TL;DR The Philadelphia Eagles are recognized for having one of the NFL's most complete rosters for the 2026 season, despite some concerns about depth and injuries. Key players include Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, and a revamped defense bolstered by recent trades.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 11: General manager Howie Roseman of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on before the NFC Wild Card Playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field on January 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 11: General manager Howie Roseman of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on before the NFC Wild Card Playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field on January 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
***Letās get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links ā¦***
Top 10 most complete NFL rosters for 2026 season ā NFL.com
3) PHILADELPHIA EAGLES. Even if the Eagles arenāt quite as deep and stout as they were in some recent seasons, they still possess one of the most complete rosters in the game. Jalen Hurts ā rank among quarterbacks is hotly debated, but at his best, heās been an MVP candidate and a Super Bowl MVP. Heās expected to lose A.J. Brown , but their waning connection and the drafting of Makai Lemon could make it an addition-by-subtraction thing, especially with DeVonta Smith on board and Marquise Brown and Dontayvion Wicks added in the past couple months. The O-line depth is a concern, especially with Lane Johnson and dealing with chronic injuries and vaunted OL coach Jeff Stoutland no longer with the team. took a step back in 2025, production-wise, but he remains one of the leagueās best all-around backs. Rookie spices up a TE room that already featured mainstay . Defensively, there are some questions, specifically with who the other starting safety will be next to , and whether Philadelphia can stay healthy at linebacker. But cornerback could be deeper and stronger with a few offseason additions, and the Eagles mitigated the pass-rush loss of with the trade for . leads an excellent front for a defense that was top 10 in several categories a year ago but could be even better in 2026.
By trading up from No. 23 to No. 20, the Eagles demonstrated that they feel convicted in their Makai Lemon evaluation. The feeling here is cautious optimism. I really like that Lemon has Got That Dog In Him. I donāt like that heās small and slow, relatively speaking. Having watched more of him since he was drafted, Iām among those who have questions about how his game translates to the NFL. I think a large part of his appeal isnāt so much flash as it is appreciating his ability to handle volume (hence the ARSB comparisons). With the Eagles expected to trade A.J. Brown, there are going to be a lot of targets up for grabs. The team is expecting Lemon to be able to handle a big workload as a rookie. Iāll be quick to fully buy in on Lemon if he has early success. Just need to see him prove it first.
A.J. Brown, WR ā Philadelphia Eagles. The worst-kept secret in the NFL, yes the Eagles are going to trade Brown after June 1 and every sign points to him heading to the . Itās an unceremonious end to a union that brought Philly a win in Super Bowl LIX, and more a case of two sides that found success, but outgrew each other. Brown wants more opportunities in the passing game. The Eagles want selflessness from their offensive players. Itās an oil/water mix, and with Philly drafting Makai Lemon it really put the clear coat over the writing that was on the wall. Trade/Cut: Trade. There is still so much value in Brown as a do-everything receiver in his prime that will cement himself as the No. 1 on whatever team makes the deal for him.
Weāve had so long to contemplate all permutations of the A.J. Brown saga. Some of us are very comfortable adding him for hopefully the right price. Some seem to be against the trade in any form. Too old, too expensive, the knee is going to go soon, his stats were down last year, attitude hasnāt been right, etc. Those are certainly valid concerns. I wonder if those concerns are amplified by the trade taking 3-4 months to materialize, almost like a house sitting on the market thatās a little overpriced initially. Maybe itās a great house, but you start looking at it through the lens of whatās wrong at the price offered. Weāve had a loooong time to look.
So, on the first question, itās not so much that talk about Hurtsā avoidance of the middle of the field is harsh. Itās simply a fact. Where I think the criticism veers into unfair territory is when the messaging changes from āHe doesnāt often throw to the middle of the fieldā to āHe canāt throw to the middle of the field.ā Because, well, he can.
This isnāt new Hurts offseason discourse. Weāve been here before. I remember during the 2022 offseason, there were a few fair criticisms of his first season as the starter in 2021: 1) He held onto the ball too long. 2) He often vacated clean pockets. 3) He avoided the middle of the field. Actually, more accurately at the time, he threw way too much to the right side of the field, and avoided both the middle of the field and to a lesser degree, the left side of the field. And then the Eagles traded for A.J. Brown, a player who excelled working the middle of the field. In my player review of Brown that offseason, we noted (h/t Ben Solak) that Brown would be a good test for Hurts, and whether he could grow that part of his game as a passer. And, well, he did! His numbers that season, by area of the field. He was great working the middle of the field that season, with monster passer ratings between the numbers. Obviously, he was the MVP runner-up that season, and the Eagles went to the Super Bowl. Anyway, Hurts has responded to this very criticism in the past. Weāll see if he can do it again. For me, the biggest Hurts question heading into 2026 is whether or not heās going to utilize his talents as a runner like he did from 2020 to 2024. 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. As a result, the rushing offense suffered as a whole.
I want to provide a bit of context for this piece. Back in late 2020 or early 2021 I called for Howieās firing. He was in a rough stretch. Thankfully, Jeffrey Lurie ignored me (as usual) and gave Howie a chance to work through some things. His record since then is pretty spectacular. Iāve never spoken to Howie. I would absolutely love to have an in-depth conversation with him to pick his brain and get an even better understanding of his ideas and the Eagles methods. He did once email me with his condolences after my dad passed, which I truly appreciated. This isnāt me throwing rose petals at my hero. This is me judging results. And the last decade, especially the past few years, Howie has done a brilliant job of roster building. Heās delivered three SB appearances and a pair of Lombardis. Thatās just a fact. Howie might not be a genius, but he is a damn good GM. Heās got a legit shot at making the Hall of Fame. If heās able to sustain success for another decade and win another SB, he could go down as one of the greatest GMs of all time. Sustaining that success is easier said than done. It will be interesting to if Howie is able to do that. His track record would sure tell you there is a legit chance that the Eagles keep on winning.
