Philadelphia Eagles fans had their doubts that the team would defend its Super Bowl title following an up-and-down regular season, but with a home game to begin their postseason run against a banged-up San Francisco 49ers team on the docket, at least one playoff win seemed probable, right? Well, not exactly.
Despite leading 16-10 at the end of the third quarter, the Eagles allowed the Niners to outscore them 13-3 in the final frame, losing the game 23-19 in the process. This loss emphasized just how big a failure this season was, and with that, a failure of a season should lead to major changes. Those changes start with these Eagles who won't be back.
Eagles who won't be back
- Eagles who will be fired or released
- Eagles free agents who won't be back
- The prime Eagles trade candidate
Eagles who will be fired or released
OC Kevin Patullo
I don't think Kevin Patullo is entirely to blame for an offense that greatly disappointed, but the fact of the matter is the Eagles scored just 19 points on Sunday and averaged 22.3 points per game in the regular season, good for 19th in the NFL. That's not good enough, and Patullo never showed that he has what it takes to be an offensive coordinator right now.
This offense ranked seventh in points per game last season, and most of the key players from last year's team remained with the club. The big change was the Patullo hire. In most cases, I'd want to give a coach more than one year to prove himself, but the Eagles' offense was bad enough with so much talent to warrant his firing.
K Jake Elliott
Yes, Jake Elliott made each of his field goal attempts in Sunday's game, but his extra-point miss on the Eagles' first touchdown loomed large. Had he made that extra point, the Eagles would've only needed three points to tie on their last possession, and they were certainly within Elliott's range on that drive. If that miss was his first, it'd be easy to brush off, but that really isn't the case. While Elliott has had a ton of success throughout his nine-year career, all with the Eagles, he's had two down years in a row, and this miss only added to that.
Elliott went 20-for-27 on his field goal attempts this season. His 74.1 percent conversion rate on those attempts ranked 29th among 30 kickers with at least 20 field goal attempts, and he struggled to even complete above half of his attempts from 40+ yards. Cutting him would force the Eagles to take on nearly $11 million in cap penalties, but the need for a new kicker couldn't be clearer after how they lost this game.
Eagles free agents who won't be back
TE Dallas Goedert
Dallas Goedert was as healthy as he's ever been this season with the Eagles, starting a career-high 15 games and setting career-highs with 60 receptions and 11 receiving touchdowns. He even added a pair of touchdowns in Sunday's game. Goedert was a prime red zone target all season, and will be a tough player for the Eagles to lose as they attempt to bolster their offense this offseason.
With that being said, Goedert is bound to get paid after his strong year, and are we sure the Eagles will be the team to pay him? The Eagles only have so much cap space to work with, and ought to prioritize getting extensions done with Jaelen Phillips and other key members of the roster before they consider re-signing Goedert. If he's open to a hometown discount, perhaps something will change (he was brought back this past season on a pay cut, so who knows), but it's tough to envision Howie Roseman committing to the 31-year-old.
RB A.J. Dillon
Kenneth Gainwell signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers last offseason, opening the door for an external free agent to fill his void as Saquon Barkley's primary backup. A.J. Dillon was brought in to play a key role in Philadelphia's offense, but he played just seven games and totaled 12 carries for 60 yards on the ground and three receptions for 21 yards in the air during the regular season. He was inactive for Sunday's game.
Tank Bigsby was the player who served as Barkley's primary backup, and he was very efficient, albeit in fairly limited action for the most part. Bigsby is under contract for another year, and Will Shipley, another running back with some talent, is under contract through 2027. There's no need to bring Dillon, a player who didn't see the field much, back.
LB Nakobe Dean
This one might be the toughest of the bunch. Nakobe Dean only played in 10 games during the regular season, but to say his impact was felt would be an understatement. The Eagles' defense went from good to great once Dean returned to the lineup, and his play was a huge reason why. He set career highs with 4.0 sacks and two forced fumbles, and he chipped in seven tackles for loss and six QB hits. He played a key role in one of the best linebacker rooms in the NFL while proving to be a real team leader as well.
Dean, a player who just turned 25 years old, coming off a really strong season, is obviously someone they'd love to bring back, but how realistic is that? Philadelphia handed Zack Baun a hefty three-year contract last offseason and used a first-round pick on Jihaad Campbell. They don't need Dean as much as they need to upgrade elsewhere, and with that, there's a good chance he'll command more than the Eagles can afford to invest. If he'd be open to a hometown discount, though, perhaps a reunion could go down, but don't bank on that.
QB Sam Howell
The Eagles traded for Sam Howell to add depth to their quarterback room just before the regular season, but he did not play a single snap. Jalen Hurts stayed healthy the entire season, and when the Eagles opted to rest him in their final regular season game, Tanner McKee, the backup, started and played the entire game.
Even coming off a down year, Hurts will remain the unquestioned QB1, and there's a good chance McKee will be his backup. If the Eagles choose to capitalize on McKee's increasing value and trade him away, they'd likely pursue a quarterback with a better NFL track record before re-signing Howell, a quarterback who has completed just 62.6 percent of his passes with more interceptions (23) than touchdowns (22) in his 20 NFL appearances. They could conceivably bring him back as the third stringer, but it's probably in both parties' best interest to go in a different direction.
The prime Eagles trade candidate
WR A.J. Brown
This is the big one. Trading their best receiver after the offense had such a miserable year might be strange without knowing the proper context, but it became abundantly clear this season that A.J. Brown is unhappy in Philadelphia, and his play showed just that, particularly on Sunday. He had just three receptions for 25 yards and had multiple drops to boot in addition to his sideline altercation with head coach Nick Sirianni.
Perhaps the Eagles find a way to make Brown happy, but ultimately, there's a reason he was in trade rumors all year. Trading him midseason was never particularly realistic with the Eagles looking to defend their Super Bowl title, but the time is now for Roseman to make major changes to this offense. Finding a suitable replacement is easier said than done, but if anyone can do it, it's Roseman. Even if he can't, ensuring that a disgruntled player isn't in town next season should be at or near the top of Roseman's offseason priorities list.
More NFL news and analysis: