NFL Rumors: Eagles defensive house cleaning extends to controversial figure

The Philadelphia Eagles couldn’t have ended the 2023 NFL season on a much worse note. After losing five of their last regular season games following a 10-1 start to the campaign, the Eagles lost embarrassingly to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during Super Wild Card Weekend.

After rumors surfaced that Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was coaching for his job against the Bucs, ESPN’s Adam Schefter has since reported that “all signs continue to point” to Sirianni remaining with the Eagles in 2024. However, the same cannot be said for some of the defensive counterparts of his coaching staff from this season.

Philadelphia Eagles cleaning house on defensive side of the ball

In addition to relieving defensive coordinator Sean Desai of his duties, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero has announced that the Eagles will be moving on without senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia, who intends to “explore other opportunities.”

Pelissero notes that Patricia is not under contract beyond this season. He took over defensive play-calling duties from Desai last month, giving him no time to implement his strategy while working with a defense that ranked 30th in the NFL in opponent points per game (25.6) and 26th in yards (360.0).

Patricia is highly regarded as one of the brightest defensive minds in the league and should have no shortage of suitors in the open market. He served as the defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots from 2012-2017, where he helped guide the team to two Super Bowl victories.

During Patricia’s tenure with the Patriots, he reported to head coach Bill Belichick, who seems to be on the shortlist of candidates for the Atlanta Falcons head coaching vacancy. With that in mind, could the two reunite in Atlanta in hopes of producing similar results?