While the post-A.J. Brown plans appear promising, Philadelphiaās offense will still likely be affected negatively by his pending departure. Lemon will need time to get acclimated to the NFL level and itās unknown how this offense will look with DeVonta Smith as the focal point. And Hurts might need to cut down on his deep shots because Brown will likely no longer be on the perimeter and Lemonās and Wicksās skill sets are better suited for the intermediate game. Last year, Brown accounted for 33.38% share of the teamās air yards, while Wicks only had 12.94% with the , according to Next Gen Stats. Time will tell how this offense will come together, but the pieces are there for this unit to remain dangerous. On the other hand, the Eaglesā defense could be better with the trade for Greenard, who filled one of the biggest needs on this roster. Greenard is coming off a down season with only three sacks, but heās one of the best at consistently applying pressure, generating 66 total pressures in his two seasons in , according to Pro Football Reference. Not having an edge rusher who can frequently apply pressure likely played a role in why defensive tackle Jalen Carter had a down 2025. The stacked secondary didnāt need reinforcement, but Philly took a chance on Woolen, whose length and athleticism could give the back end of the defense another element.
Eagles offensive tackle ās girlfriend, who is eight months pregnant with their daughter, accused him of kicking her out of their home and pursuing other women on dating app Hinge. Alyssa Okada, who referred to herself as his ānow ex-girlfriend,ā made the accusations while sitting in her car with two pink suitcases in the backseat in a video posted to TikTok on Friday. [ā¦] Taking to his Instagram Story, Johnson did not directly address her allegations, but shared messages about mastering your emotions and others spreading rumors. āThe hardest flex isnāt revenge,ā one of the messages said. āItās watching someone who tried to destroy you realize you survived without ever mentioning their name.ā
Learn how Andrew Sulkowski contacted the Eagles Autism Foundation and the Eaglesā social media team to pull off the surprise of a lifetime for his now fiancĆ©e, Chelsea Trewella.
The Baltimore Ravens have signed safety KāVon Wallace, per a team announcement, adding some veteran depth at a position that has quietly been crucial to their defense over the last few years.
This decade, the Cowboys and Eagles have split their 12 meetings. Theyāve split the season series four times over those six years, and each team has swept the other once. With this game landing on Thanksgiving, itās likely that NFC East and playoff implications will be heavily involved. The Cowboys and Eagles should be the favorites to win the division heading into the 2026 season.
Why didnāt the Cowboys want to extend ? In his first season in Dallas, Pickens was one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. He caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns. The Cowboys got him for a third-round pick around this time last year, and he more than delivered on that investment. Pickens was eligible for free agency, but the Cowboys used their franchise tag to keep him off the market. Just before the draft, they announced publicly that they would not work on a long-term contract with Pickens this offseason and that they expected him to play on the franchise tag, which will pay him a fully guaranteed $27.298 million in 2026. Shortly after the draft, Pickens signed his franchise tender, indicating that he intends to do just that. There are a few reasons the Cowboys want to see Pickens do it again before deciding whether to commit long-term money to him. One is that theyāre already paying wide receiver an average of $34 million per year, and carrying two of the highest-paid receivers in the league would be a salary cap challenge. The other, as team president Stephen Jones said a few weeks ago, is that Pickens is still new to Dallas. He doesnāt have as much in the bank with them as he would if it had been the team that drafted and developed him. There are explanations for why the Cowboys were able to get a player as talented as Pickens from the a year ago for only a third-round pick, just as there are explanations for why no team sent him an offer sheet after Dallas tagged him. Pickensā time in included persistent questions about consistency and focus, and while the Cowboysā 2025 experience with him was positive, itās not unreasonable for them to wait another season before making the kind of commitment his on-field performance deserves on its own. Who knows? If Pickens has another big year and Lamb struggles with health again, maybe the Cowboys feel differently about both players a year from now. But theyāve decided the franchise tag is the right way to go with Pickens in 2026.
Christian Parker began his professional coaching career in the collegiate ranks, serving in various defensive and analytical roles at Virginia State, Norfolk State, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M. He entered the NFL as a defensive quality control coach for the Green Bay Packers from 2019 to 2020 before joining the as defensive backs coach from 2021 to 2023, where he helped develop All-Pro cornerback II. For the past two seasons, Parker was the passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Philadelphia Eagles before being hired as the new defensive coordinator for the earlier this year.
The NFL didnāt waste any time in starting the hype cycle for 2026 schedule release. The NFL made one of the highlights of the season their first announcement, when they confirmed that the New York Giants would host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. It was hardly unexpected that the Giants would play their old rivals in Prime Time to start the season. The two teams feature two of the largest and most passionate fanbases in football, so Giants vs. Cowboys is always a cash cow for the NFL. Not to mention, this game is simply rife with potential storylines, from John Harbaughās first game as the Giantsā head coach to the reunion of the electric duo of and . There will be plenty of time to chase down all of those storylines and the details leading up to the game.
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