It’s a big week in Eagles World as we all eagerly await the 2026 NFL schedule release, which will be Thursday evening. That means it’s time to fire up the calendar, pick out flights, book hotels, reserve your rental car and plan your fall road trips.
But first, it’s Roob’s 10 Random eagles Offseason Observations Day!
Can the Eagles end a 76-year drought in 2026? Can DeVonta Smith break Harold Carmichael’s franchise receiving record? Can Uar Bernard ever be a legit NFL defensive lineman?
We have plenty of questions and we may even have some answers.
CAN DEVONTA CATCH HAROLD? It wasn’t that long ago it seemed A.J. Brown had a real chance to break Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael’s franchise record of 8,978 career receiving yards. Brown has averaged 81.2 yards as an Eagle and has 5,034 yards so three more seasons at his current rate would put him right there with Harold. Alas, those three more years are not going to happen. What about DeVonta? Could he make a run at Harold’s record? Absolutely. Smith hasn’t put up the numbers that A.J. has but he’s not far off and he’s a lot younger and of course has spent his entire career here. Smith has 5,019 yards as an Eagle and has averaged 63 per game, and he’s only 27. At his current pace he would need to play four more years here to catch Harold. He’s signed through 2028 at his current rate he’d catch Harold in 2029. The most impressive thing about DeVonta is his consistency. He’s one of only nine NFL players with at least 800 yards in each of the last five years. He’s only missed four games in his career because of injuries, and with A.J. gone he’s likely going to get more targets than ever, which means more yards than ever. If I had to rank the top five WRs in Eagles history, I’d go Mike Quick, Harold Carmichael, Tommy McDonald, DeSean Jackson and A.J. Brown, although you can make an argument that A.J. should be in front of DeSean. In the not-too-distant future, we may have to find a way to squeeze DeVonta onto that list.
JALEN STAT OF THE WEEK: From the 2022 conference semifinal game against the Giants at the Linc through the 2024 NFC Championship Game vs. Washington, Jalen Hurts had a streak of seven straight playoff games with at least 20 attempts and no interceptions. He’s the only quarterback in NFL history to go seven straight postseason games with no interceptions. Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes have each had six-game streaks.
HOW MANY FORMER JETS G.M.’S DO YOU NEED? Adding former Jets GM Mike Maccagnan to the scouting staff was one of the more unusual moves Howie Roseman has made. Maccagann was a failure as a GM with the Jets, who were 31-49 from 2015 through 2019 while he was running the show. Why would Howie want him in the building? Same reason he wanted Dave Caldwell and Joe Douglas. The Jaguars were 37-91 when Caldwell was the GM from 2013 through 2020 and the Jets were 32-68 from 2019 through 2024 when Douglas was G.M. You have to remember they aren’t coming here to be a general manager. They’re coming here to work alongside Roseman and the rest of a very good scouting department. There’s a reason those guys became G.M.s in the first place. They were very good at lower-level jobs. A big part of Roseman’s job is working with general managers from other teams, so he’s got a lot of experience with these guys and when you’ve spent this much time talking football with someone you’re going to have a keen sense of their strengths and weaknesses and when they’re in your building you can tailor their responsibilities to their strengths. This is like the Peter Principal in reverse. Caldwell might have been an awful GM with the Jaguars, but the Eagles made the playoffs all five years he was here and won a Super Bowl with him in the front office. Douglas might have been an awful GM with the Jets, but he won a Super Bowl here in 2017. And maybe Maccagnan can fill a valuable role as well in a lesser position. We should all be beyond questioning anything Howie does at this point. Even hiring people away from the worst teams in the NFL.
TERTIARY WHAT? Bryce Johnston held the title of senior vice president / tertiary football executive when he left the Eagles earlier this month for a front-office job with the Falcons. When the Eagles announced their numerous front office title changes last week, they did not list anybody with the title “tertiary football executive.” Not sure how they’re going to function as a franchise without a tertiary football executive. Think they’re playoff streak may come to a screeching halt unless they find one soon.
WHAT HAPPENS WITH UAR? Uar Bernard is such an intriguing athlete with a unique skill set, but this is a guy who’s never played one down of football anywhere and a best-case scenario is that maybe he can get on the field next year, although 2028 may be more realistic. Remember, Jordan Mailata didn’t play a snap until Year 3, and there’s no guarantee Uar will ever get to that point. But that said, I don’t think the Eagles want to risk losing him on waivers, so what’s the plan? They could bury him on the 53-man roster and list him as inactive every week, but that’s not ideal roster management, having a guy on the 53 who can’t even be a backup. Remember, his international exemption expires on full cutdown day. I’d expect that late in the preseason Uar suffers a mysterious ankle injury and spends the year on IR, where he doesn’t count against the 53 but isn’t at risk of getting poached, as he would be on the practice squad. Maybe nobody would sign him if he’s on the practice squad, but I doubt they want to risk it. I’m guessing ankle injury.
