Unfortunately, in the Eagles' Wildcard Round win over the Packers, Dean tore a patellar tendon, ending his season.
If he hadn't suffered such a serious injury, Dean would have been a candidate for an early contract extension last offseason. Instead, the team selected Jihaad Campbell in the first round of the 2025 draft, and Dean missed the first six games of the season.
Upon his return to the lineup, Dean replaced Campbell as the starter opposite Baun, and in many ways looked like the player he was in 2024. He was particularly effective as a blitzer, running through overmatched running backs on the way to the quarterback. He did occasionally leave something to be desired in run defense and in coverage.
Dean is an interesting player, as he is short and not super athletic (relatively speaking), but he is smart, instinctive, and tough. He also has an extensive injury history, dating back to college, so he is a bit of a "buyer beware" player.
The Eagles valued Dean's leadership on and off the field, and, obviously, Fangio chose Dean over Campbell once Dean was healthy enough to play in 2025.
But ultimately, Dean scored a big enough offer from the Raiders (three years, $36 million) that the Eagles could not compete with, and they have Campbell waiting in the wings.
• S Reed Blankenship: Blankenship was originally an undrafted rookie free agent who made the team out of training camp and began the season as the No. 4 safety. He quickly leapfrogged K'Von Wallace on the depth chart, and would eventually fill in as a starter after Chauncey Gardner-Johnson went down with an injury. Blankenship ended up being the Eagles' most impactful rookie in 2022, collecting 34 tackles, two pass breakups, and one INT.
Blankenship earned a permanent starting role in 2023, but was up and down. In 2024, Blankenship had a good season from start to finish, and he was also a playmaker, as he had four INTs, tied for 10th-most in the NFL.
With only one year left on his contract heading into the 2025 season, Blankenship felt like a contract extension candidate, but no deal was struck, and he played out the final year of his contract. He had another up and down season in 2025, and a bad game in the Eagles' playoff loss to the 49ers. (I have heard that the Eagles felt that Blankenship had some costly mental errors in that game.)
Still, in his four seasons with the team, Blankenship racked up 308 tackles and nine INTs. He was an absolute home run signing as an undrafted player. Blankenship has also been extremely cheap, as his career earnings are just $5,890,000, per OverTheCap.
The Texans signed him to a three-year deal worth $24.75 million.
In the cases of Phillips and Dean above, the Eagles were obviously right not to try to match. I think there's an argument to be made than Blankenship's price tag didn't get out of hand and the Eagles might regret not bringing him back at a mere $8.25 million per year.
• WR Jahan Dotson: 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 clear-outs all day for A.J. Brown, DeVonta 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.
The Eagles didn’t show much interest in retaining Dotson, and Dotson likely felt like he could get more targets with a new team. For some insane reason, the Falcons signed Dotson on a two-year deal worth $15 million, which qualifies Dotson for the comp pick formula.
• OL Brett Toth: Toth has been a fringe roster guy his entire career, but in 2025 he made the team out of training camp, and stayed on the 53-man roster the entire season. Along the way, he was a key backup.
• He started four games.
• He played at least 30 snaps in six games.
• He played at least 10 snaps in 10 games.
In total, Toth played 199 snaps at LG, and 164 snaps at C.
In a win over the New York Giants in Week 8, Toth got his first career start at center, and he had a great game. In my opinion, he was actually an upgrade over a hobbled Cam Jurgens in the opportunities he got to play.
Toth has been with the Eagles in some capacity every year since 2019. Part of that was because his greatest admirer was former Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. With Stoutland gone, it's no surprise that Toth has found another opportunity elsewhere. This could be a sneaky underrated loss.
• S Sydney Brown: The Eagles traded Brown to the Falcons. In return, they moved up eight spots in the fourth round of the 2026 draft, and 18 spots in the sixth round.
Brown was an Eagles third-round pick (66th overall) in the 2023 draft who never lived up to expectations. He is a very athletic player, and he seems to love to play, but as noted in our player review of him last offseason he lacks recognition skills and he plays out of control. That's a bad combo.
Brown was the only one of 15 Day 1 or Day 2 Eagles draft picks since 2021 to not become a regular starter.
• And then a bunch of "who cares" guys:
• CB Riq Woolen: Last offseason, the Eagles' plan at the third cornerback spot was to give Kelee Ringo every opportunity to win a starting job, with training wheels (veteran Adoree' Jackson) lingering around in case he failed. Ringo failed, Jackson wasn't much better (initially), and the Eagles traded for three different corners to try fix the problem (unsuccessfully). Jackson would eventually stabilize to some degree, but clearly, their approach to that position did not work last offseason, even if it was reasonable.
