Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …
New Eagles OC Mannion starting out on optimistic note with Hurts – ESPN There were myriad reasons for the downturn, from injuries along the offensive front to coaching shortfalls. The offense grew stale. Some of the internal frustration was directed toward Hurts, whose strong preferences for how the operation should look played a part in the offense becoming calcified, sources said. One team source, though, said Hurts is “as open as he’s ever been
to changes.” Early signs indicate the Hurts/Mannion collaboration is going well. “It starts really just connecting with him on a personal level, get to know him, get to know what his interests are, what makes him tick. Then once you start to get to know a guy on a personal level, I think the football connection becomes pretty easy,” Mannion said. “It’s been a great process with Jalen. He’s been a pleasure to work with, and really since I got the job, being able to connect with him on a personal level and then on football has been great.” Mannion is a former signal-caller himself. The Oregon State product was a third-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2015 and played nine years in the league. He started his coaching career in 2024 as an offensive assistant for the Green Bay Packers and was elevated to quarterbacks coach last season.
How will Jalen Hurts, Baker Mayfield and 11 other QBs fit with new coordinators, offenses? – The Athletic
Sean Mannion comes from the Packers, who were one of the best gun-run teams in the league without involving Jordan Love as a runner. They did so with motion, creative backfield actions and varying mesh points on run concepts. A lot of the backfield actions looked inspired by the wing-T offense. The Packers ranked fourth in explosive rush rate from shotgun in the last two seasons. The Packers also lined up under center over 10 percent more than the Eagles. The Eagles tried to incorporate more under-center concepts into their offense last season, so Mannion will presumably be tasked with adding a coherent under-center package. If A.J. Brown is traded after June 1, first-round pick Makai Lemon will likely become the Eagles’ No. 2 receiver. Lemon specializes in winning in the middle of the field on short and intermediate routes. Since 2020, Hurts ranks 85th out of 88 eligible quarterbacks in percentage of throws between the numbers below 15 air yards. Love didn’t attack the middle of the field frequently in the Packers’ system, but he did more than Hurts. It’ll be interesting to see whether Hurts can truly evolve his game going into his seventh season and if Mannion can give the Eagles offense a much-needed infusion of creativity.
Eagles Deadzone Debate: Is Jalen Hurts the best QB in franchise history? – BGN
Maybe, for you, there is little debate. The Eagles have had a lot of good-to-great quarterbacks over the last few decades. Ron Jaworski, Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts and, of course, Bobby Hoying. Well, maybe not the last one. For this week’s Deadzone Debate, we’re going to dive into a simple question. Who is the best QB in Birds history? No doubt everyone has their favorites. Cunningham was a unique talent and the first of his kind, a quarterback who was just as dangerous a runner as a passer. Vick wasn’t here long, but put together one of the most exciting regular seasons in franchise history. Jaworski was an old school quarterback who was the team’s first Pro Bowl QB of the Super Bowl era. Foles won a Super Bowl with a run to the title that will live forever in NFL history. Wentz put together what was likely to be the greatest single season in 2017 before the injury torpedoed his career. But that leaves us with two real choices.
Eagles player review: iDL Ty Robinson edition – PhillyVoice
If you look back at the top of this post at Robinson’s college highlights, you see an active bully with a great motor. He looked nothing like that guy as a rookie. Sometimes rookies are thinking too much, and not just playing. Maybe that’s what happened with Robinson his rookie season? Sometimes when guys go long stretches without playing in real games they’re out of rhythm. Maybe that played a part? Whatever the case, he looked tentative, unconfident, and overmatched. A couple weeks ago, we listed Robinson among six Eagles players who should have an elevated role in 2026. That was before I watched the tape. Oops. Robinson will not have a bigger role in 2026 unless he improves drastically. The ability is there. It will be on Robinson and D-line coach Clint Hurtt to unlock his traits.
In Roob’s Observations: What if it comes down to Jalyx Hunt or Nolan Smith? – NBCSP
ARE YOU CHOOSING NOLAN SMITH OR JALYX HUNT? Nolan Smith is due to earn $3.82 million this year and has a one-year tender of $13.76 million in 2027 and then he’ll probably be a free agent. Jalyx Hunt is due $1.54 million this year and $1.79 million next year. And then he in theory will be a free agent. So what happens? With Jonathan Greenard on the books for $24.5 million per year through 2029, I’m not sure the Eagles can afford to keep both Smith and Hunt. It’s not Howie Roseman’s style to pay big money to three guys at any position. So if it comes down to Hunt or Smith, who does Howie prioritize? Smith was a 1st-round pick and you never want to let your 1st-round picks walk, but he has 10 ½ sacks in 48 regular-season games and as good as he was in the 2024 postseason if he doesn’t become a double-digit pass rusher this year I don’t know if it’s worth committing to him beyond 2027. Hunt had 6 ½ sacks last year in his first year as a full-time player and he has boundless upside. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t out-play Smith again in 2026. I still think Smith has a lot of ability and maybe we’ll see it consistently this year. He’s fast, tough and physical, has good bend and can set the edge. The potential is there. We just haven’t seen it on a regular basis other than late in 2024. Hunt, a 3rd-round pick in 2024, is a relentless pass rusher who was a safety until he transferred from Cornell to Houston Christian in 2022. So he’s still new to this and if he continues the progress he made last year he’s going to be a 12-sack guy. Either of these guys could blow up this year. Maybe both will. That would give the Eagles a darn good group of edge rushers, assuming Greenard returns to his double-digit form. If it does eventually come down to Hunt or Smith, I think Hunt night be the guy.
