After coming up woefully short of their Super Bowl aspirations in 2025, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to look a little different when they take the field once more in 2026.
Sure, the vast majority of their core will be intact, with offensive staples like Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and all five offensive linemen, plus defenders like Jalen Carter, Zack Baun, and their All-Pro cornerbacks, Quenyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean all still under contract, but the team has over a dozen players set to hit the free agent market when the 2026 NFL calendar year opens up and not all of them will be back.
Jaelan Phillips? He might be back, as the Eagles didn’t give up a third-round pick for his services last fall to simply recoup a comp pick a few months later. Nakobe Dean, too, could be back after looking like the Eagles’ best defensive player in multiple games down the stretch. But some of their teammates? Well, assuming the market values their services, the Birds’ NFC Wildcard Round loss to the San Francisco 49ers might go down as their final game in midnight green, assuming there isn’t a Marcus Epps-style reunion at some point down the line.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.
Dallas Goedert
For the past eight seasons, Dallas Goedert has been a staple of the Eagles’ offense and for good reason.
A former second-round pick out of South Dakota State University, Goedert joined the Eagles immediately after the team won the Super Bowl in February of 2018 and played a big role in getting them back to the big game twice over his tenure, going 1-1 on the way to a victory in 2024.
Initially hyped up as a true three-down tight end, Goedert was once as much of a force in the run game as against the pass but in the seasons have progressed and the injuries have piled up, Goedert hasn’t been as reliable a weapon in the run game, forcing players like Grant Calcaterra to take on blocks on running downs despite being less-than-elite in that particular role.
Has Goedert lost a step? Yes, but so had Zach Ertz when he left town in 2021 at the trade deadline, and he was still on an NFL roster in 2025, catching passes for the Washington Commanders before suffering a career-threatening ACL injury. Like Ertz when he was traded, Goedert will be in his year 31 season this fall and may also be on the way out as Howie Roseman looks to add some new blood to an Eagles’ offense that has grown stale over the past few years.
Would the Eagles be better off if they added a tight end like Mason Taylor or Harold Fannin Jr. in the 2025 NFL Draft? Most certainly so, but unless the market is completely barren, it’s hard to imagine Goedert returning in 2026.
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Reed Blankenship
When news broke that Christian Parker was jumping over enemy lines to become the new defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, it didn’t come as too much of a surprise that rumors of Reed Blankenship following suit began to emerge.
One of the true success stories of the Eagles’ player development program over the past few years, Blankenship came to Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent out of East Tennessee State and rapidly found himself starting at the back end of the defense, appearing in 10 games with four starts as a rookie before starting every game he’s appeared in since.
On paper, there’s a lot to like about Blankenship. He’s a good leader. He understands the defense inside and out. And he’s an interception machine when the ball is thrown his way.
And yet, while Blankenship’s on-ball production has been impressive, recording nine picks and 23 passes defensed over the past four years, he was the Eagles’ lowest-rated starting defender according to PFF and played a big role in costing Philadelphia another playoff game with his poor play against the 49ers.
Would it stink to see the “Exciting Whites” break up? Most certainly so, but if the Cowboys are serious about signing Blankenship, it’s hard to imagine a world where the Eagles make a better offer, considering the depth they have on the roster.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Jahan Dotson
And last but not least, if there’s one starter on the Eagles’ offense who needs to be replaced in 2026, it has to be the WR3 spot filled over the past two seasons by Jahan Dotson.
Now, when Jahan Dotson was acquired by the Eagles from the Washington Commanders for a third-round pick and change, it led to more than a few overreactions, with some declaring that Philadelphia had the best 1-2-3 punch at wide receiver in the NFL and others declaring that the Penn State product was the missing piece to a Super Bowl win.
Ironically enough, the Eagles actually did win the Super Bowl with Dotson on their roster, but he didn’t exactly play a monster role in the process, with Dotson catching just 19 balls for 2016 yards and no touchdowns in 2024, plus 18 more balls for 262 yards and a touchdown in 2025.
At times, Dotson looked like the player Washington drafted in the first round, but in multiple games where AJ Brown and/or DeVonta Smith were absent, the PSU product never stepped up, even when his targets from Hurts took an uptick.
Could Dotson catch on with another team and have great success? Sure, Olamide Zaccheaus, the Eagles’ WR3 before Dotson, bounced back in 2024 with the Washington Commanders and played a big role for the Chicago Bears in their Super Bowl run in 2025. But after two underwhelming seasons in Philadelphia, it’s hard to imagine either party wanting a reunion in 2026.
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