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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/alcatraz_0109 on 2026-03-23 16:31:04+00:00.
Winning a Super Bowl is hard. But defending a Super Bowl is harder. There are many reasons for this - winning teams face more difficult schedules, they typically end up losing a lot of talent to free agency, and furthermore, the luck that often goes the way of a winning team (be it injuries, turnovers, or breakouts) often regresses back to the mean.
And that was all certainly true for the Eagles in 2025. They faced a more grueling schedule (punctuated by having no instances pf back-to-back home games in the regular season), they dealt with an uptick of injuries to key players, and they lost multiple players to free agency megadeals.
And yet, this wasn’t enough to sink their season. They won 11 games and repeated as NFC East champions, the first team to do so in over 2 decades. As late as Week 11, they occupied the NFC’s top seed. And like the previous year’s Super Bowl champions, they were led by a defense that had begun to turn dominant around this time, thanks to the dominance of 1st Team All-Pro CBs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, the emergence of Jordan Davis as one of the NFL’s most physically imposing defensive linemen, and a solid stable of LBs between Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean, and rookie Jihaad Campbell.
What did sink their season? The offense. Despite retaining 10 of 11 starters from its Super Bowl season, the offense turned its playcalling duties over from Kellen Moore (who left to coach the Saints) to 1st time playcaller Kevin Patullo, which resulted in an offense that was bland, boring, and predictable. One season after helping Saquon Barkley break the single-season combined rushing record, the OL had one of its worst seasons in a long time.
Offseason Recap
KEY OFFSEASON ACQUISITIONS:
- CB Adoree’ Jackson - Brought in for the to provide depth and experience at a cheap cost, Jackson became the Eagles’ most successful free agent pickup almost by default by bringing stability to the CB2 position late in the year.
- EDGE Joshua Uche - Uche was a decent value at just 1 year/$1.9M; though he only registered 1 sack on the year, he was serviceable early in the year for an edge rushing rotation that was initially ravaged by injuries. He became a healthy scratch once the Eagles’ remaining edge rushers got healthy
- EDGE Azeez Ojulari - He only signed for 1 year/$4M, but that was still enough to make him the Eagles’ most expensive free agent pickup in 2025. After just 3 games played and 0 sacks, Ojulari became a healthy scratch until a hamstring injury ended his season.
- TE Kylen Granson - Brought in as a prospective Dallas Goedert replacement, Granson was relegated to a TE3/special teamer role when Goedert remained, catching just 7 passes all year.
- RB AJ Dillon - He profiled as the kind of buy-low RB tickets the Eagles have taken chances on in the past - solid past production tainted by injuries, who could thrive in a low-usage, high-efficiency role - but after 7 mostly ineffective games backing up Saquon Barkley, Dillon lost his RB2 job to Tank Bigsby and was a healthy scratch following the bye.
- LS Charley Hughlett - The longtime Browns long snapper replaced longtime Eagles snapper Rick Lovato, but he missed half the season due to injury.
- OT Matt Pryor, LB Patrick Johnson - Both players were former Eagles draft picks who found their way back on the roster with the intent of being deep depth, but both ended up playing more meaningful snaps than anticipated, with predictably mediocre results.
- OG Kenyon Green (Trade, HOU), QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Trade, CLE) - The Eagles picked both players up in separate player trades with the hope that a change of scenery could be beneficial for one or both of these players. But neither player panned out, and both ended up off the roster following training camp.
- TE Harrison Bryant, RB/KR Avery Williams, OT Kendall Lamm - Veteran depth pickups that amounted to nothing.
KEY DEPARTURES:
- DT Milton Williams (FA, NE) - Williams developed into one of the NFL’s best pass-rushing DTs during his time as an Eagle, and parlayed that into the largest contract of any 2025 NFL free agent, joining the Patriots as one of the NFL’s highest-paid DTs.
- EDGE Josh Sweat (FA, ARI) - His 2.5 sacks in Super Bowl 59 showed that he could still be an elite pass rushing force at his best. With Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt both on the verge of breakouts, the Eagles were willing to let Sweat walk, and he got a solid payday from the Cardinals.
- CB Darius Slay (Released) - The 34-year-old had been one of the Eagles’ veteran leaders during his 5 seasons in Philly, but age, cap concerns, and the emergence of Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean as rookies made Slay expendable.