This year, it was clear that they would have a different plan. That plan was to go out and spend decent money on a third corner, which ended up being $12 million on a one-year deal for Woolen, a player fresh off a Super Bowl win with Seattle.
Woolen was a Seahawks fifth-round pick in 2022 who started immediately as a rookie, finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, when he had 63 tackles, six INTs, 16 pass breakups, and three fumble recoveries. He also made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. However, he was unable to sustain that level of play, and he struggled in 2025, even losing playing time while being floated on the trade block for the better part of the season.
What Woolen does have going for him is that he is a size-speed freak of nature. He's 6'4 with 34" arms, and he ran a 4.26 40 at the Combine. This is an all-timer spider chart:
The Eagles will hope that Woolen's extreme physical traits can translate to Fangio's defense. My guess is that Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean will start at corner, and Woolen will come into the game and play outside in nickel, with DeJean moving inside to the slot. In that role, Woolen should be playing at 80 percent of the snaps on defense.
• EDGE Arnold Ebiketie: Ebiketie signed a cheap one-year deal worth $4.3 million. He is undersized, but has some explosive athletic traits:
He also has some pass rush talent, and has had some pockets of success in 2023 and 2024, when he had six sacks each season. His numbers were down in 2025 because the Falcons selected a pair of edge rushers in the first round of the 2025 draft in Jalon Walker and James Pearce; and they signed Leonard Floyd in free agency.
Ebiketie's profile fits what the Eagles look for in low-cost players in free agency:
Ebiketie reminds me a little of the Eagles' edge defender acquisitions of a year ago in Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche, who were also both former high picks with flashes of production. They didn't work out, of course, and the strategy of going after players like that is debatable, but Ebiketie does feel a lot like Howie Roseman's jam.
• TE Johnny Mundt: Mundt isn't much of a receiving tight end, but he is a legitimately good blocker and should help the run game.
• QB Andy Dalton: Dalton is 38 years of age, and entering his 16th NFL season. He spent 10 years with the Bengals, where he was the team's starter. Thereafter he became a career backup, playing one year each with the Cowboys, Bears, and Saints; and then three with the Panthers. He has appeared in 179 games, with 169 starts, plus four playoff starts (all losses). He has an 84-83-2 regular season record.
Dalton is scheduled to make $4 million in 2026. That's cheap for a QB2, more than you want to pay a QB3. He has $2 million in guarantees and the Eagles gave up a pick to get him, so he is highly likely to be on the team's 53-man roster this season.
The trade for Dalton probably increases the chances that the Eagles will trade current QB2 Tanner McKee, who has gotten interest from other teams around the NFL, and who is scheduled to be a free agent next offseason. With Dalton in place, the Eagles would at least have a competent-but-inexpensive QB2 in place should they deal McKee, and wouldn't have to scramble to fill that role.
(I don't think McKee is going anywhere, for the record.)
• WR Marquise Brown: Brown is a seven-year NFL vet who was a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. His career stats:
| Marquise Brown | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2019 (BAL) | 46 | 585 | 12.7 | 7 |
| 2020 (BAL) | 58 | 769 | 13.3 | 8 |
| 2021 (BAL) | 91 | 1008 | 11.1 | 6 |
| 2022 (ARZ) | 67 | 709 | 10.6 | 3 |
| 2023 (ARZ) | 51 | 574 | 11.3 | 4 |
| 2024 (KC) | 9 | 91 | 10.1 | 0 |
| 2025 (KC) | 49 | 587 | 12.0 | 5 |
Brown ran a 4.27 40 time at his pro day in 2019, and is a player known for his speed, however, he has not really been a big play player over the course of his career, as he has a similar yards per catch average (11.6) as Dallas Goedert (11.4), just as an example.
The Eagles need wide receiver depth, and Brown is at least a competent-but-unexciting vet.
