Eagles News: Philadelphia’s X-factor for the 2025 season

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2025 NFL Roster Rankings: Strengths, weaknesses and X-factors for every starting lineup – PFFX-factor for 2025: EDGE Nolan Smith. Philadelphia lost longtime contributors Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham this offseason, which puts third-year man Nolan Smith in the spotlight off the edge. Smith posted a solid 68.3 PFF pass-rush grade last season as he began to earn more playing time. In Philadelphia’s four postseason games, he racked up 19 pressures and four sacks. If he can produce at that level for a full season, the Eagles will have no problem replacing their departed stars.

Eight young NFL players whose development could propel their teams in 2025 – NFL.comNOLAN SMITH: There’s been a lot of speculation about the factors that could keep the Eagles from repeating as Super Bowl champions, and most of it tends to revolve around the losses along their defensive front. Along with the departure of defensive end Milton Williams in free agency, the Eagles also watched edge rushers Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham (retired) leave the franchise. That means new faces must emerge to impact the quarterback, and Smith will be one of the most important pieces on the outside. He’s always had the talent, as his 4.39-second time in the 40-yard dash at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine helped turn him into a first-round pick that year. Last season, Smith showcased his ability to transform potential into production. He went from playing a limited role as a rookie to amassing 6.5 sacks and 24 quarterback pressures in his second year. Smith also had four sacks in three playoff games leading into Super Bowl LIX before adding a couple of quarterback hits in that win over Kansas City. Smith has spent the last two seasons playing behind more accomplished pass rushers. This is the season when he must take that next step and prove he’s more than just a nice rotational weapon. Philadelphia’s schedule is filled with prolific offenses and athletic quarterbacks, both outside the NFC East (like Mahomes, Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Green Bay’s Jordan Love) and within it (Washington’s Jayden Daniels and Dallas’ Dak Prescott). The Eagles’ ability to defend those opponents won’t just come down to their strong secondary. They’ll need more disruptive players up front, and that’s where Smith needs to deliver.

Philadelphia Eagles will open significant salary cap space this weekend – BGNThe Philadelphia Eagles have been busy coming off their Super Bowl victory, reworking their roster and making a flurry of moves to move salary cap space around. Two of those moves involved designated post-June 1st releases of veteran cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry. With June 1st right around the corner, Philadelphia will finally be able to realize the cap savings provided by these moves. If you aren’t familiar with the “post-June 1st designation”, we’ve got a detailed breakdown for you here. The short version is that after June 1st, releases are treated differently in terms of the salary cap. Instead of the entire dead money on a contract hitting all at once, the dead money is split between the current year and the following year. This can allow teams to create cap space in the current year by deferring some of the dead money hit to the next year.

Eagles Offseason Storylines To Follow (PST Episode 618) – Philadelphia Sports TableThere are a bunch of Philadelphia Eagles offseason storylines to follow. Whether it’s the new rookie talent and how they may contribute this season, to how Nick Sirianni is growing as a head coach, there’s plenty to discuss. Brandon Lee Gowton from BleedingGreenNation.com joined us for some fantastic analysis and a discussion about a number of Eagles offseason storylines as we’re looking towards this upcoming NFL year.

OTA Talk – Iggles BlitzPatullo has been on the staff the past four years. He’s had a big voice in the offense. Patullo is a veteran NFL coach who has seen different ways to do things. He isn’t coming here to focus on one thing. Patullo can run the offense in different ways because of his background. He told a good story about his time working for Chan Gailey with the Chiefs in 2008. They lost a couple of QBs so Gailey called the offensive coaches into a room with blank whiteboards. Gailey said “Tyler Thigpen is our QB and we have to figure out a whole new system, something that will work for him.” The Chiefs used the Pistol, which wasn’t part of the NFL at that time. KC lost a ton of games, but the offense had some good moments, despite being on their #3 QB. The Eagles took a chance on Brian Johnson in 2023. They knew he didn’t have ideal experience, but valued him enough to take a chance. It didn’t work. The Eagles lost multiple key guys in 2018, especially one who was tight with the QB. That led to problems. Patullo has worked closely with Jalen Hurts for four years. Patullo has a strong relationship with Nick Sirianni. We don’t know that this will work, but it feels different.

Meet Eagles’ OC Patullo, the ‘unsung hero’ of Philly’s offense – ESPNDuring Super Bowl week in February, quarterback Kenny Pickett described Patullo as the team’s “unsung hero”, noting he spearheaded the two-minute offense and was key in shaping the game plan behind the scenes each week. But this is a new role for Patullo, who will be calling plays full-time for the first time in his career. The last time the Eagles promoted from within, tabbing Brian Johnson to replace Shane Steichen in 2023, it did not go well. Sirianni got more hands-on and there was a disconnect in visions for the offense between Johnson, Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts. Things smoothed out last year when Moore took over the offense and Sirianni took a step back and assumed more of a CEO-type role. Whether that setup will continue with Patullo now at offensive coordinator remains to be seen. “I think there’s a lot of fundamental things that we see the same way, but I do think our brains work differently,” Patullo said.

