Eagles Mailbag: What Move Is Coming Next at Safety?
The 2026 NFL Draft has come to an end but the work for the Philadelphia Eagles is far from over. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman made plenty of deals throughout the event, including adding a Pro Bowl caliber edge rusher in Jonathan Greenard. Yet there are still a few notable holes on Philadelphia’s roster.
Despite the departure of Reed Blankenship, the Eagles didn’t select a safety until the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Therefore many Eagles fans are worried about the team’s plan at the position. What move is coming next at safety? I’ll answer that question and much more in my latest Eagles mailbag.
The Eagles have now added three safeties this offseason, let’s take a look at Philadelphia’s safety room, as currently constructed:
Andrew Mukuba
Marcus Epps
Michael Carter II
Andre’ Sam
Brandon Johnson
J.T. Gray
Cole Wisniewski
Maximus Pulley
Tucker Large
Kapena Gushiken
As you can see, there’s a clear gap between Andrew Mukuba and everyone else in the safety room, from an investment standpoint. Therefore, I would be shocked if Roseman didn’t have another move in the works. It’s blatantly clear that Philadelphia needs more of a proven, starting answer at the position.
Earlier this month, I highlighted several safety options to watch for. Following the 2026 NFL Draft, my attention immediately shifts to New Orleans Saints safety Justin Reid. The Eagles were reportedly interested in signing him last offseason and he’s in the second year of a three-year, $31.5 million contract. New Orleans spent a fifth-round pick on Lorenzo Styles Jr. and also has Jonas Sanker, Julian Blackmon, Terrell Burgess and Jordan Howden in their safety room.
The interior of Philadelphia’s offensive line is an underrated weakness, at this point. The Eagles did select Micah Morris in the sixth round and also signed Jaeden Roberts, who was one of the top undrafted guards. Yet it would be nice to see Philadelphia sign a free agent guard with starting experience in the NFL.
Former Eagles guard Mekhi Becton is still available and a reunion could make sense, yet the lack of Jeff Stoutland’s presence could make things difficult. If Philadelphia wants to go in a different direction, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Michael Jordan could make sense. He has played over 3,000 career snaps at left guard and was with Josh Grizzard in Tampa Bay last season.
I think everyone is expecting the Eagles to land at least one first-round pick in exchange for A.J. Brown. The question appears to be which NFL Draft will it be in: 2027 or in 2028? Yet call me crazy, I think there’s a chance that Philadelphia could only land a second-round pick plus an additional pick or player for Brown.
The Seattle Seahawks landed a second-round pick, a seventh-round pick and a sixth-round pick swap for D.K. Metcalf last offseason. It’s not exactly like the Eagles are dealing from a position of strength with Brown and I could see them ultimately landing a similar package for him from the New England Patriots. While it wouldn’t be ideal, I think that is a fair trade package for Brown.
The Eagles will be hosting their rookie minicamp this upcoming weekend, so we’ll learn the initial jersey number selections for all of the rookies then. But it’s important to note that Philadelphia’s roster will change and the rookies will have a chance to update their jersey numbers. As of right now, here are the options currently available for Makai Lemon:
#9 (unofficially retired)
#12 (unofficially retired)
#21
#25 (unofficially retired)
#37
#38
#46
#47
#85
Lemon wore #14 in high school and #24 and #6 in college. Given that the Eagles stupidly unofficially retired certain jersey numbers, Lemon’s best choices are #21 and #85. While I’d like to see Lemon go with #85, I wonder if he’ll go with a number in the 20s again like he did to start his career with the Trojans. But all of this doesn’t really matter since #11 and a few other jersey numbers should become available before Week 1.
My guess is that the Eagles selected Markel Bell in the third round to be the team’s right tackle of the future. They seemed to only speak of him as an offensive tackle following the selection and it makes sense to do so. While I understand the body style comparisons to Mekhi Becton, I believe that they’re two entirely different players. I’d focus on developing Bell as an offensive tackle for the foreseeable future.
Despite his struggles last season, Cam Jurgens is Philadelphia’s starting center. He has an entire offseason to recover and get whatever international medical treatments that he deems necessary. Drew Kendall should push for the top backup spot along the interior but it’s hard to envision him pushing for the starting center job, unless Jurgens completely falls flat on his face once again.
The Eagles selected eight players in the 2026 NFL Draft and have reportedly signed nine undrafted free agents following the event. Here’s how I would rank them all, from 1-17:
Makai Lemon, WR
Eli Stowers, TE
Uar Bernard, IDL
Cole Wisniewski, S
Dae’Quan Wright, TE
Cole Payton, QB
Josh Weru, EDGE
Markel Bell, OT
Micah Morris, IOL
Jaeden Roberts, IOL
Deontae Lawson, LB
Tucker Large, S
Keyshawn James-Newby, EDGE
Kapena Gushiken, DB
Rocco Underwood, LS
Isiah King, LB
Maximus Pulley, S
Who will be this year’s version of Darius Cooper in Philadelphia? It’s important to focus on which positions the Eagles are currently weakest at. My attention shifts to Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, Alabama guard Jaeden Roberts and Washington State safety Tucker Large. If I had to guess, I’ll go with one undrafted free agent making Philadelphia’s final 53-man roster and say that it’ll be Wright. He was considered a Day 3 pick by many and I could see him beating out Grant Calcaterra and Stone Smartt as Philadelphia’s fourth tight end behind Dallas Goedert, Eli Stowers and Johnny Mundt.
Each team is allowed one exemption on the 90-man roster for an international player during the offseason and training camp. If an international player makes the team’s final 53-man roster, they count towards that limit and are not exempt. But each team is allowed an extra, 17th spot on their practice squad for an international player during the season.
I’ll start with the last part of that question first. No, I don’t believe that the Eagles will keep four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. But I do believe that Philadelphia could eventually trade either Tanner McKee or Andy Dalton ahead of Week 1, as other teams will suffer injuries at the position or become unsatisfied with the quarterback situation on their roster.
In regards to the final 53-man roster projections, here’s the current group that I would project at IDL, LB and RB:
IDL:
Jalen Carter
Jordan Davis
Moro Ojomo
Ty Robinson
Brandon Graham
Uar Bernard
LB:
Zack Baun
Jihaad Campbell
Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
Smael Mondon Jr.
Chandler Martin
RB:
Saquon Barkley
Tank Bigsby
Will Shipley
My guess is that the Eagles would be willing to sign three of those four players to contract extensions in the near future. Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and Jalyx Hunt all seem like easy decisions right now. While I expect the Eagles to exercise Nolan Smith’s fifth-year option, I’m not sure that it’s a lock that he’ll be signing a long-term contract extension with the Eagles.