The final countdown to an A.J. Brown trade begins – PFT
Could another team swoop in with a better offer? If the Patriots and Eagles have unofficially worked out a deal, and if both sides honor a transaction that remains unofficial until it becomes official, it’s too late for that. Some are still suggesting the Rams could make a run at Brown. That ship sailed in March, when the Rams decided not to proceed based on the available medical information — and when the Rams allowed $24 million in 2026 compensation for receiver Davante Adams to become fully guaranteed. If the Rams had done the deal, they would have traded Adams. It’s not impossible for someone else to enter the A.J. fray, especially if the Chiefs are suddenly having misgivings about whether Rashee Rice can be trusted after his recent probation violation. For now, all signs are still pointing to Brown becoming a Patriot as soon as June 2.
Patriots Mailbag: What will the A.J. Brown trade package look like? – Pats Pulpit
The most likely outcome at this stage appears to be a 2028 first-round pick heading from New England to Philadelphia for A.J. Brown. I’ve been against surrendering any first-rounder in this deal — and would still prefer a package centered around a 2027 second-round pick — but a 2028 first-rounder is more reasonable. It would give the Patriots another full offseason to continue building the roster while also allowing them to keep a valuable 2027 first-round pick in what is expected to be a strong draft class. There could also be late-round picks added on either side, but it’s hard to envision Kayshon Boutte being involved given Philadelphia’s depth additions at wide receiver this offseason. New England would likely look to find a separate trade partner for Boutte in order to recoup some late-round draft capital.
Eagles Want Rocco Underwood To Exceed Hefty Expectations – SI
Clay believes Underwood is an NFL-level long snapper, though. “Rocco, a couple weeks in, he’s jelled really well with the veteran guys,” said Clay. “Athletic individual.” With the Gators, Underwood was able to work with Joe Houston, a former NFL special teams coach. “It’s nice [that] he played under Joe Houston, who had coached in the NFL. [Underwood] knows the rigors of the NFL probably from talking to Joe, but he’s doing a really good job,” Clay noted. The most difficult step for Underwood could be when the pads come on because he’s undersized at 6-foot-3 and 231 pounds. That said, the NFL has lightened the load on long snappers with rule changes in recent seasons, taking head-on rushes out of the game.
6 former Philadelphia Eagles lost in 2026, from a Hall of Famer to a tragic homicide – PennLive
It has been a heartbreaking year for the Philadelphia Eagles when it comes to losing former players. That is because at least six former Eagles have died. The following is a look back at the Birds who we have lost so far in 2026.
Cowboys add two new minds to analytics department – Blogging The Boys
Essentially, this position amounts to being an extra body in the offseason to help manage the increased workload of the department. Other organizations, like the Eagles and Ravens, frequently use similar roles to process everything they need to do in the offseason while also deepening their bench of full-time staffers going forward. As for the two that are joining the Cowboys, Nick Fullerton comes to the Cowboys after spending the 2025 season working as a research analyst with the NFL’s Next Gen Stats department. Prior to that, Fullerton held multiple roles with the SMU football team while completing his master’s in data science and applied statistics.
Washington Commanders schedule doesn’t favor a winning season – Hogs Haven
The Commanders are favored for the first time in Week 4, when they are the “home” team against the Indianapolis Colts in London, England. There’s no early bye after the international game, instead they play their third division game in the first five weeks, with Washington favored over New York when they host the Giants. Washington isn’t favored in another game until Week 12, and if they can’t pull off some upsets before that, it will be a long season that brings even more changes next year. That 5-game stretch has the Commanders as underdogs at home against the 49ers (MNF) and Eagles (SNF); on the road against the Giants (TNF), and back at home vs the Rams and Bengals (MNF). That’s a rough stretch of prime-time games, but they have a Week 7 bye for an early break in the first half of the season.
Philosoraptor’s corner: The Giants’ unlikely 2026 offseason – Big Blue View
When I put put my flag on a 10-7 record flag for the Giants, I wasn’t viewing them as a team that only won four games off of bottom feeders. I was projecting a team that stunned two playoff teams and built double-digit leads over five other teams as underdogs. That was a team with an unsettled quarterback position and missed two of its best offensive weapons for much of the year. And even with all their problems, they were still able to compete with playoff caliber teams. I’m not going to say that the 2025 Giants were good, but their 4-13 record was still “get hit by a meteorite” levels of unlikely. That was the team I was projecting to rebound to a 10-7 record.
NFL Draft consensus boards: How they inform team strategy, and why they matter – SB Nation
The wisdom of crowds can be a useful concept when deciding which course to take at any given time, especially in higher-stress moments, when the effects of decisions can be specifically job-defining or job-eliminating based on the results. Such packaged wisdom can also serve as a useful balm when one is trying to save one’s job or reputation. If you’re close to the consensus every time, and things still don’t work out? Well, hey — at least you weren’t an outlier. A primary disadvantage to such aggregate thinking is that you risk being swept away by that same crowd. If you’re never an outlier — if you never dare to take a risk — why are you there in the first place? Why can’t you be replaced by a bot?
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