The Philadelphia Eagles have lost seven consecutive games and only made one deal ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline. While they’re technically still alive in the miserable NFC East, the Eagles must focus on doing what’s best for the future of the franchise. But what exactly is the team’s plan moving forward? I’ll answer that question and more in my latest Eagles mailbag.
I’m just as confused by Philadelphia’s decision-making as you are, Vince. It felt like the perfect time for the Eagles to sell, yet they were only able to get one deal done — although the second deal falling through wasn’t their fault. It still felt like there was more to be done ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline. Yet now Philadelphia is in an awkward spot where they’re technically still alive in the NFC East, despite being 2-7 and losing seven consecutive games.
The right thing to do would be to rest key players like Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith and others in the second half of the regular season. That would allow the Eagles to evaluate and develop the other young players on the team’s roster. Yet after they allowed Barkley to hobble through games ahead of the bye week, I’m not sure what their plan is going to be down the final stretch of a clearly lost season.
The concerning part is that the team’s questionable decision-making has been a constant this year — dating back to the awkward QB2 situation, where Eagles general manager Howie Roseman confusingly held onto four quarterbacks. Then they only kept 52 players on the 53-man roster while multiple young players were poached from the practice squad. Now they should be doing the same with other teams’ practice squads and they have yet to do so. It’s safe to say that it’s been a frustrating situation to monitor.
After reportedly waiving veteran WR Hollywood Brown, the Eagles currently have three open spots on the 53-man roster. It would be nice to see the team sign rookie EDGE Keyshawn James-Newby to one of those spots and let him play more during the final eight games of the regular season. Yet with Arnold Ebiketie and A.J. Epenesa still around, that could make things difficult. Maybe Philadelphia will waive one of those players like they waived Brown.
The truth is that Nolan Smith Jr. and Jalyx Hunt are entering contract years in 2027. The Eagles need to find cost-effective depth along the edge and “KJN” could help fill one of those roles. He showed promise when forced into action earlier this season, both on defense and on special teams. While he was certainly far from perfect, Philadelphia can afford to let him learn on the job down the final stretch.
As of right now, it feels like the odds are rather high that Joe Milton will return over Tanner McKee in 2027. While the team obviously benched McKee in favor of Milton, their respective contract status is also noteworthy. Milton will be a restricted free agent this offseason, which would allow the Eagles to retain him rather easily. Meanwhile, McKee will be an unrestricted free agent and free to sign elsewhere.
Given how the last 10 months or so have transpired, it feels like McKee’s days in Philadelphia are obviously coming to an end. While I’m not sure what exactly happened, the team’s coaching staff and front office have clearly soured on McKee. Milton will likely get to start a few more regular season games and prove his worth as the team’s potential QB2 moving forward into a transformative offseason.
It’s going to be interesting to see what the Eagles do ahead of Week 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Are they going to let players like Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks play after the bye week? If yes, then Philadelphia could have a real shot to upset Pittsburgh. While the Steelers are 6-2, it’s hard to buy into them as a legitimate contender.
Pittsburgh has won a lot of ugly games and while they will likely be the favorites on the road in Philadelphia, the Eagles could make it interesting. The Steelers will be coming off a Sunday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which could exhaust them ahead of their trip to Philadelphia. While it would be best for the Eagles to lose to the Steelers from a long-term point of view, I’d never say never.
A week or two ago, I was all-in on thinking that the Eagles were going to fire head coach Nick Sirianni at the end of the regular season. Yet following the NFL’s trade deadline, it genuinely feels like Philadelphia is preparing to run it back with Sirianni in 2027. Would Roseman strip Sirianni of one of the only healthy team captains remaining in the locker room if he planned on firing him? It feels like the higher-ups are essentially building up the excuses to bring him back.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and Roseman can point at the fact that Sirianni has always made the playoffs and it took two unforeseen events to ruin this season: Lane Johnson retiring and Jalen Hurts dealing with blood clots. They can also use Sirianni sticking around as a key reason to being able to bring back his close friend, Shane Steichen, as the team’s offensive coordinator. Then they’ll hire Jim Schwartz to replace Vic Fangio (who will probably retire) and sell fans on two successful coordinators returning to Philadelphia.
This might be a cop-out answer but I’m going to go with the entire offensive line. Outside of starting left tackle Jordan Mailata, who has also struggled this season, the rest of Philadelphia’s offensive line remains up in the air. There’s a legitimate chance that the Eagles have four new starters alongside Mailata in 2027. Landon Dickerson could retire, Tyler Steen will be a free agent and both Drew Kendall and Markel Bell have been inconsistent.
The Eagles are currently set to have nine draft picks to work with in the 2027 NFL Draft. At least two of those selections should be used along the offensive line. Philadelphia could also attempt to make more additions in the trenches through free agency or trades in the offseason. Either way, the Eagles can’t enter next season with an offensive line room that looks remotely close to their current group.
This is actually a fantastic question and I’m certainly open to suggestions. I was thinking that I’ll continue to call my mock drafts “way-too-early” until the end of the regular season. Maybe then I can transition to “too soon” mock drafts for the postseason and then move to standard mock drafts once all of the games are over? That feels like a solid plan, in my head. Yet like I said, I’m open to any criticism and suggestions.