Eagles GM Howie Roseman should draft replacements for Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown this year

This time last year, the Eagles had the best quarterback and the best receiver locked down at good value for at least the next two seasons. The contracts of Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown made them virtually uncuttable and untradeable, but then, who could conceive wanting to cut or trade either?

Hurts would be a high-mileage 29 in 2027. Brown, ridden similarly hard, would be just 30. But both are fanatical about body maintenance, and both are football nerds, and both had just won their first Super Bowl.

Things have changed.

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Hurts, in 2025, proved unable to evolve into a quarterback who can be productive under center and/or using motion. Further, when not given the extended protection by the league’s best offensive line, he cannot consistently attack defenses through the air. Shockingly, with an eye toward self-preservation, he declined opportunities to run.

As an aside: This isn’t necessarily an indictment on a Pro Bowl quarterback. Every player has a ceiling. Perhaps Hurts has hit his.

All of these realities led to the season of Brown’s discontent, in which he clearly lobbied for a trade. Brown so frequently and so publicly complained about Hurts’ regression that owner Jeffrey Lurie was compelled to attend a midseason practice and, in full view of the media and, more importantly, the rest of the team, Lurie counseled Brown to cease and desist.

Brown did. But that doesn’t mean Brown wants to run it back with Hurts. For that matter, the Eagles might not want to run it back with Hurts, either, but they’re going to.

With the draft beginning Thursday, the Birds are actively shopping Brown, according to two league sources. They confirmed that a first- and second-round pick would be the current price.

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Still, a trade still seems unlikely.

It’s a lot to ask for a malcontent receiver coming off a poor season in which he occasionally quit on plays, but the Birds would take an absurd, $43 million salary cap hit if they trade him before June 1 and a painful $16 million salary cap hit if they trade him after June 1.

Also, the Eagles don’t have a ready replacement.

Finally, with the assumed healthy returns of right tackle Lane Johnson, center Cam Jurgens, and left guard Landon Dickerson, the Birds easily could be the league’s best team again — but not without Brown.

But if 2026 goes badly, as is much more likely, it most likely will be because of a poor season from Hurts, which inevitably will lead to the departure of Brown. And if Hurts doesn’t improve, he’s going to be gone, too.

Which is why, even though the Eagles need an edge rusher and offensive line depth, replacing Hurts and Brown in the first two days of this draft is so important.

No. 23: Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State

OK, stay with me here.

No, McDonald isn’t a quarterback, receiver, or an edge.

What he is, though, is a 6-foot-2, 326-pound monster who can push incumbent starters Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis outside. A first-team All-American in his first season as a starter, McDonald would be a low-cost, long-term, plug-and-play member of the most important position on the team — defensive line.

Other option: Zion Young, Edge, Missouri. The Eagles might even be able to trade back and nab Young.

No. 54: Carson Beck, QB, Miami

Beck lost some velocity in 2025 at Miami after elbow surgery cost him a bowl game in 2024 with Georgia, but by the end of the season, he’d shown why he declared for the draft after the 2024 season. His 72.4% completion rate and 30 touchdown passes were elite production, and, while his stock isn‘t high, some front office is going to look like geniuses in a year or two.

That should be Howie Roseman.

Also, I can’t wait to see how Hurts reacts to the Eagles drafting a quarterback in the second round.

For what it’s worth, the NFL.com site rates Beck at 6.14. That’s exactly how they rated Hurts in 2020 when the Eagles drafted him as insurance against the possible collapse of Carson Wentz.

And how about this:

Hurts went 53rd.

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No. 68: Ted Hurst, WR, Georgia State

He’s 6-3, runs a 4.42-second 40-yard dash, and has very good athleticism and good hands. After two years at Division II Valdosta State, he transferred and had two more productive years. He’s something of a project, but he’s going to be better than Dontayvion Wicks, a Green Bay trade product and the darling of new coordinator Sean Mannion.

The problem: Hurst might not last until 68. If so, Roseman should be willing to trade up into the 50s to get him.

No. 98: Dametrious Crownover, OT, Texas A&M

At 6-7 and 319 pounds, he’s the sort of long-armed athlete O-line coach Jeff Stoutland routinely turns into starter, if not star, material.

Oh, wait. Stout quit.

Oh, well. Draft him anyway.