Free-agent moves? Stars moving on? Answering all of the Eagles’ biggest offseason questions

The Eagles’ 2025 season came to an end sooner than many expected Sunday night, with an underwhelming 23-19 loss to the 49ers ending the dream of a Super Bowl repeat.

With the offseason officially here, The Inquirer has identified the most significant questions the team will face as it attempts to avoid the sting of a premature exit at this time next year.

The offense’s performance this season did not reflect well on Patullo. The unit finished the year No. 19 in the league in scoring, No. 24 in total yards, and No. 13 in expected points added per play, which measures the average points added by the offense on each play.

For comparison’s sake, here’s how the 2023 Eagles offense fared under former offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who was fired in the offseason: No. 7 in scoring, No. 8 in yards, and No. 9 in EPA per play.

Yes, that season was different, as the Eagles lost six of their last seven games. But both the 2023 and 2025 offenses regressed substantially following Super Bowl appearances. The 2025 Eagles returned 10 of 11 offensive starters from the Super Bowl-winning team, and yet the most expensive offense in football couldn’t make it past the wild-card round.

While all of the offense’s shortcomings this season can’t be pinned exclusively on Patullo, something has to change. If the Eagles fire a coordinator and decide to hire an external replacement, there’s always a chance that person would want to handpick his own assistants. In 2024, Kellen Moore brought in quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier. Vic Fangio almost completely overhauled the defensive staff. — Olivia Reiner

Four of the offense’s big five skill players — Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Brown, and DeVonta Smith — are all under contract through at least 2028. Brown is under contract through 2029. Dallas Goedert, meanwhile, is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year.

Given Goedert’s status as a pending free agent, his future as an Eagle is in question. The 31-year-old tight end had a career year with 11 touchdowns, plus two more in the postseason. After an injury-riddled 2024 season, he stayed mostly healthy and started 15 games in 2025. But he’s an aging — and potentially expensive, given his touchdown output — tight end who took a step back as a run blocker this year.

Then, there’s the elephant in the room. Will Brown be back in 2026, let alone finish out his contract in Philadelphia? He voiced his frustration with the offense’s inconsistency earlier in the season. While he made an impact on paper during the regular season, eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards for a fourth straight year, he was also part of the problem at times, especially in the wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He finished the game with three receptions on seven targets for 25 yards.

Brown’s contract would be very difficult to move. Cutting him before June 1 would incur $72 million in dead money in 2026. The Eagles would still be on the hook for $43 million in 2026 if they traded him, too. But as our colleague Jeff McLane wrote, would a change of scenery benefit the 28-year-old wide receiver, send a message to the locker room, and eventually clear some salary-cap space? — Reiner

As Reed Blankenship noted Sunday in the locker room: “It’s not going to be the same.”

“Who knows where we all end up?” the safety said. “That’s just part of the business side of it. They can’t keep us all. I wish they could.”

Blankenship is one of the Eagles’ nearly two dozen free agents. A few of them, like Blankenship, are notable players who may not be back.

Let’s start with Goedert, who had a career year — the most prolific touchdown season in the history of Eagles tight ends. There are zero tight ends on next season’s roster as it stands. Along the offensive line, reserves Fred Johnson, Brett Toth, and Matt Pryor are free agents. So is wide receiver Jahan Dotson. Deeper reserves like running back AJ Dillon, quarterback Sam Howell, and injured fullback Ben VanSumeren are set to hit the market, too.

Blankenship, linebacker Nakobe Dean, and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips are the marquee names among the defensive free agents. Two starters from Sunday’s game are also scheduled to be free agents: safety Marcus Epps and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Other free agents include edge rushers Brandon Graham, Josh Uche, Azeez Ojulari, and Ogbo Okoronkwo. Punter Braden Mann’s contract is also up.

As for which players the Eagles will prioritize, it’s not hard to imagine them wanting to rework something with Goedert before they look elsewhere for a tight end. Phillips will be at or near the top of the priority list, too. The Eagles are thin at edge rusher and could use an impact player like Phillips at the top of the depth chart to pair with Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith. Blankenship’s position is a priority, but it remains to be seen what his market looks like and what the Eagles decide to do at safety. Rookie Drew Mukuba will be coming off a season-ending injury at one of the safety spots.