• WR Elijah Moore: Moore was a Jets second-round pick (34th overall) in the 2021 draft. He is a five-year vet who is now on his fifth NFL team. He previously played for the Jets, Browns, Bills, and Broncos. His career stats:
| Elijah Moore | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2021 (NYJ) | 43 | 538 | 12.5 | 5 |
| 2022 (NYJ) | 37 | 446 | 12.1 | 1 |
| 2023 (CLE) | 59 | 640 | 10.8 | 2 |
| 2024 (CLE) | 61 | 538 | 8.8 | 1 |
| 2025 (BUF/DEN) | 9 | 112 | 12.4 | 0 |
Moore had his worst NFL season in 2025, when he had just nine catches for the Bills in nine games. The Bills waived him, and he signed with the Broncos' practice squad, never appearing in any regular season games in Denver. He did appear briefly in the AFC Championship Game, making one catch for four yards.
Like Marquise Brown, Moore is small (5'10, 178), and fast (4.35 40 yard dash). However, also like Brown, Moore's speed hasn't really translated to big plays in the NFL, as he has a very low 10.9 career yards per catch average.
• CB Jonathan Jones: Jones is an old depth corner trying to stay in the league.
• S J.T. Gray: Gray is an eight-year vet, and a decorated one at that, as he has three All-Pro nods for his work over the years on special teams. He was a First-Team All-Pro in 2021, and a Second-Team All-Pro in 2019 and 2024. Gray spent his first seven NFL seasons (2018-2024) with the New Orleans Saints, and was with three different teams — the Ravens, Broncos, and Buccaneers — in 2025. He could replace what Sydney Brown gave the Eagles on special teams.
• TE Stone Smartt: The Eagles took a flier on an athletic quarterback turned tight end.
• RB Dameon Pierce: Pierce had a good rookie season in 2022, but his numbers fell off sharply thereafter.
• iDL Jordan Davis: Davis signed a three-year contract extension worth $78 million. That would be $26 million in new money. However, this contract extension is in addition to the fifth-year option Davis was already scheduled to play on in 2026. The fifth-year option was just under $13 million. In other words, Davis is under contract for four more years at just under $91 million, or roughly $22.75 million per season. He is now under contract with the Eagles through 2029.
Davis had a disappointing first three seasons with the Eagles after he was the 13th overall pick in the 2022 draft. In 2024, for example, Davis played just 445 snaps, or 21.2 per game. That was the fourth-most snaps among the Eagles' interior defensive linemen.
However, after a productive playoffs (six tackles, two sacks) the Eagles bet on Davis last offseason, when they exercised his fifth-year option, a wise move in hindsight, as Davis showed up in 2025 in shape and ready to begin living up to his potential. He finished the regular season with 72 tackles (nine for loss), 4.5 sacks, six batted passes, and the biggest play of the Eagles' season, a blocked kick against the Rams that he also scooped and scored for a TD. His 72 tackles were good for third in the NFL among interior defensive linemen:
• Cameron Heyward, Steelers: 78
• Derrick Brown, Panthers: 73
• Jordan Davis, Eagles: 72
• Jonathan Allen, Vikings: 68
• Jeffery Simmons, Titans: 67
That's pretty good company. In addition to his play on the field, Davis has also become a valued leader in the locker room.
• TE Dallas Goedert: Goedert has played eight seasons for the Eagles, compiling 409 catches for 4,676 yards and 35 TDs. He added another 56 receptions for 595 yards and five TDs in 13 playoff games. He led the team in receiving during the Eagles' Super Bowl run in 2024, and has a ring to show for it.
Goedert was available for trade for the better part of the 2025 offseason, before the Eagles finally got him to take a pay cut and return as the team's top tight end. As such, it felt unlikely that he was going to stick around for the 2026 season, but he's back.
On the plus side, Goedert is still a good receiver, as he had 60 catches for 591 yards, and he broke the franchise tight end record with 11 regular season TDs while playing in a broken offense in 2025. He was a rare bright spot in the Eagles' passing game, at least in the red zone. He also only missed one game due to injury in 2025 after missing 15 games in the previous three seasons combined.
On the downside, in the past Goedert was considered a complete tight end without any obvious flaws, but he was not a good run blocker in 2025. He is also now 31 years old, and tight ends don't typically age well.
But what is perhaps most noteworthy about re-signing Goedert is that it will allow the team to avoid his accumulation of dead money to count toward their salary cap this season, which they can instead kick down the road to future years. That will give them more short-term salary cap flexibility. To be determined if the immediate savings on Goedert's 2026 cap obligation is a precursor to a trade of A.J. Brown.
• LG Landon Dickerson: Dickerson's contract was adjusted this offseason. He was scheduled to make $19 million in 2026 and $20 million in 2027. He'll now make $15.7 million in 2026, meaning a pay decrease of $3.3 million. Dickerson was also previously under contract through 2028, but now, just through 2027.
