These Eagles won’t be back: Here’s how they’ll impact NFL free agency

In 2024, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Saquon Barkley and C.J. Gardner-Johnson in free agency. That was a fun offseason. In 2025, they re-signed Zack Baun and extended Saquon Barkley… but lost Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Mekhi Becton, and Isaiah Rodgers. That was not a fun offseason (aside from the whole ‘celebrating winning the Super Bowl’ part). This offseason seems like it might be one of those un-fun ones. 

It’s a fool’s errand to try to guess what Howie Roseman is going to do in the offseason, but we know what he has done in the past, and we know which guys from the 2025 roster are going to be free agents. That means we can make a decently educated guess on which guys are going to leave in March. 

TE Dallas Goedert

Dallas Goedert shopped himself around last offseason before he restructured the last year of his contract with the Eagles. Now he’s 31 years old and officially a free agent.

Two months ago, it really seemed like he was going to set the market price on tight ends this offseason… Then, on December 3rd, the Ravens gave 29-year-old Mark Andrews a three-year deal for $39.3 million. That’s a pricey precedent that’s going to make Dallas Goedert a very rich man.

Goedert didn’t have the most receiving yards that he’s ever had, but he did have 11 receiving touchdowns. He’s still a hell of a receiving threat in the red zone, and when a guy like that becomes available, he’s going to get paid a lot by someone… That someone isn’t going to be the Eagles. 

For the past three years, pretty much everyone in the world thought the Eagles were going to draft a tight end. They haven’t, and we were all wrong. That’s got to change this season, right? It’d be crazy if it didn’t.

Potential Landing Spot: Minnesota Vikings. If they cut T.J. Hockenson, they’ll need a veteran tight end… 

Also, one time I sat next to Dallas Goedert's mom on a flight from MSP to PHL. He’s from South Dakota. If he’s not going to finish his career in Philadelphia, it’d be cool to see him do it close to where he grew up.

LB Nakobe Dean

Nakobe Dean’s an interesting case because for the reasons a team should pay him, there are reasons they shouldn’t.

He’s a top-ten linebacker in the NFL that every team should want, but he’s dealt with a whole bunch of injuries and hasn’t ever played a full season. He’s a vocal leader on the Eagles' defense, but they just paid Zack Baun and drafted Jihaad Campbell last offseason. 

If there’s a general manager out there who is willing to risk the injury stuff and drop a shipping container of gold in Dean’s front yard, then that’s totally understandable. If that doesn’t happen, there’s a small chance that he could re-sign with the Birds and stay in Philadelphia with his Georgia boys. 

There are good linebackers in free agency like Caden Ellis and Quay Walker… But Ellis is 31 years old. Are you going to want to spend a lot on him? Walker is the same age as Dean, but simply isn’t as good. Are you going to want him to be the foundation of your defense?

Dean’s going to be one of the more interesting non-quarterback free agents to watch this offseason, purely because it’ll tell us what different GMs are willing to risk and what they value. 

Potential Landing Spot: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or wherever Brian Flores goes. Put him with a defensive coordinator who’ll have him blitzing. 

EDGE Jaelan Phillips

Jaelan Phillips was the Eagles' splash move at the trade deadline, and it paid off big time. Before they traded for him, their pass rush was Jalyx Hunt and Josh Uche… and that’s it. Right around the time they made the trade, Nolan Smith came off the IR, and Brandon Graham unretired. 

So not only did Phillips add a whole boatload of talent to the edge rusher room, but they also got a bunch of guys back. I’m not trying to take away what he added to the room, but there are a few reasons why that defensive line got a whole lot better.

I think the Eagles are going to move on from him for the same reason they moved on from Josh Sweat in 2025: Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis need money, and you cannot pay everyone. 

The hiccup here is Phillips’ potential price tag, because like Nakobe Dean, he’s also dealt with some gruesome injuries. He tore his right Achilles in 2023 and tore his right ACL in 2024.

He’s arguably the best free agent edge rusher available this offseason, so there definitely will be a market for him… it just really comes down to whether or not the GMs who need edge rushers care about past injuries.

Potential Landing Spots: Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers

OL Fred Johnson

The Eagles made a decision during the 2025 free agency to let Fred Johnson walk. He had been their swing tackle from 2022 to 2024, but they opted not to pay him and let him go to the Jaguars. 

In late August, Howie Roseman traded a seventh-round pick to the Jags to get Johnson back. I assume that after they saw that they weren’t going to be able to roll Matt Pryor at right tackle if Lane Johnson happened to go down. 

Well, in Week 3, the Eagles played the Rams. Lane Johnson did go down, and Matt Pryor went in and got absolutely abused by Jared Verse… specifically on the second play of the second half:

Fred Johnson came in immediately after that and was the backup right tackle for the rest of the season. That ended up being important because Lane Johnson ended up only playing 100% of the snaps in five or six games all season.  

Fred Johnson played somewhere between fine and good all season; he wasn’t a complete liability, and he wasn’t a forcefield like Lane Johnson.

Maybe the Eagles decide to keep him as a backup this offseason, and maybe they don’t. You could go either way... It depends on whether Lane Johnson comes back, and which offensive lineman they plan on drafting and when they plan on drafting him.

When the Jags signed him, it was just a one-year contract for $1.3 million. If he goes somewhere else, it’s probably going to be for roughly the same amount, if not a little bit more. Nothing crazy. 

Potential Landing Spots: New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals

CB Adoree’ Jackson

Adoree’ Jackson isn’t going to be with the Eagles next year, and he’s not going to play a huge part in free agency next season, which is why I’m putting him last here.

2025 started incredibly rocky with Jackson, the Eagles, and Vic Fangio. While Quinyon Mitchell held down one side of the field, Jackson’s side was mega-vulnerable. It wasn’t until after the Week 9 bye that Jackson consistently looked like he was finally comfortable being part of the defensive back hive mind and that he could pass off coverages seamlessly.

He ended up being a pretty solid ball player, and the Eagles are (more than likely) going to have to backfill the 30-year-old’s spot on the defense. 

Potential Landing Spot: Pretty much anywhere. Every team needs cornerback depth.