WHEN THE EAGLES BEGAN RUNNING THE BALL BETTER? I’m just about the biggest Jeff Stoutland fan on the planet, and I have an infinite amount of respect for the person and the coach. I always enjoyed our chats, talking about life and talking about football. But it would be disingenuous to not point out one thing. It’s been reported that one of the main reasons Stoutland left the organization is that Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo took on a bigger role in the running game the second half of the season, reducing or eliminating his role in designing the running attack. The reality is that the Eagles’ running game did improve significantly the second half of the season. The Eagles averaged 88 rushing yards and 3.3 yards per carry through Week 7, ranking last in yards per carry and 30th in yards per game. The rest of the year, they averaged 137 yards per game and 4.7 per carry, both 7th-best in the league. Now, we don’t know exactly when the changes happened and we don’t even know if there’s a direct cause and effect here. A lot of factors can impact how well the running game works. But there’s no question the Eagles ran the ball much better the second half of the season than the first half, and most of that was without Lane Johnson. How much of that – if any – was related to Stoutland’s decreased role is impossible to say. But the numbers are the numbers, and they never lie.
THREE DECADES AND COUNTING: It’s been 30 years since an Eagle had 12 sacks in back-to-back seasons. That was William Fuller, who had 13 in 1995 and 13 more in 1996. Since then, Hugh Douglas has had three 12-sack seasons but never in back-to-back years. Trent Cole had two but not in back-to-back years. And Jason Babin, Connor Barwin and Haason Reddick each had one 12-sack season. Since Fuller, 36 NFL players have recorded 12 sacks in consecutive seasons.
WHAT ABOUT JOSH SWEAT? We wrote last week about whether you’d rather have Jaelan Phillips at $30 million per year or Jonathan Greenard at $25 million per year. How about a third option? Josh Sweat at $19 million per year? I wonder if looking back the Eagles wish they made more of an effort to keep Sweat when he hit free agency after the 2024 season. Sweat had 12 sacks in Arizona last year, which is more than Phillips has in the last three years combined and nine more than Greenard had with the Vikings last year. Over the last three years, Sweat and Greenard have very similar numbers – 27 ½ sacks for Greenard to 26 ½ for Sweat, six forced fumbles each, 56 QB hits for Greenard to 55 for Sweat. If you gave me my choice of Phillips at $30 million, Greenard at $25 million or Sweat at $19 million, that’s a no-brainer. I’m going Sweaty.
IT’S ONLY BEEN 76 YEARS: With Sean Mannion running the offense now, a deeper wide receiver room, two legit receiving tight ends, Saquon Barkley still in his prime, Jalen Hurts now in his sixth year as a starter and a healthy Lane Johnson, this has a chance to be an elite offense. The biggest questions are how Hurts will adjust to his sixth different offense and whether Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens can stay healthy. But you know what’s interesting, the Eagles haven’t had the highest-scoring offense in the NFL since 1949, when they averaged 28 points per game with Tommy Thompson, Steve Van Buren, Bosh Pritchard and Pete Pihos. Since then, their highest offensive rank is No. 3 several times, most recently in 2014 under Chip Kelly, 2017 under Doug Pederson and 2022 under Shane Steichen. The Eagles were 19th in scoring last year at 22.3 points per game and maybe it’s a lot to ask for them to average an entire extra touchdown next year, but with the changes they’ve made and the upgrades they should have in play calling it’s a realistic goal. Of the 10 teams that were in the NFL in 1949, only the Cards have gone longer than the Eagles without a No. 1 offense. I feel like 76 years without a top-ranked offense is long enough.
AN APPRECIATION OF SAQUON’S 2024 SEASON: Just putting Saquon Barkley’s 2024 season in perspective, he’s the only running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards, average 5.8 yards per carry and score 13 touchdowns in a season. Never been done by anybody else. Not Jim Brown, not A.P., not Barry. He set an NFL record with seven touchdowns of 60 or more yards, and his six games with 150 rushing yards and a 5.0 average were 2nd-most ever, behind Terrell Davis’s seven in 1998. Not kidding, we may have witnessed the greatest season ever by an NFL running back.
