The reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles report to training camp on July 22. That means football is less than two weeks away. Unfortunately, that also means the spring and summer of telling everyone that the Eagles beat the Chiefs 40-6 in Super Bowl LIX is coming to a disturbingly fast close.
Regardless, it’s a good time to ease yourself into thinking what the Eagles' 2025 roster might start to look like, and which guys might not make the 53-man roster.
There’s a chance, albeit a small one, that we might get a teensie bit over-excited about players that Howie Roseman signs, when in reality they’re kind of a dud. It hardly ever happens.
These are the guys who were relatively high-profile signings, who are in significant situations with their job, and/or who have a tough couple of months ahead of them during training camp.
4. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, quarterback
The Eagles sent Kenny Pickett to the Browns earlier in the spring, and in return, the Browns sent back a fifth-round pick... and also Dorian Thompson-Robinson
I make it a point to not watch the In-Season Hard Knocks until the summer, and I space it out so that when I finish the last episode, the new season or the real Hard Knocks premieres. Last night I just watched the episode where DTR got his first start of the season, and buddy… he stinks.
All it’s going to take for DTR to hit the road is a serviceable performance in training camp and the preseason schedule from Kyle McCord, the quarterback the Eagles drafted in the sixth round out of Syracuse. That shouldn’t be hard.
A lot of that has to do with their play styles; DTR does his best work when he’s scrambling and off schedule. Maybe that kind of thing will show its face during the joint practices and in the preseason games, but probably not.
3. Lewis Cine, safety
As of right now, the Eagles have seven safeties on their roster: Reed Blankenship, Drew Mukuba, Sydney Brown, Tristin McCollum, Andre’ Sam, Maxen Hook, and Lewis Cine. There are going to be a few of those guys that get the boot, but the most notable one seems like it could be Lewis Cine.
With the 32nd pick of the 2022 draft, the Vikings chose Cine, a safety from Georgia. That was the high point of his career.
Since then, he’s played eight defensive snaps because of a mega-bad leg fracture in his rookie season. Last postseason, the Eagles signed him off the Bills' practice squad just to hold him until this season.
In the spring practices, Cine got a few reps with the first team, but that was early on, and it was a day that Reed Blankenship wasn’t there. It seems entirely realistic that Cine doesn’t get a shot, especially at a position where three guys are familiar with Fangio’s system, and there’s a second-round rookie in Mukuba.
On the other side of that coin, he’s a Georgia guy, and they have a way of showing up and showing out at some point or another.
2. Dallas Gant, linebacker
The Eagles also have a whole lot of depth at linebacker: Zack Baun, Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Jihaad Campbell, Smael Mondon, and Dallas Gant. Gant’s not exactly a notable guy by any means, but the situation is because of the whole Jihaad Campbell thing.
The Eagles drafted Campbell in the first round this spring, but he’s coming off surgery and he’s not 100% yet. Hopefully, he will be by Week 1, but if there are any kind of setbacks or anything, Vic Fangio and Nick Sirianni could opt not to cut one of their depth linebackers.
To put it plainly: if Jihaad Campbell is ready to go (and it seems like he will be), then Gant’s a goner. If he’s not, then Gant’s good.
1. Harrison Bryant, tight end (but probably Kylen Granson)
The Eagles signed both Harrison Bryant and Kylen Granson before they brought Dallas Goedert back, and by what Goedert has said about the negotiations, it was never a guarantee that he was actually going to come back. That means that Bryant and Granson are going to be battling for the TE3 spot.
It stinks, but there is no guarantee that Goedert is going to be consistently healthy this season; as a matter of fact, it feels like there’s a pretty solid chance that he won’t be healthy for the whole season. That means the TE3 spot is going to be pretty important.
Last season, Jack Stoll, C.J. Uzomah, and E.J. Jenkins all rotated in at TE3, and they played a cumulative 428 offensive snaps (36.99%). For reference, Goedert played 446 snaps (38.55%), and Grant Calcaterra played 766 (66.21%).
I’m basing this purely on who the Eagles prioritized in free agency: Granson was signed on March 20th, and Bryant was signed on March 13th. In the long run, those dates won’t mean nearly as much as how the guys actually do in the preseason, but for the time being… Kylen Granson is on the hot seat.