Last Friday, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni spoke with local beat reporters ahead of the NFL Combine. From that session, we published the following articles:
- A.J. Brown’s standing with the team heading into 2026.
- The Eagles will likely play the compensatory pick game this year, or stated otherwise, they’re unlikely to spend on outside players in free agency.
- What traits will the team be looking for along the offensive line and at tight end under the new offensive scheme?
- Mosh has something on Sean Mannion.
Roseman and Sirianni also spoke at the lectern at the Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday for 15 minutes apiece. They didn’t say much, but we’ll round that up anyway.
On Brandon Graham
Roseman: “Brandon Graham is always welcome in Philadelphia. When I think about what he’s done for us as a player, as a person, and then last year, even when he came back and the versatility that he showed, coming in and in the end of the year and reducing inside and playing defense tackle, just an all-time Eagles great and future Eagles Hall of Famer.”
#JimmySays: Graham seems to want to play another year, and the Eagles seem to want him back. As long as the cost in minimal, I imagine BG will be a role player again in 2026.
On the edge defender position as a whole
“We usually take seven or eight guys to camp. We only have three on the roster right now. Definitely think we’ll have to address it. It’s a priority position for us. And, you know, we’ll just kind of try to manage our own guys, free agency, and the draft, to bring the best outcome possible that we can. You know, it always starts up front for us in Philadelphia.”
#JimmySays: If the Eagles are able to retain Jaelan Phillips and bring Graham back, then they are basically set on the edge at the top four spots:
- Jaelan Phillips
- Nolan Smith
- Jalyx Hunt
- Brandon Graham
In my opinion, that’s a good, young group (BG aside on the youth part, obviously). The team could then fill in the rest of the 90-man roster spots with low-cost vets, and maybe take a shot on a player in the draft to develop.
If they are unable to retain Phillips, the edge will immediately become one of their biggest need areas.
On the cornerback spot
Roseman: “I think that when you look at Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean leading that group, they are two All-Pro players, guys who want to be part of Philadelphia Eagles for a long time.
“Really, Coop can play anything. He can play outside corner. He can play nickel. He can play at an All-Pro level anywhere. So having him gives you some flexibility.
“And so, you know, we’ll go into the offseason and looking to add to that position. Adoree’ Jackson did a really nice job for us last year. And he got better throughout the course of the year. And so just like any other position, he’s a free agent and we’ll just kind of see how the offseason plays out.”
#JimmySays: If you’re a regular reader, you know my thoughts on the hole the Eagles have at that third corner spot. You all can just skip to the next topic.
For the rest of you, the Eagles have a pair of All-Pros in Mitchell and DeJean at corner, as Howie noted. They both start in base. In nickel, DeJean moves inside to the slot, and a third corner comes in and plays outside. So, whoever that third corner is doesn’t play in the base defense. The Eagles are in nickel on roughly 80 percent of the snaps, so, that’s a fair amount. Still, if you’re selecting a corner in the first round, they would ideally never come off the field.
Also, there’s the financial aspect. The Eagles are almost certainly going to eventually pay Mitchell and DeJean big-time money. If they draft a third corner with a high pick and he pans out, great! You know, until it’s time to pay that guy, too. Can they pay three corners top of the market money, not to mention all the other star players on defense who will also need to be paid? Probably not. Limiting yourself to five years with a first-round pick would be stupid, frankly.
But also…
• The offense has far more long-term needs, notably along the offensive line, where they build first and foremost.
• The other star players on defense — not to mention Vic Fangio — can make up for a hole here or there. The team will more likely seek to find cheap, competent vets for their scattered defensive holes, particularly at corner.
On the inevitable loss of good players
Roseman: “You got to go back to how you want to build the team first and foremost. You know, what are your priorities in building the team? Because when we have this many players coming up for second contracts on their rookie deals, it’s gonna be hard for us to keep all of them.
“The good news is we have a compensatory system where we can get some draft picks back in the future for some of these guys who’ve meant so much to us if we can’t sign everyone. But we gotta make priorities and you can’t only do that by playing favorites. You gotta also do it by your vision of how you build a team. And so we’ll try to be pretty clear about our vision to the extent that we can and get those guys back and continue to build on top of that.
#JimmySays: And there’s your confirmation that the Eagles are going to play the compensatory pick game this offseason. But also, I believe that what Howie is trying to say is that they are going to prioritize certain positions, and as we know, they build along the lines first and foremost. That probably means that guys who do not play along the lines are more likely to move on than guys who do.
On Jake Elliott
Roseman: “I think that Jake has been a tremendous kicker for us since we got him off practice squad in Cincinnati in 2017. Tremendously clutch, have a lot of confidence in him as a player, as a kicker, as a person, a captain on our team, and continue to believe in him as our place kicker.”
#JimmySays: Elliott is pretty safely the best kicker in Eagles history, in my opinion, but over the last two seasons he has simply become too unreliable, and he does not have the power leg that many of the other kickers around the league do.
Elliott is scheduled to count for $4,893,000 on the cap in 2026. If the Eagles were to release him, he would count for $6,469,000 in dead money. If they released him with a June 1 designation, $2,613,000 would count toward the 2026 cap, and $3,856,000 would count toward the 2027 cap.
We haven’t yet gotten to the specialists in our stay or go series, but, spoiler: The Eagles should move on, but my gut says they’ll talk themselves into one more season with him.
On the Tush Push
Sirianni: “There are some things that teams did this year that they did a good job of being able to stop it. We have to get back to being able to be as dominant as we were at it, or find new avenues to be able to convert on third down or in the red zone.”
#JimmySays: The NFL is reportedly not seeking to ban the Tush Push this offseason, you know, because the Eagles weren’t effective running it in 2025. Teams never thought it was a dangerous play, and they were a bunch of cowards by citing that as the reason to ban it. They didn’t want to have to stop it on the field, so they tried to get rid of it off the field.
As it turned out, some teams figured out how to stop it on the field. I guess we’ll see in time if a healthier Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson will make the play effective again, and whether it will then become “too dangerous” or “too hard to officiate” or whatever other nonsense they come up with to ban it.
I found Sean Payton’s honesty about banning the play refreshing, in case you missed it.
Sean Payton says if the NFL ever eliminated the “tush push” it won’t be because of health and safety. It’ll be because “we don’t like it.” He said: “Last year, we spent two hours on health and safety on the (tush push) and then added 1,000 kickoffs. … Sometimes your BS meter… pic.twitter.com/7F2tzP0hAR
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 24, 2026
(The Broncos voted to ban it last year.)
On DeVonta Smith
Sirianni: “I think we saw DeVonta have a great year, and I think you just continue to see him play better and better. And I think that’s a tribute to who he is. Guys that are tough, that love football, that are smart football players, and are talented, have a tendency to reach their ceiling, and God willing, and I think that’s what you’re seeing. You can see them continue to get better. You’re seeing him continue to do these things and make plays only that he can make on the football field. And I just think he continues to be on the rise and I’m excited about what he’ll look like in this new offense that we’ll have.”
#JimmySays: In a recent mailbag I was asked if DeVonta can be a WR1 if the Eagles trade A.J. Brown, and yes, definitively, I think he would become a star (if he isn’t already) if he were the focal point of the passing game.
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