- G Mekhi Becton (FA, LAC) - The former 11th overall pick revitalized his career as a bruising RG, which put him back on the radar of NFL teams needing OL help; he eventually landed a 2-year deal with the Chargers.
- CB Isaiah Rodgers (FA, MIN) - The Eagles took a gamble (no pun intended) on Rodgers after he was suspended for 2023, and he showed flashes as a depth CB on a very talented corps. Despite speculation that he would re-sign to take over Daruis Slay’s starting spot, he took a larger deal with the Vikings to start for them instead.
- RB Kenny Gainwell (FA, PIT) - Gainwell established himself as a nice change-of-pace RB2 with his shiftiness and receiving ability. But with Saquon Barkley signed long-term, he never really had a path to a bigger role, and moved across the state to join a Steelers offense undergoing a bigger overhaul.
- EDGE Brandon Graham (Retired) - The 15-year veteran ended his career with one more memorable highlight, overcoming a triceps injury to make an impact in Super Bowl 59 to earn his second career ring and cementing his legacy as one of the Eagles’ greatest franchise legends.
- S C.J. Gardner-Johnson (Trade, HOU) - The most surprising departure of the offseason, CJGJ was dealt early in the offseason in order to clear future cap space for many of the Eagles’ young talented defensive players.
- T Fred Johnson (FA, JAC) - Johnson parlayed a better-than-expected stint filling in for Lane Johnson into an opportunity to land a bigger role for a rebuilding Jaguars team.
- QB Kenny Pickett (Trade, CLE) - Pickett’s return to his hometown team was a mixed bag
- LB Oren Burks (FA, CIN) - Yet another postseason hero who capitalized on a strong playoff run to land a multi-year contract with another team in free agency.
- LS Rick Lovato (FA) -
DRAFT PICKS/KEY UDFA:
- 1-31: Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama - The Eagles’ first 1st-round off-ball LB in 46 years, Campbell made some splash plays right away, looking like a DROY contender early on. But the return of Nakobe Dean eventually ate into his snaps, and his play tailed off late in the season.
- 2-64: Andrew Mukuba, S, Texas - A rangy, undersized playmaking safety, Mukuba won a starting job out of camp. He had a very inconsistent start to the season, but his play was trending up until a broken leg ended his season.
- 4-111: Ty Robinson, DT, Nebraska - A tough interior defender with decent athleticism, Robinson showed some camp promise but ultimately struggled to get snaps in a young, talented DT corps.
- 5-145: Mac McWilliams, CB, UCF - A quick but undersized CB, McWilliams played just 5 games as a rookie, mainly in low-leverage situations.
- 5-161: Smael Mondon Jr., LB, Georgia - Yet another athletic Georgia Bulldog who fell below his projection because of size and injury concerns, Mondon became a key special teamer as a rookie but was kept from key defensive snaps thanks to a young, talented LB corps.
- 5-168: Drew Kendall, C, Boston College - An experienced, athletic, and durable center, Kendall landed a depth iOL spot in camp and eventually was regularly active on gameday, but he still only played sparingly.
- 6-181: Kyle McCord, QB, Syracuse - A Philly native and former top recruit who eventually transferred from Ohio State to Syracuse and led the FBS in passing yards, McCord had the inside track to be the Eagles’ QB3, but a dismal preseason left him off the active roster, and was on the practice squad all year.
- 6-191: Myles Hinton, OT, Michigan - Hinton looked like a great candidate to learn under Jeff Stoutland thanks to his length, but was always likely to be a roster stash, and eventually was an IR stash for the whole season despite attempting a comeback late.
- 6-207: Cameron Williams, OT, Texas - Another raw OL prospect with size and athleticism, Williams was also stashed on IR for most of the year, not making his NFL debut until Week 18.
- 6-209: Antwaun Powell-Ryland, EDGE, Virginia Tech - A productive and agile but very undersized edge rusher, Powell-Ryland bounced between waivers and practice squad until the Bengals claimed him in November without playing a snap for Philly.
KEY POST-TRAINING CAMP ACQUISITIONS:
- OT Fred Johnson - After an unsuccessful camp in Jacksonville, Johnson returned to the Eagles after the team struggled to fill in the hole at swing tackle opened up by Johnson’s departure.
- CB Jakorian Bennett, WR John Metchie III, QB Sam Howell - The Eagles used their plethora of 2026 Day 3 picks to address depth issues by trading for other young players that were potential camp casualties because…
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