Eagles News: Philadelphia drops in ESPN’s offensive playmaker rankings

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …

Ranking WR, TE, RB groups for 2026: Best and worst NFL teams – ESPN
9) Philadelphia Eagles. 2025 rank: 1 | 2024 rank: 2. Just ahead of A.J. Brown’s new team, his old one falls off the top of the board to ninth. The Eagles’ coming cap concerns on defense have forced them to try to replace Brown’s production in the aggregate, and while GM Howie Roseman did a reasonable job in landing Makai Lemon, Hollywood Brown and Dontayvion Wicks at wide receiver this offseason, there’s a significant drop-off between even the 2025 version of Brown and what the Eagles project to get from his replacements in 2026. DeVonta Smith has looked like a WR1 without Brown on the field in the past, but the stylish wideout would have to elevate his game even further to compensate for his missing partner. It was always going to be difficult for Saquon Barkley to sustain his absurd big-play rate from 2024, but after racking up 21 gains of 20 yards or more during his Super Bowl-winning season, Barkley managed only six of them in 2025. He had to do way more work before first contact: He averaged more than 4 yards before he was initially touched by a defender in 2024, but that fell to 2.3 yards in 2025, which was almost exactly the league average for starting backs. I don’t doubt Barkley’s talent, but his true big-play production rate is somewhere between what we saw in 2024 and 2025. The one player who might miss former Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo (now with the Dolphins) is Dallas Goedert. A tight end who has often underperformed his touchdown expectation in the red zone, Goedert scored 11 times last season, including seven times from inside the 5-yard line (after averaging 4.4 touchdowns per 17 games over the rest of his career). Even if the Eagles aren’t as reliant on the tush push in 2026, it would be a surprise if Goedert saw as many designed touches near the goal line again this season. Second-round rookie Eli Stowers could figure in at tight end by the end of the season too.

Zach Ertz gets emotional talking about his time with the Eagles – BGN
It was an Eagles reunion on the latest episode of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, who spoke to Zach and Julie Ertz about the World Cup and Zach’s time in Philadelphia. They spent some time catching up, comparing football to soccer, and ribbing each other about their very blonde hair in 2021. There were a few notables coming out of the interview, and it highlighted — perhaps moreso now than ever before — Zach’s affinity and appreciation for his nine years playing for the Eagles. In fact, the tight end got emotional reminiscing about playing alongside guys like Jason, Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, and Fletcher Cox. He explained that it wasn’t always easy, but knowing they all had each others back made that core group of guys something Zach looks back on fondly.

Eagles 2026 most important list: Jalyx Hunt – NBCSP
It’s amazing how much growth we’ve already seen from Hunt in his two years in the NFL. In his first two NFL games, Hunt didn’t see a single snap on defense. By the end of his rookie season, he was a legitimate part of the edge rusher rotation. And then last season, Hunt was the Eagles’ most productive edge rusher. In addition to his 6 1/2 sacks, Hunt also led the group with a pressure rate of 17.3%. 2024: 241 snaps (25%), 1 1/2 sacks, 3 QB hits, 0 INTs, 1 TFL, 2 FFs … 2025: 693 snaps (62%), 6 1/2 sacks, 14 QB hits, 3 INTs, 9 TFLs, 2 FFs. This offseason, the Eagles went out and traded for Jonathan Greenard to be their top-of-the-rotation edge rusher. But don’t sleep on Hunt’s ceiling in 2026. Greenard called Hunt a “freak” and marveled at watching Hunt’s pick-6 against the Vikings last year.

Philadelphia Eagles Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Marries Maylin Lindsey in Romantic Wedding Ceremony – People
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is married! On Wednesday, June 24, the Philadelphia Eagles linebacker, 23, shared he’d tied the knot with longtime girlfriend Maylin Lindsey, announcing the news in a joint post on Instagram. The two shared several photos from their nuptials on social media as they posed in and around their wedding venue. Trotter Jr. could be seen wearing a tuxedo, while Lindsey donned a strapless gown and held a bouquet of white roses.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson blames his release in Houston on confrontation with “GM’s friend” – PFT
Seven seasons. Six departures. Gardner-Johnson can say it’s not him — and maybe it isn’t. Still, he’s made six exits in less than four calendar years (the Saints traded him to the Eagles on August 30, 2022). On several occasions, Gardner-Johnson aired grievances after his departures. He called his year with the Lions “hell,” and he claimed he was “lied to.” He said the Eagles traded him after the team won Super Bowl LIX because they were “scared of a competitor.” He complained to Graham about his week in Maryland: “They sign you in the middle of the night with the plan for you to play that week, then literally 14 hours later they trade for a safety and tell you, ‘Oh, we’re going to start him and keep you on the practice squad.’ I’m a Super Bowl champion!” Despite his performance in 11 games with the Bears, Gardner-Johnson told Graham that he knew the Bears wouldn’t re-sign him.

That Philly guy wrote his annual “dumpster fire” article and he might be right – Blogging The Boys
I know he’s trolling us, but this year his points really track with my worries for this season. His points on the Parsons trade are things many fans have talked themselves out of admitting. Only like 4 of the 10 points are even about the defensive personnel. And he also points out some weaknesses in the offense that weren’t addressed.

Will the Commanders new zone-heavy scheme fit center Nick Allegretti? – Hogs Haven
It was no secret Nick Allegretti struggled in Kliff Kingsbury’s gap-centric scheme in 2024, and his play could, at best, be described as up and down. He was considered a possible cut candidate headed into this offseason as his cap hit escalated in the third year of his contract. Following the release of Tyler Biadasz, the team ended any such speculation by restructuring Nick’s contract and making him the presumptive starter at the center position. The addition of Matt Gulbin in the sixth round of this year’s draft is more of a vote of confidence in Allegretti than representation of a significant challenger for the starting role.

Are the Giants spending their money wisely this season? – Big Blue View
The glass half empty view of the situation would be that the Giants just don’t have enough talent to seriously compete and that part of the reason they don’t is because the team – whether that be the owners or Harbaugh or Joe Schoen (who seems no longer to have the power to make that call) – is just not willing to use the financial tricks available to them to push costs into the future. There is no way to decide between those two possibilities from our vantage point on the outside. If the Giants compete this year and they make a big move at the trading deadline to go for it all, then we’ll have our answer. If they compete but refuse to make a move to address a glaring weakness, then we’ll have the opposite answer.

NFL breakout candidates at every position in 2026 – SB Nation
We are roughly one month away from the first NFL training camps opening ahead of the Hall of Fame Game between the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers. For those of us who are counting, that game is a mere 44 days away at the time of writing. While we continue to wait with growing anticipation, though, we sit in the midst of the NFL dead period, which also doubles as projection and prediction season where me and my fellow NFL media colleagues slide our glasses up our noses and “Well, actually…” you all until you begin to generate a slight hatred for all of us. That is, of course, we say nice things about players from your favorite team, to which we become heroes of EnterTeamNameHere. The All-Breakout Team is an exercise I began back in 2023. It took a brief hiatus last year, but it returns for what will hopefully be a yearly outing around this time of the offseason. Notable All-Breakout Team alumni include DeVon Achane and Puka Nacua in 2023, as well as Bucky Irving in 2024. Who will prove me right this season? Here is the 2026 All-Breakout Team.

NFL announces dates for 2027 draft in Washington, D.C. – NFL.com
The 2027 NFL Draft presented by Bud Light will take place Thursday, April 29 to Saturday, May 1, 2027, in Washington, D.C., the NFL announced today.

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