The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off a great 2024 season, which saw them lift their second Lombardi in franchise history with a dominant 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, people are questioning the strategy that the Eagles are implementing with the 2025 roster with their free agency signings and trades that they have made up to this point in the offseason. I think the Eagles are going to benefit in the long run with all of these moves, including the puzzling move of CJ Gardner Johnson for Keyon Green, which was the most puzzling one for me at first before I realized that Howie Roseman has accumulated a total of 20 picks over the next two drafts.
The Eagles are Prioritizing Getting Younger and Paying the Young Core
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The Eagles started the offseason correctly by paying Zack Baun and Saquon Barkley by keeping them around for the long haul as core members and fans were looking forward to the beginning of free agency to see what Howie Roseman was going to do. Then the losses began to pile up and naive Eagles fans started to panic.
It started with the Isaiah Rodgers move to Minnesota, then it went to Milton Williams to the Patriots, Josh Sweat to the Cardinals, and Howie trading CJ Gardner Johnson to the Texans for a guard in Keyon Green who was one of the worst guards in 2024, also the losses of Oren Burks (Bengals), Kenneth Gainwell and Darius Slay (Steelers).
All of those pieces were talented pieces for the 2024 Super Bowl team, and fans were upset, especially with the Gardner-Johnson move. But the bigger picture is that Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Nolan Smith, and Cam Jurgens need extensions along with a restructuring of Jalen Hurts’ contract after the Josh Allen deal are going to be priorities over the next couple of seasons which means you have to get cheaper with the veterans and go younger with rookie deals by having all of these compensatory picks.
The Eagles are projected now to have 20 picks over the next two drafts which is a lot of picks and ammo to make moves if need be to keep this dynasty going as long as possible. This is important because the youth movement is needed to keep these potential dynasties going just look at the Patriots dynasty for example.
The NFC EAST Moves are intriguing, but not Moving the Needle to Catch the Eagles
The Commanders have made a ton of moves to try to capitalize on the Jayden Daniels rookie contract, the most notable moves they have made were resigning Bobby Wagner and Zach Ertz and trading for Deebo Samuel and Lermey Tunsil. The Commanders have become a threat to the Eagles but I still favor Philadelphia in the long run because of the coaching and Jalen Hurts in the clutch moments, Washington is becoming a strong team in the NFC race.
The Cowboys are still waiting on paying Micah Parsons while paying Osa Odighizuwa, Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, and the latest deal being Parris Campbell who Dallas just signed on a 1-year deal under an hour ago at the typing of this article. Jerry Jones is trying to be “selectively aggressive” this offseason, and these moves they have made are intriguing but nowhere near close to the Eagles and Commanders as of right now in Free Agency.
If I were a Dallas fan I would be concerned especially with what DeMarcus Lawerence said in a quick interview with a Seattle YouTuber after his move to the Seahawks, and look at all of these moves they have made and think “damn we are so far from a Super Bowl!” Meanwhile, for the Giants, their big acquisitions were Jevon Holland and the resigning Darius Slayton. They also made smaller moves, but they are looking to the draft for their continuing rebuild.
Conclusion
I look at all of the other moves that the rest of the division has made as an Eagles fan and say I’m still not worried about the division other than the Commanders. Even then I appreciate the strategy that Howie has implemented with the 1-year signings of Josh Uche, AJ Dillion, Adoree Jackson, and Harrison Bryant, among others over the last few days to fill depth.
Also, the potential move off Dallas Goedert and Bryce Huff is swirling and would be puzzling at first, but remember the core players that the Eagles have and the draft picks and say, “I still trust Howie Roseman”. Even though I would be worried a little bit about 2025, I still think the Eagles are among the favorites to repeat as Super Bowl champions this upcoming season because of the elite talent that Howie Roseman is as a general manager, and the roster is still pretty stacked at the current moment, even with the departures.