Dickerson made the Pro Bowl in 2022, 2023, and 2024, but he had a bad season in 2025, as he battled through an assortment of injuries, some known, like an August meniscus injury that required "a minor procedure," and some that he kept to himself.
Dickerson had a long injury history as a college prospect heading into the NFL:
Though Dickerson has avoided major injuries through his first five NFL seasons, he has accumulated a lot of wear and tear. This contract adjustment could be a precursor to an early retirement after 2026 or 2027.
• P Braden Mann: Mann signed a four-year deal worth $14 million. The 2025 season was Mann's third as the Eagles' punter. He averaged 49.9 yards per punt, with a net average of 42.8. The punting metrics say that Mann was a little below average, in terms of EPA per punt. Via Puntalytics:
Final punter rankings of the 2025 season:
— Puntalytics (@ThePuntRunts) January 5, 2026
Congrats to everyone on another great year! pic.twitter.com/djcmM4P1lt
If you drill down further, Mann was fine in open field (distance) punting, but he actually had the lowest EPA per punt in the NFL when punting to pin the Eagles' opponents deep in their own territory. He did tie for fourth in the NFL with eight touchbacks.
Mann has been a fine punter for the Eagles. Like, I can't recall any moments during the season in which the fanbase was mad at the punter, like they were so often during the Arryn Siposs era.
The Eagles won't have to worry about replacing their punter for a while.
• S Marcus Epps: Bringing Epps back felt like foregone conclusion after Blankenship left to play for the Texans. He's a steady vet, but one who isn't going to make many splash plays. He has proven he can start, but is ideally a backup.
• OT Fred Johnson: Johnson likely peeked around for opportunities to start elsewhere, but he's back as the team's swing tackle again. Johnson appeared in all 18 of the Eagles' games in 2025, and started nine. He played a career-high 626 regular season snaps, plus another 72 in the playoffs.
• DB Michael Carter II: Carter took a big pay cut to stay with the Eagles. He fits in as a backup slot corner and a guy who can play safety in a pinch.
• TE Grant Calcaterra: Calcaterra is kind of stuck in no-man's land as a tight end, in that he's a decent enough pass catcher, but not so much that anyone would consider him a TE1, even a low-end one. As a TE2, he simply can't block, and it was maddening that the Eagles kept putting him on the field in that type of role. He's probably in a role that now suits him as something of a TE3, ready for extensive playing time should Goedert go down, but not a guy who will get a lot of snaps anymore as a blocker in two-TE sets.
A year ago, the Eagles lost four defensive starters in Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Darius Slay, and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. In some cases, young players like Jalyx Hunt and Moro Ojomo filled those vacated spots and played well. In other spots, less so. Still, the defense remained one of the best in the NFL, though certainly not what they were in 2024 when they obliterated opposing offenses during their playoff Super Bowl run.
This year, the Eagles lost three more defensive starters in Jaelan Phillips, Nakobe Dean, and Reed Blankenship. Dean has a successor ready to go in Jihaad Campbell, but the Eagles will have to find answers to replace Phillips and Blankenship. But certainly, their overall depth on defense took another body blow.
Unfortunately for the best NFL teams, it's nearly impossible to keep everyone. You're going to lose good players, as the Eagles have the last two offseasons. The reality is that the good teams who have drafted well will lose good vets because the bad teams who have not drafted well overpay for them. That makes the good teams the victims of their own success. But also, the salary cap system is what makes the NFL better than, say, Major League Baseball, where you have teams like the Dodgers paying their players roughly $400 million while almost a quarter of baseball's teams are spending under $100 million.
The loss of those three key defenders aside, the significant moves the Eagles made otherwise were logical.
• Davis earned his contract extension with a breakout 2025 season.
• Running it back with Goedert one more year doesn't force the team to reach for a tight end in the draft, and helps their short-term cap health.
• Woolen is a high upside play.
The Eagles' free agency period is also somewhat incomplete, as the situations for A.J. Brown and Jalen Carter still have to play out.
Trades around the league for receivers like D.J. Moore and Jaylen Waddle yielded stronger than expected returns, so Roseman will be under pressure to get a favorable return for Brown as well, assuming the star receiver is dealt.
It is also to be determined if Carter will get his contract extension this offseason, and what that looks like.
Overall, the Eagles' offseason more or less has gone as expected, with notable starters now playing elsewhere, but it's also true that the roster got worse, even if unavoidably so.
Grade: C.
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