Philadelphia Eagles 2026 Season Preview

Sirianni's Sixth Year

Nick Sirianni just won the NFC East and pushed his win rate from 57% to 73% over two years, the kind of trajectory that buys real credit in Philadelphia. But some of the 2025 numbers behind that 11-6 mark won't repeat. The offense scored efficiently, needing just 14.0 yards per point against a 14.3 league median, and Dallas Goedert's 11 receiving touchdowns, second in the league, papered over stretches where the ground game had to bail things out. A defense that let opponents work for it, needing 16.4 yards per point compared to a 14.4 median, bent without snapping all year. None of that is a referendum on Sirianni himself, but it does mean 2026 is a tougher test of the staff than the record suggests.

Efficient, Not Explosive

Philadelphia's offense finished 24th in total yards but still cracked 22.3 points a game, and that gap is the story of this unit. Jalen Hurts, projected again as the starter, threw 25 touchdowns against just 6 interceptions while playing in 16 of 17 games, and the offense needed fewer yards than the league median to find the end zone. That kind of drive-finishing is precisely the part of a team's profile least likely to hold up again. Dallas Goedert gives Hurts a real weapon inside the red zone, having finished 2nd in the league in receiving touchdowns with 11. The bigger question is whether an offense ranked 23rd in passing yards can find more explosive plays before its knack for cashing in short fields disappears.

Jalen Hurts is the settled answer here, coming off 3,224 yards, 25 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. Philadelphia's passing offense still ranked only 23rd in yards per game, so the ceiling on this unit runs through Hurts extending plays and the ground game, not a leap in volume. Behind him, Tanner McKee remains the primary backup, with Andy Dalton added via free agency after throwing for 293 yards and a touchdown with the Panthers. Cole Payton, a fifth-round pick, gives the room a developmental arm with no professional stat line yet. Nothing about the QB2 spot threatens Hurts, but the depth behind him looks sturdier than a year ago.

Saquon Barkley's 1,140 yards and 7 touchdowns keep this backfield anchored no matter who else churns through it. Behind him, the depth chart got a full facelift: Dameon Pierce, Elijah Mitchell, Carson Steele and Ja'Quinden Jackson all arrived while AJ Dillon left for other pastures. Tank Bigsby's 356 yards give Sirianni a proven second option, and Will Shipley's 9 catches out of the backfield keep him relevant on passing downs. None of that turnover threatens Barkley's workload. The real question is whether a run game that finished 18th in rushing yards per game can find enough juice behind him from a group with almost no established production.

A.J. Brown's exit leaves DeVonta Smith as the clear centerpiece, and his $14M salary in this room confirms it. Smith caught 77 passes for 1,008 yards last season, numbers that now have to anchor the whole passing game rather than complement Brown's. Hollywood Brown adds a proven second option after his 587 yards and 5 touchdowns, but the depth behind them is a patchwork of low-volume names and blanks, from Britain Covey to Danny Gray. Philadelphia used the draft to address it, taking Makai Lemon 20th overall, and added Dontayvion Wicks and Elijah Moore in free agency to widen a group that ranked 23rd in passing yards per game. None of it changes the math that the offense leans on Smith now, for better or worse.

Dallas Goedert caught 11 touchdowns in 2025, second in the league at the position, and remains the focal point of this passing game. That production matters more given how the Eagles finished 23rd in passing yards per game, a middling air attack that leaned on Goedert in the red zone. Behind him, Grant Calcaterra and Cameron Latu offer depth without much proven volume, and the club used a second-round pick on Eli Stowers out of Vanderbilt to add size to the room. Johnny Mundt and Stone Smartt arrive as complementary blocking and receiving pieces, replacing the modest production Kylen Granson took with him. Nothing here suggests the passing offense stops running through Goedert first.

Lane Johnson, the room's highest earner at $23M, anchors a line that still ran for only 117 yards a game and ranked 19th in yards per play last season. That modest output came before six linemen departed, including Sua Opeta, leaving Johnson, Cam Jurgens, Jordan Mailata, Tyler Steen and Landon Dickerson to carry a group that is mostly intact rather than rebuilt. The Eagles didn't sit still up front regardless, adding John Ojukwu from the Titans and Zeke Correll from the Vikings for depth and competition. Round 3 pick Markel Bell and sixth-rounder Micah Morris arrive with no NFL snaps yet, so their impact is projection, not proof. Twelve returning linemen against six who left is a favorable ratio, but sacks allowed and rushing efficiency both need to climb for this to read as a strength rather than a passable holdover.

