Eagles News: NFL franchise tag window opens but Philly is unlikely to use it

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Should the Eagles use their franchise tag on Zack Baun, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, or Mekhi Becton – PhillyVoiceBeginning on Tuesday, February 18, and ending on March 4, teams around the NFL will have the option of applying the franchise tag to one of their pending free agents. The Philadelphia Eagles have four players scheduled to be free agents this offseason who are likely to receive lucrative offers in LB Zack Baun, EDGE Josh Sweat, iDL Milton Williams, and RG Mekhi Becton. I’ve been asked whether the Eagles will use their franchise tag on any of those four players, and the short answer is no, almost certainly not. But let’s examine further.

NFL free agent tags 2025: Values by position, and 9 players who could get them – SB NationHow do the Super Bowl Champions handle Zack Baun? The Philadelphia Eagles signed Baun to a one-year deal last offseason, and he was a revelation with his switch to an off-ball role. Baun secured All-Pro honors for the first time in his career and was at the heart of Vic Fangio’s defense. Then there is Josh Sweat, who is also set to hit free agency. However, the Eagles have not used the tag since DeSean Jackson back in 2012.

2025 NFL franchise tag window opens today – NFL.comLast year, eight players were tagged, with seven eventually getting long-term deals. Higgins is the only man who played out the season on the one-year tender. The Bengals might once again squat on his rights. A second tender would boost his pay by 120 percent over last year’s figure — $26.2 million in 2025. Each club can use only one tender in a year. It can be rescinded before the player signs it, but it counts as being used. A player can be tagged up to three times by his team, with a jump in pay for each occurrence — the percentage of the salary cap taken up by the third time generally makes it prohibitive. A tagged player can be traded only after he signs the tender. Players with unsigned tenders are not technically under contract and, therefore, not susceptible to fines for missing voluntary offseason workouts, including training camp. The tag figures have yet to be released, as they are based on the NFL’s yearly salary cap, which has also not been announced for the 2025 season.

2025 NFL franchise tag candidates: Will Sam Darnold get it? – ESPNThe last Eagles player to receive the franchise tag designation was wide receiver DeSean Jackson in 2012. It hasn’t been part of their team-building model, and with six players set to count $12 million or more against the cap in 2025, it’s likely not a practice they’ll adopt now. Philadelphia does have several key defensive players set to become free agents, including linebacker Zack Baun and defensive linemen Josh Sweat and Milton Williams, all of whom are in line for big paydays this offseason. The Eagles won’t be able to keep all of them. They’ll try to offset any personnel losses by continuing their high hit rate in the draft and free agency.

Jalen Hurts is clearly a big-game player – BGNOUTLOOK: The Eagles should certainly be open to trading Pickett, who will be a free agent after the 2025 season. Dealing him allows the Eagles to 1) recoup some draft ammo, 2) clear $2.6 million in cap space, and 3) open up the QB2 job for a deserving Tanner McKee. My guess on realistic compensation is a fourth-round pick that could conditionally turn into a third-round selection based on playing time. Perhaps that’s too ambitious? I don’t know. Maybe some team will look at the relative success of Sam Darnold/Baker Mayfield/Jared Goff and think that Pickett still has potential. The Eagles won’t be looking to merely dump Pickett, nor should they. The guess here is that they will end up keeping him … but trading him seems ideal.

Dominant Stretch – Iggles Blitzhat is a 16-1 stretch and the only loss came in the final seconds in a game where the starting QB was knocked out with a concussion. The 2017 team started 13-2. They finished 16-3 for the season. The 2022 team started 13-1. They finished 16-4, losing in the Super Bowl. The 2024 Eagles won the NFC championship game by 32 points and then had a 34-point lead in the Super Bowl. I don’t know how to put that into context. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen to the Eagles. The 2017 Eagles beat the Vikings 38-7 in the NFC title game, but then had to hold on for dear life in the Super Bowl. And Case Keenum was the QB for Minnesota. The Eagles destroyed red hot Jayden Daniels this time around. This postseason was just surreal. It did happen, right? The Eagles averaged 30.7 points per game after the bye week. They gave up 16.7 points per game, and that includes several garbage time TDs. The number should probably be closer to 15 points per game. The Eagles won 9 games by 12 or more points. They didn’t do that in 2017 or 2022. I don’t know that we’ll ever seen the Eagles win 16 of 17 games again. That was a dominant stretch of football.

So, now what? 8 Eagles thoughts on offseason decisions ahead, Super Bowl parade leftovers, an enduring Jalen Hurts memory – PHLY1. The Eagles are preparing for some difficult decisions this offseason. It’s the byproduct of success — you can’t keep everybody, and players’ market values ascend with a Super Bowl victory — but the Eagles were bracing for defections even before the Super Bowl. Jeffrey Lurie hinted at this when he acknowledged the team is preparing for 2026 compensatory picks. That only happens if there are more high-priced unrestricted free agents that leave than those that arrive. We’ll have a separate article with stay-or-go predictions, but I would prepare to see key starters from the Super Bowl team play elsewhere next season. The Eagles still have a strong core in place, although free agents (such as Milton Williams) could go and high-priced veterans such as Darius Slay could be let go.

‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ star Rob McElhenney offers to pay Jalyx Hunt’s $5,690 fine for Super Bowl LIX bow-and-arrow celebration – InquirerIn a week full of scattered snow storms and powerful winds, the city of Philadelphia has never felt more cheerful and sunny. Coming off a Super Bowl win, Eagles fans have witnessed their fair share of wholesome interactions — from fans on Broad Street joining together to lift a man in a wheelchair to see the celebration to Saquon Barkley lifting the Eagles ball boy over the barricade to join Friday’s parade. But the good deeds didn’t stop there. After Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt was fined $5,690 for his bow-and-arrow celebration in Super Bowl LIX, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Rob McElhenney offered to pay the rookie’s fine on social media.

Super Bowl LIX Highlights: Eagles 40, Chiefs 22 – PE.comJalen Hurts was named Super Bowl LIX MVP after amassing more than 300 yards of total offense while scoring three total touchdowns. Meanwhile, the defense was outstanding as the Chiefs were held scoreless on their first nine drives while forcing two interceptions, one returned by rookie Cooper DeJean for a touchdown.

2025 NFL Mock Draft: QB Shedeur Sanders lands in New York, Cowboys trade for Myles Garrett – PFF32. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: EDGE JACK SAWYER, OHIO STATE. Howie Roseman proved again this season that he is the best team-building general manager in the NFL. Sawyer would be another productive pass-rusher for the Eagles, as he earned a 90.5 PFF pass-rush grade in 2024 and came up with key plays in big games.

AP Premier: Reacting to the disappointment of Super Bowl LIX – Arrowhead PrideWhen did you know? For me, it was the second Patrick Mahomes interception. The first pick was ugly. A pick-six to go down 17-0 midway through the second quarter? No thanks. But we’ve seen Mahomes and the Chiefs win Super Bowls when they were down by double-digits in the fourth quarter. The odds of winning the game at that point were low, but they weren’t zero. The Chiefs’ drive following the pick-six was a three-and-out and resulted in negative-6 yards. The defense then forced a punt, and Mahomes got the ball back down by 17 with just under two minutes left to play in the first half. This represented a classic double-dip opportunity – score right before the half and coming out of the half. The Chiefs haven’t been a perfect team this season, but they were arguably the best in the NFL at situational football. Not this time. On the first play of what became the Chiefs’ final meaningful drive of the game, Mahomes threw an ill-advised pass to the middle of the field, and Eagles linebacker Zach Baun made a remarkable diving catch for an interception. Instead of the Chiefs cutting into the Eagles’ deficit before the half, it was the Eagles driving 14 yards for another touchdown, sending Chiefs fans into a frenzy. That’s when I accepted the Chiefs’ fate.

Saints interview Jemal Singleton for Offensive Coordinator position – Canal Street ChroniclesSingleton joins Doug Nussmeier and Robert Prince as the other candidates for interviewed for their offensive coordinator position. With the Philadelphia Eagles, Singleton has consistently produced great running back seasons no matter who the players are. Obviously, this season, Singleton coached an RB room led by Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley. People may point to that and question how much influence Singleton had with the Eagles RBs this year, but no matter where he has coached, the running game has had success. As a leader, he is everything a team looks for, and that could also be a driving factor why he is in consideration for the Saints offensive coordinator position.

Commanders are betting favorites to land Myles Garrett – PFTTwo weeks ago, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett made known his desire to leave the Browns. The Browns reportedly won’t do it. Garrett apparently won’t abandon his desire to go to a contender. The current odds at DraftKings have Garrett taking his next snap with a team that went farther than the Browns have gone since the late 1980s. The Commanders are +300 favorites to land Garrett. Next are the Eagles, at +450. His current team lands at 5-1.

Commanders have some stars but roster has more questions than answers – Hogs HavenWashington will head into the 2025 offseason with a lot of holes to fill. For a team that made it all the way to the NFC Championship came, the Commanders are now considered by many to be “contenders”. Contenders want to maximize the window for them to contend, so many assume Adam Peters will be aggressive in the offseason filling these holes with longer-term impact players. The Commanders are certainly not barren of talent; however, the pieces they do have in place (with the exception of quarterback) will require another added piece or two to truly put them into the “contender” category. Below are key players (and some overhauls) that could use another good running mate or two. I have also listed some players who Peters can target and where we could look to get them. For the NFL Draft, I have only projected prospects inside the top 100 for Washington.

NFL mock draft gives Myles Garrett to Cowboys, Ashton Jeanty to Browns – Blogging The BoysLet it be known that this mock is somewhat predicated on the wildcatter reputation that Jerry Jones has – one that we have not necessarily seen him exemplify all too much recently. One of the most, if not the most, fascinating elements of this mock is that the perceived price to acquire Myles Garrett is two first-round picks. It is hard to turn that down on some level given the idea of Garrett rushing the passer opposite of Micah Parsons. For what it’s worth, Parsons said in the week of talk leading up to Super Bowl LIX that he would take less money to play with Garrett, but a lot of that would involve how much money Garrett himself is going to take up with whoever trades for him given that he is likely seeking a new deal, too.

New York Giants free agency primer: 5 realistic targets at WR – Big Blue ViewMack Hollins, BUF. The enigmatic Hollins is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound 31-year-old receiver who spent last season with the Buffalo Bills. He’s known as one of the more physical and dominant blocking wide receivers in the NFL. Hollins is coming off a career year where he caught 36 of 56 targets for 482 yards with six touchdowns. He was a fourth-round pick out of North Carolina for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017. The Giants’ current wide receiver coach, Mike Groh, had that same role with the Eagles in 2017. Groh was promoted to offensive coordinator for the 2018-2019 season. Hollins missed the 2018 season with a groin injury, and he was unexpectedly released in 2019.