With the 2025 NFL season officially in the rear view, the Philadelphia Eagles can now turn their attention to the future, with the 2026 NFL Draft Combine providing the first peek into the next generation of Philly’s finest.
On paper, the Eagles are in decent enough shape heading into 2026, with their biggest issue coming in the coaches’ room, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have holes to fill in both the short and long term. No, with a dozen impending free agents and a few older players approaching the end of their careers, Howie Roseman and the Eagles will need to pay close attention to who will be available at pick 23, as knocking out that selection could go a long way in setting up the team for a bounce-back campaign in 2026.
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Kenyon Sadiq, Tight End, Oregon
Heading into the 2025 NFL season, it looked like the Eagles were finally ready to move on from Dallas Goedert after nearly a decade in South Philadelphia.
Drafted with the team’s first draft selection after taking down the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, Goedert spent years as a favorite target for quarterbacks like Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, and Jalen Hurts, but in 2025, his production took a tumble in a very noticeable way.
In the passing game, Goedert produced around his usual marks, catching 60 of the 82 balls thrown his way for 591 yards and a Philadelphia record 11 touchdowns, but as a run blocker, a major plus of his game historically, the South Dakota product struggled mightily, with the Eagles even taking him off the field in favor of Grant Calcaterra – who isn’t exactly Marcedes Lewis – at times because of his struggles.
Could Goedert return in 2026? Potentially so, if his market is down, but it’s clear Goedert is no longer the player he used to be, and the Eagles need to plan accordingly to be set up at the position for the future.
Enter Kenyon Sadiq, widely considered the best tight end in this year’s class.
After watching his Oregon Ducks’ pursuit of a National Championship fall by the wayside after hitting the woodchipped known as the Indiana Hoosiers, Sadiq has formally declared for the 2026 NFL Draft on Tuesday. He led all tight ends in touchdowns at eight in 2025, and his total yards, 560, ranked eighth overall at the FBS level.
Is Sadiq the same caliber player as other first-round tight ends like Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland? Not quite, but he is a very good blocker and a redzone threat, which is exactly what the Eagles need to upgrade their passing and rushing offense in 2026.
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Avieon Terrell, Cornerback, Clemson
While the Eagles could use some additional help on the offensive side of the ball, one of the biggest questionmarks surrounding the team all season long was the cornerback spot opposite Quinyon Mitchell, especially when his fellow All-Pro defensive back Cooper DeJean kicked it inside to play in the slot.
After largely expecting Kelee Ringo to fill that role in 2025, forming not only the best but one of the youngest secondaries in the NFL, the role of outside CB2 was largely filled by Adoree’ Jackson, the do-it-all veteran DB who began his career with the Tennessee Titans before joining the New York Giants in 2021.
Was Jackson good in his role? In some games, sure, with other games looking just okay or even worse, but outside of returning as a camp body, it’s hard to imagine a world where the Eagles don’t look for an upgrade in 2026.
Could that come in the form of a veteran free agent like Darius Slay – if he’s released from the retired list by the Buffalo Bills – Rock Ya-Sin, or Josh Jobe? Sure, but if the Birds want to take a page from their 2024 playbook and solve the situation once and for all, they could do so at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft with a player like Avieon Terrell out of Clemson.
The younger brother of Atlanta Falcons cornerback AJ Terrell, Terrell has been one of the better cornerbacks in college football over the past few seasons. While he’s slightly smaller than his brother, he’s proven he can be a weapon around the ball, with three interceptions, 25 passes defensed, four sacks, and five forced fumbles over his career with the Tigers.
Could the Eagles get by with another stopgap veteran or a Day 2 cornerback like Colton Hood out of Tennessee or Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds? Potentially so, but if the board lines up kindly for the Eagles and Terrell is still available at 23, he could answer a major question for the next half-decade.
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Cashius Howell, Edge, Texas A&M
Like CB2, the Eagles really never found a true Edge 1 in 2025, with Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Brandon Graham, Joshua Uche, and trade acquisition Jaelan Phillips all rotating in and out of Vic Fangio’s defense without playing more than 41 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.
In 2024, the Eagles were largely able to rely on Josh Sweat to eat up time at outside linebacker, with the future Cardinals edge playing almost 60 percent of the team’s overall snaps, but due to injuries, midseason deals, and an increased workload with three defensive tackles on the field, Fangio wasn’t able to count of his edges to get the kind of pressure they needed. No only one of the Eagles’ outside linebackers, Hunt, had more than 6.5 sacks, and even if he popped in a major way last season, the Houston Christian product was best used as a change-of-pace playmaker, instead of an every-down tone-setter.
Could the Eagles add an outside linebacker in free agency, or even swing a monster trade for a player like Maxx Crosby, who routinely plays 90 percent of his team’s snaps? Sure, that’s possible, but after adding Phillips to their roster midseason, re-signing the Fangio staple feels like the ceiling for the Eagles’ edge rushing moves, instead of step one along the way to something bigger.
Fortunately, there are some very good pass-rushing options in the 2026 NFL Draft, including Texas A&M edge Cashius Howell.
Beginning his career at Bowling Green, Howell finished out his college career with 27 sacks over five seasons, including 11.5 in 2025 during his senior season. Howell has great burst, a strong swim move, and can even make plays in the open field when he drops into coverage, an aspect of his game that could create all sorts of interesting looks for Fangio considering Hunts’ ability to make plays in the same way.
After watching Hunt become an interception artist down the stretch in coverage, imagine having two of him, one on either side of the field. Now that is worth a late first-round pick.
Credit: Kirby Lee
Makai Lemon, Wide Receiver, USC
Unlike Sadiq, Terrell, and Howell, there’s little chance Makai Lemon is still on the board when the Eagles pick at 23. With that in mind, there are more ways to select a player in the NFL draft than simply taking who falls to a team’s assigned pick, and if the Eagles want to trade up, Lemon would be a wonderful player to target.
Standing 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, Lemon may not be the biggest player in the 2026 NFL Draft class, but the 2025 Fred Biletnikoff Award winner more than makes up for that with dynamic athletic gifts, recording 1,920 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns over the past two seasons for the USC Trojans. Often compared to another USC standout, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lemon can catch pretty much any ball thrown his way, can run a professional route tree, and is a threat to pick up extra yards after the catch when he’s in space.
If Lemon somehow runs a sub.4.40 40 at the 2026 NFL Draft Combine, then he almost certainly won’t be available in the Eagles range, as he could be the first wide receiver off the board, but if he falls somewhere between 4.47-4.52 on the track, he might just be available in the mid-to-late teens, where Howie Roseman could trade up and snag a long-term partner in crime for DeVonta Smith regardless of what happens with AJ Brown.
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