Jordan Davis anchored the middle with 70 tackles and 9 TFL, and Moro Ojomo quietly popped 6 sacks from the interior, giving Philadelphia a front that finished 7th in yards per play allowed. Jalen Carter is the highest-paid piece of this group and the one opponents still game-plan around, even though his sack total dipped to 3. The bigger question is stopping the run, since 124 yards allowed per game on the ground ranked just 22nd in the league. Eight defensive linemen left this offseason, including Brandon Graham and Patrick Johnson, and the answer up front is Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, arriving from the Bears to add depth off the edge alongside AJ Epenesa. Rookies Keyshawn James-Newby and Uar Bernard give the room bodies for 2026, but the sacks have to come from the players already here.

Zack Baun's 122 tackles anchor a group that still had to rebuild its edge rush after Jaelan Phillips, Nakobe Dean and Joshua Uche all left. Jonathan Greenard arrives from the Vikings off 10 TFL but opens the year unavailable, leaving the edge to Jalyx Hunt, whose 6.5 sacks and 3 interceptions were the most disruptive line on the whole card last year. Arnold Ebiketie joins from the Falcons to add depth off the edge, while Jihaad Campbell and Nolan Smith Jr. give the front seven both a run-stopper and a pass rusher who can still develop. That 22nd-ranked run defense is the real question mark, not the pass rush, since the group ranked a respectable 12th in sacks despite all the turnover. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Smael Mondon Jr. offer rotational bodies, but this unit's ceiling rides on Hunt and Baun staying featured every week.

Cooper DeJean anchors this secondary as a true difference-maker, coming off 92 tackles and playing all but one game. Quinyon Mitchell returns opposite him, giving the Eagles a young corner pairing that already ranked 8th in passing yards allowed per game. The real turnover sits at safety, where Reed Blankenship's 83 tackles walk out the door and Andrew Mukuba, who picked off two passes in just 11 games, moves into a bigger role alongside Marcus Epps. Riq Woolen arrives from Seattle as the highest-paid player in the room and adds size and length behind DeJean and Mitchell, while Jonathan Jones brings experience from Washington to a group also adding Shaun Wade and Isaiah Bolden. Eight defensive backs left in total, but the core that made this defense 5th in points allowed stayed largely intact.

Jake Elliott's accuracy dipped to 20 of 27 last year, and there is no reason to think that is a blip rather than a trend to watch. Braden Mann remains the punter, and his 42.8 yard net average on 72 punts is the steadiest number in this room. The long snapper spot is the real churn point, with both Cal Adomitis and Charley Hughlett gone and Rocco Underwood now handling the job. Philadelphia does not need to reinvent this unit. It just needs Elliott to find his 2023 form again while Underwood settles in without drawing attention to himself.

Trading Picks for Now

A.J. Brown's exit stings the box score more than the huddle, since Jalen Hurts still throws to Dallas Goedert, who finished 2nd in the league in receiving touchdowns. Philadelphia didn't sit on its haul of eight picks and wait; it spent future capital to land Jonathan Greenard from Minnesota and Dontayvion Wicks from Green Bay, betting immediate pass-rush juice and receiver depth beat developmental patience. Arnold Ebiketie and the newly acquired Riq Woolen and Jonathan Jones are asked to replace departed tacklers Nakobe Dean, Reed Blankenship and Adoree' Jackson, a defensive turnover that's more about names than volume. Andy Dalton arrives as insurance behind Hurts, not competition for the job. This is a team that traded away future thirds for proven veterans, choosing to reload rather than rebuild around a still-productive core.

Smith Must Absorb Brown's Load

The swing factor is DeVonta Smith, who now has to be the primary target with A.J. Brown's 78 catches and 1,003 yards gone from the room. Smith already posted 77 catches for 1,008 yards last season alongside Brown; asking him to be the clear top option changes the math for defenses built to double one man. Dontayvion Wicks arrives from Green Bay to soak up some volume, but his 332 yards in Green Bay barely dents what Brown produced. Jalen Hurts threw for 3,224 yards with a healthy 25-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio last year, and how much of that stays intact runs straight through whether Smith can win one-on-one coverage without Brown drawing attention elsewhere.

Backing Philly Gets Complicated

Home favorites have been the profile to trust, with the Eagles covering 55% of the time as a home chalk pick. That number goes soft on the road, where Philadelphia has covered just 47%, and it craters further after a loss, where the Eagles have covered only 39% of the time following a defeat. Division games have been the toughest sell, a 27-33-2 mark against the number even with a 39-23 straight-up mark in those contests. Nick Sirianni's team wins the games it should as a favorite but bettors chasing it on the road or in a get-right spot have been burned more often than not.