The Eagles had all the pieces to bring home a Super Bowl trophy, but they came up short. Jalen Hurts was outstanding in the Super Bowl. Besides his fumble that was returned for a touchdown (TD), it is hard to find any holes in this game for him. Hurts is going to get paid big this offseason. What will that mean for the makeup of the rest of the team? Many key players are due for new contracts.
The Eagles will look to cut players to get the cap space needed to bring back a couple of key defensive players. The Eagles will only be able to bring back some of their pending free agents. C.J. Gardner-Johnson should be back next season. The rest of the free agents are up for grabs. Fletcher Cox, Robert Quinn, Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, James Bradberry, T.J. Edwards, and Ndamukong Suh will all be hard to retain for this Eagles’ defense. The Eagles need to hit in the upcoming draft to fill these holes.
The offense is slated to lose key contributors to the Super Bowl run. Miles Sanders is presumably gone since the Eagles do not have any cap space to sign him after a great year, and Sanders is due for an increase in pay over the Eagles’ price range. Jason Kelce is a vital part of the offensive line, and he will have a decision on whether he will retire or run it back another year. The Eagles drafted his replacement last year, so they have a player set to take over his role.
While the Eagles look hot on the free agency side of things, the draft seems bright with two first-round picks. The first pick, at 10, will put them in a position to select many players. They could go with a corner to replace Bradberry, they could go with a safety to eventually replace Gardener-Johnson, or they could go with an edge rusher to replace whoever cannot be brought back in free agency. The three prospects that best suit the Eagels are: Joey Porter Jr., Brain Branch, and Myles Murphy. All three of these prospects can step in on day one and contribute.
With the second first-round pick, the Eagles should be able to replace Miles Sanders. The popular choice at 31st is Bijan Robinson. However, he will be long gone by then. Missing out on Bijan will be okay for the Eagles since another running back (RB) prospect fits them better. That RB is Jahmyr Gibbs out of Alabama. Gibbs would give the Eagles a great receiving back that would be a swiss army knife type of weapon.
The Eagles will then have the last pick in the second round. Out of Houston, Nathaniel (Tank) Dell is a wide-receiver prospect that has jumped up draft boards since his performance at the senior bowl. Quez Watkins was below average during the playoffs and should be one of the players the Eagles cut to gain more cap space. Tank Dell would be a steal at the end of the second round and give franchise QB Jalen Hurts another weapon alongside A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Even with the moves the Eagles will make in the offseason, it is hard to see them returning to the Super Bowl. They had one of the best defenses in football and will need help bringing back all the contributors. Luckily they have young guys who will step up and replace their departed players. Jordan Davis and whichever rookie is selected with the 10th pick will have high expectations.