What is the story about?
The
Philadelphia Eagles officially announced seven team captains for their 2026 NFL season. Nick Sirianni typically allows players to vote for their own captains as opposed to the coaching staff assigning them.
2026 Eagles captains
The following players will wear ‘C’ patches on their uniforms this year:
QB Jalen Hurts
RB Saquon Barkley
WR DeVonta Smith
OT Lane Johnson
OT Jordan Mailata
LB Zack Baun
DT Jordan Davis
Observations and thoughts
- The Eagles had eight captains last year. One fewer this season.
- This is the same captains list as last year … minus A.J. Brown, Reed Blankenship, and Jake Elliott … and plus DeVonta Smith and Jordan Davis.
- Can’t recall a time when an Eagles player was in Elliott’s position of previously being a multi-year captain in Philly … only to then lose that captaincy. That’s interesting.
- Lane Johnson is entering his fifth straight year as a team captain. He’ll be joining Hurts and Barkley as players with four gold stars under their golden ‘C’ patches.
- Three-star club: Mailata.
- Two-star club: DeVonta and Baun.
- DeVonta is a captain again for the first time since the 2023 season. A bit weird that he wasn’t one in 2024 and 2025. He’ll be wearing two stars under his ‘C’ patch.
- Congrats to Jordan Davis, who is a first-time captain. No surprise there; he’s been an emerging leader on this team. That aspect is part of why the Eagles signed him to a long-term contract extension.
- Experienced veterans who were notably not named captains: Elliott, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Jonathan Greenard (previously a captain on the Vikings).
- Some potential future captain candidates include: Jalyx Hunt, Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean.
