The NFL roster cuts deadline has passed and now we have our first look at how the Philadelphia Eagles’ depth chart is shaping up ahead of the 2026 NFL regular season! Howie Roseman is very likely to tweak this team configuration leading up to Birds’ Week 1 game against the Washington Commanders. But, for now, here’s the initial 53-man roster.
OFFENSE
Quarterback (4) — Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, Andy Dalton, Cole Payton
Running back (3) — Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley
Wide receiver (6) — DeVonta
Smith, Dontayvion Wicks, Makai Lemon, Hollywood Brown, Darius Cooper, Elijah Moore
Tight end (4) — Dallas Goedert, Johnny Mundt, E.J. Jenkins, Eli Stowers
Offensive tackle (4) — Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Markel Bell, Fred Johnson
Offensive guard (4) — Landon Dickerson, Tyler Steen, Drew Kendall, Micah Morris
Center (2) — Cam Jurgens, Willie Lampkin
DEFENSE
Edge rusher (5) — Jonathan Greenard, Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith, A.J. Epensa, Arnold Ebiketie
Defensive tackle (5) — Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young, Ty Robinson
Linebacker (4) — Zack Baun, Jihaad Campbell, Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Smael Mondon Jr.
Cornerback (6) — Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Riq Woolen, Kelee Ringo, Jonathan Jones, Mac McWilliams
Safety (3) — Andrew Mukuba, Marcus Epps, Michael Carter II
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker (1) — Jake Elliott
Punter (1) — Braden Mann
Long snapper (1) — Rocco Underwood
INJURED RESERVE/DESIGNATED FOR RETURN
These players will miss at least four games before being eligible to return to the active roster.
CB Jakorian Bennett
TE Grant Calcaterra
PRACTICE SQUAD
The Eagles can start signing players to their 16-man practice squad starting on Monday afternoon.
THOUGHTS
- The Eagles kept 27 players on offense and 23 on defense. Last year at this time, the Eagles initially kept 26 players on offense and 25 on defense.
- The Eagles keeping four quarterbacks feels very silly. At the same time, it’s very on brand for how weird this QB2 situation has been every step of the way. Guess the Eagles holding onto both Dalton and McKee with the hope that a team will trade for one in the coming days? If so, great. But you can’t expect the return will be much. And it could’ve been nice to just actually focus on preparing QB2 for the season instead of doing a competition where the players split the reps and seemingly did not benefit from that setup. Not to mention trying to get Cole Payton developmental snaps in the preseason, which they didn’t really do outside of the first preseason game.
- Howie Roseman typically has a pretty good sense of which players are going to get claimed or not; you have to give him the benefit of the doubt with these kind of decisions. But in the event that at least one of the interesting players the Eagles waived does get claimed while the Eagles opted to keep four quarterbacks … that’ll be annoying. We’ll see.
- Some were surprised to see Carson Steele didn’t make the team but he looked better in the preseason games than he did in practice all camp long. Decent chance he’s back on the practice squad. He might not be RB4, though, because Dameon Pierce would probably be ahead of him if he’s back as well.
- Hollywood Brown didn’t have a great camp but he did enough by the end to prevent the team from moving on. That and cutting him wasn’t ideal from a financial perspective.
- Elijah Moore earned his spot on the roster with a very productive training camp. Doesn’t hurt that Jalen Hurts seems to be comfortable targeting him. I wonder if his inclusion on the roster is at least partially connected to Makai Lemon potentially not being ready for a major role very early in the season.
- Eli Stowers’ hamstring injury apparently isn’t serious enough to warrant a stint on injured reserve/designated for return. But we’ll see if the Eagles still move him to IR in the coming days. Stowers could conceivably be a healthy scratch, at least early in the season, if he avoids IR.
- E.J. Jenkins making the roster is a slight surprise. Thought they would go with Cameron Latu since he’s been a special teams standout. But Jenkins can also help there and the team seems to like his blocking. Good for him. Of course, he could be in jeopardy if the Eagles are able to find tight end help via waivers or trade in the coming days.
- Markel Bell’s thumb/leg injuries could have saved Fred Johnson from being cut. Bell might be the top swing tackle action if/when he’s healthy. Or at least the top backup at one spot. Johnson is more experienced but Bell had the better summer. And the rookie obviously offers more upside as well.
- Micah Morris did enough to earn his roster spot. But he’ll likely be a healthy scratch all year if the Eagles avoid multiple interior offensive line injuries.
- Drew Kendall is probably the top backup at both guard spots and center. With the Eagles likely keeping eight offensive linemen active, it’s the starters … plus Kendall. That’s six. The remaining two will come from Fred Johnson, Bell, and Lampkin.
- Very good news: Jonathan Greenard is able to begin the season on the roster and not the reserve/PUP list. He is not automatically ineligible to play in the Eagles’ first four games. Will he play in Week 1? Recent indications suggest not. But even if he’s able to play in that Week 4 game (against the Los Angeles Rams, who just brought Aaron Donald back) at the latest, that’s worth not putting him on PUP.
- Interested to see how the playing time at edge rusher works out. The Eagles are pretty deep there. Greenard is an established player, Hunt had an awesome summer, Smith shouldn’t be slept on, Epenesa looks more than capable of contributing, and Ebiketie has something to offer as well.
- Early in camp, it looked like Ty Robinson was in danger of not making the team. He really turned things around to justify his roster spot. I still doubt he’ll be ahead of Byron Young (unless his recent injury flares up again). Vic Fangio said that Robinson still must prove himself against starting level competition.
- You have to feel good about the Eagles’ linebacker starters and depth. Nice to be able to say that now after years of that being far from the case. The Eagles will probably add Chance Campbell and/or Deontae Lawson to the practice squad for even more depth at that spot.
- The Eagles’ starting cornerback trio is set. The backup situation is less clear. Kelee Ringo making the team isn’t a surprise in the sense that he can help on special teams, at the very least, and Fangio talked him up a bit recently. Is he the top backup option on the outside? Could be. But the Eagles also kept Jones, who was a vested veteran, and he could contend for that spot. Jones also has experience at nickel corner as well. McWilliams looked better in practices than in games this season. Based on merit, it’s surprising he made the team. He could be in danger if the Eagles want to open up a roster spot in the coming days.
- The Eagles are going a bit lighter at safety but keep in mind that DeJean will be playing safety in base defense packages. Still, Mukuba and Epps are the only two true full-time safeties on the roster. Carter II has been learning that position after previously playing nickel corner, where he could still provide depth. Carter II is also likely the extra defensive back in the Eagles’ dime packages.
- Kudos to Underwood for making the team as an undrafted rookie free agent. It won’t take long for him to be in jeopardy if bad snaps become an issue, though.
- Surprised the Eagles are keeping Bennett around. I mean, no great reason to not stash him away on injured reserve/designated for return. But it just didn’t seem like they were keen on him. But I guess they don’t feel great about their corner depth and figured they might as well keep an extra option there.
- Eagles fans aren’t going to love that Calcaterra is still on the team. Or that he could see playing time this season.