Bowen: Kevin Patullo wants to run ‘the Eagles offense,’ which seems like a pretty decent idea, overall – PHLYTransitioning to Patullo as OC instead of bringing in an outsider should be good for Hurts, who will be working with his sixth play-caller in six NFL seasons. Last week, Hurts said that Patullo has “always played a pivotal role in what we’ve done. I think he’s got a great mentality and a great approach coming into everything right now.” Right now, the only change in the offensive starting lineup is at right guard, Mekhi Becton having left in free agency. Tyler Steen got plenty of backup work there last season and probably has the inside track to start. Patullo inherits a full cupboard, he just has to blend the ingredients the right way.

Landon Dickerson has spent the offseason on the mend from a knee injury suffered during the Eagles’ Super Bowl run – InquirerDickerson said he missed the second practice of the Eagles’ organized team activities on Wednesday due to an “illness,” but said he’s been part of the rest of the team’s spring workouts the last few weeks. Lane Johnson and DeVonta Smith were also among the offensive starters absent from the voluntary session on Wednesday, which was open to the media. “I’m good for [OTAs],” Dickerson said. “I actually had a little bit of an illness thing I was dealing with. But I’ve been there every day. It was just the one day that you guys showed up. … We can’t do a whole lot. We’re in helmets, skill positions do seven-on-seven stuff, but the O-line is really just running drills with [Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland] for an hour and a half.”

Eagles Do Something Different with a Rookie Contract – Over The CapSigning a 6th round pick that you just drafted is not really noteworthy but the Eagles have done something a little different with Cameron Williams that hasn’t really been seen before. In this case the Eagles guaranteed Williams $475,000 of his salary, bringing his total guarantee to $676,568 rather than the $201,568 that would normally come from the slot. The guarantee is split as $375,000 in 2025 and $125,000 in 2026. There is also a small salary increase in the first two years of the contract. I had heard through the grapevine that the Eagles have been trying to do this for some time in order to try to set a new precedent for their contracts, but this was the first one to take the deal. In return for the salary guarantee the Eagles have a split salary in the 3rd year of the contract, which is not typical of drafted player contracts. A split salary brings a player’s salary down if he lands on a reserve list.

Best plays from every Philadelphia Eagles season – PhiladelphiaEagles.comIn some seasons, there is no debate. 2024 comes to mind with Saquon Barkley’s reverse hurdle. Other years? Let’s hear it! Rewatch all the best highlights from EVERY season in Philadelphia Eagles history (that we have footage of)!

The Washington Commanders will have joint practices with the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens – Hogs HavenThe Washington Commanders open the 2025 preseason with an away game vs the New England Patriots. New Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and Commanders head coach Dan Quinn both said they wanted to have joint practices and that plan is reportedly going to happen. Last season Washington had joint practices with the Jets and Ravens, and that trend continues in Quinn’s second season with the Commanders.

ESPN’s FPI model suggests Dallas Cowboys will be below average team in 2025 – Blogging The BoysPush is going to come to shove at some point in 2025 with the Cowboys, and they are going to prove that they are either the core of a team that went to the playoffs three times in a row with an outlier of a season that followed, or a team that began to fall off of a cliff of sorts. These are the only real practical outcomes for who they are going to be next season. It makes sense in this vein to approach the team with some anticipation in 2025, but this does still seem a bit harsh. Time will tell if the Cowboys are in fact a team who will return to playoff form and prove things like this to be too critical of who they ultimately are.

Did the Giants close the talent gap? Ranking NFC East defenses position-by-position – Big Blue ViewThe Eagles finished with 12 more points than the Giants and Cowboys, who tied with 25. Washington finished with two fewer points than New York and Dallas, with 23 total points. This means the Giants will be a better team than the Commanders — there’s no other way to interpret such a precise and scholarly breakdown. On a serious note, the Giants’ roster has improved over the last two seasons. They’re not completely devoid of talent in critical areas — they have superstars on the roster. There don’t appear to be many training camp battles for starting spots, although roles can still be earned. Of course, this does not mean the Giants will fully rigcht the ship. There’s much more to winning football games than improving one’s roster. If the Giants want to improve their standing in the NFL and compete for the playoffs, they MUST find ways to defeat the Commanders, Cowboys, and Eagles. The Giants lost all six of their divisional games last season and are 4-13-1 in the division since Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen assumed responsibility for the franchise. That has to improve.

New Orleans Saints offseason grades: At least the city has good food – SB NationThere are few things I hated more when it came to coaching than the Dennis Allen era in New Orleans. This was an organization that was left reeling by Payton’s exit, causing them to just hand the job to Allen on what they initially thought would be an interim basis — then it became a permanent one. Thankfully the Saints decided to turn the page this offseason and made an interesting hire in Kellen Moore. Moore is one of those guys who had routinely been on the radar for a coaching gig ever since his time in Dallas, but then took a major step back in his head coaching journey, only to find it once more after leading the Eagles offense to a Super Bowl.