As for Dean, he may be the most expendable among the top free-agents-to-be with Jihaad Campbell waiting in the wings. — Jeff Neiburg

According to Over the Cap, the Eagles have $20.3 million in cap space for 2026. It is not a lot, in part because some Eagles have increases in their cap hit. Jalen Hurts’ cap number, for example, jumps from $21.87 million this past season to $31.97 million next season.

The Eagles have 40 players under contract and have eight draft picks. As it stands, they again will have a high-priced offense. Seven of the eight players with cap hits of at least $9 million are offensive players.

While there isn’t a ton of money available for Howie Roseman to play around with, history shows us he is willing to be aggressive to create more room and to improve his roster in order to try to compete for a Super Bowl. He also has mastered the art of structuring contracts to game the NFL’s salary-cap system. — Neiburg

The Eagles are set to have eight draft picks, including three projected compensatory picks, in 2026:

Roseman has a track record of moving up in the draft, even if it’s just a couple of spots, to go get a player on the team’s short list. His most significant jump came in 2016 when he moved up six spots from No. 8 to No. 2 to select Carson Wentz. Last year, Roseman moved up one spot from No. 32 to No. 31 to get Jihaad Campbell.

He goes after what he wants in veterans, too, with his most prominent example occurring in 2022 with his draft-day acquisition of Brown from the Tennessee Titans. Given that the Eagles have eight picks, Roseman has plenty of ammo to make moves and address the team’s needs. — Reiner

Where to begin? The Eagles still have a pretty solid roster, but they do have some flaws and are set to have a few holes.

They have no tight ends. They have no obvious answer yet for a Lane Johnson replacement. How long is Landon Dickerson going to hold up? They went heavy at offensive line toward the end of the draft last season, but they could very soon need top-end talent.

They are in the market for wide receiver help regardless of where the Brown saga leads them. They need edge rushers. They need cornerbacks. They may need a new kicker.

A high-impact edge rusher, like Phillips, should be high on the list of most important personnel groups to upgrade the talent level, and it will be interesting to see how the Eagles go about addressing tight end. They will obviously sign a few in free agency and could draft one. Could Goedert return?

There are a lot of unanswered questions right now. It’s that time of year.

The Johnson replacement is a tricky one, too. He is still very good when he’s on the field, but the clock is ticking. Just like it is for Dickerson, who has had multiple surgeries and has played through plenty of pain. — Neiburg

Earlier in the season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Tush Push was getting banned in the spring. This year, instead of detractors fixating on its aesthetics and its player safety risks, its officiating was called into question.

But false-start penalties mounted on the Eagles as the season progressed. Defenses improved at stopping the play, too. The Eagles grew less effective on the Tush Push and eventually, in short-yardage situations, they stopped running it entirely. The last Tush Push the Eagles ran in the regular season occurred in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders. It failed, just like four of their previous six attempts.

The public outcry against the Tush Push seems to have dissipated with the Eagles’ waning efficiency. In fact, fans seemed to love the Buffalo Bills’ 10-yard push sneak for a touchdown in their wild-card win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bills were one of the teams that voted to effectively ban it in the offseason, too.

Unless there is new injury data that suggests the play is dangerous, the path to a ban is unclear. The officiating of the play would still be an issue on a traditional quarterback sneak. Perhaps the league would again seek to eradicate an offensive player pushing the runner downfield on any play, which was illegal in the NFL before 2005. Ironically, it was legalized because it was difficult to officiate.

A rule proposal, either submitted by the competition committee or by one of the 32 clubs, would be the first step to getting rid of the play. That proposal would need at least 24 “yes” votes from the 32 owners at the spring league meeting to pass. Last year, the Green Bay Packers submitted an assisting-the-runner proposal, but it didn’t garner the requisite support. — Reiner

In addition to their six division games, the Eagles will face the 2025 winners of the NFC North (Bears on the road), NFC South (Panthers at the Linc) and AFC North (Steelers at the Linc); they’ll face the entire NFC West (Rams and Seahawks at the Linc, 49ers and Cardinals on the road) and the entire AFC South (Texans and Colts at the Linc, Jaguars and Titans on the road).

The Eagles are scheduled to play nine home games in 2026. Dates are expected to be announced as part of the NFL schedule release in May.

Compiled by The Inquirer staff.