Though free agency is only a few days old at this point, most of the headliners are off the board. Not exempt are several big-name Philadelphia Eagles, including but not limited to the following: Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, Darius Slay, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson (via trade).
The Eagles are worse than they were about a month ago, when they won Super Bowl LIX. Unquestionably so. But that shouldn’t prevent them from defending their title.
Eagles Still Have Their Superstars
While the Eagles’ losses sting, it’s worth noting that they prioritized their superstars. Really, that’s what they’ve always done.
Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, and Landon Dickerson aren’t going anywhere. Neither are Zack Baun, Jalen Carter, nor the young and impressive 2024-drafted cornerback duo of Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.
With impact players all over the field, the Eagles should be okay. Even with a tough schedule in 2025.
There just aren’t many teams that can keep up with this much talent. The Washington Commanders, who made the NFC Championship Game, sacrificed 114 points to Philadelphia across three games. As you may remember, Hurts was injured in one of those games. In another, he was benched because his team was winning by so much.
That was last season’s Eagles team. But the takeaway here is that if Philadelphia was vastly ahead of even the best teams in football, they’re certainly ahead of most teams on their schedule. Their core is matched by none other in the NFL. The Birds walloped their way to a Super Bowl victory. Nobody was safe.
Eagles Can Build Around Superstars
Expanding on the superstars point, this team’s objective is to build around those players. In a salary cap league like the NFL, they can’t afford to pay the big bucks to everyone. So, general manager Howie Roseman and the Eagles’ plan is to build a core and surround it with an affordable supporting cast.
Williams and Sweat had a huge impact on the Eagles’ pass rush in the Super Bowl, forcing Patrick Mahomes to have what may have been the worst performance of his entire life. Slay and Gardner-Johnson were great in the secondary. But you find replacements.
Those impacts, while unlikely to be replicated exactly, can be recreated in the aggregate, as some might say. Take swings in the draft. Rely on your in-house guys. Whatever it takes, it’s better to do that than spend money on players who aren’t absolutely essential to success.
Eagles’ Competition in the NFC
Looking at the Eagles’ competition in the NFC, it really comes down to five teams: Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, and Commanders. Aside from the Vikings, who are now Sam Darnold-less, these clubs all did well to either improve or have no major regression from their previous rosters.
Of these five teams, the Eagles beat three of them in the playoffs. Remaining are the Lions and those aforementioned Vikings, who may be unable to match their magical 2024 regular season. The Lions are probably still the biggest threat here, but they looked rather beatable toward the end of last season.
Even after their losses, the Eagles are still the best team in the NFC. And, objectively, the NFL.
The Birds’ pure domination over a Kansas City Chiefs team that the entire AFC has been unable to solve for years is proof.
It’s impossible to tell by just the names on paper, but after the 2025 NFL Draft, it’s likely that the Eagles aren’t too far removed from last season’s team. Their pass rush could be worse. The secondary may be, too. Perhaps the offense will see regression if Dallas Goedert is traded. But at the end of the day, this team plowed through the final two games of the postseason (which are supposed to be, like, really hard).
Losing the players the Eagles did was tough. We sort of knew it would happen, but that doesn’t remove the hurt.
Still, the Birds are in a position to run it back. They’ve earned the respect to assume they will.
PHOTO: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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