February 24, 2024
During the early part of the NFL offseason, we'll be taking a position-by-position look at which players will likely be back with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024, and which ones likely won't. Today we'll look at linebacker.
Regarding the polls below, they are your votes on what you think the Eagles should do, not necessarily what you think they will do. Please think of them more as approval polls for each player.
After the Eagles lost T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White in free agency, Dean was poised to step into a three-down role as the clear No. 1 linebacker on the roster in 2023, despite having only played 43 snaps as a rookie in 2022.
Dean almost immediately landed on injured reserve after suffering a foot injury Week 1 against the Patriots. He returned Week 6 and played in four games before again suffering another foot injury that ended his season.
All told, he only played in 5 games, making 30 tackles, a half sack, and creating no turnovers. He was fine as a run defender and as a tackler (PFF had him down for 0 missed tackles), but he has struggled in coverage (PFF had him down for 13 completions on 14 targets for 120 yards).
During an end-of-season press conference, Roseman was asked about the underperformance of the defensive line relative to the resources dumped into that unit, and if anything that happened during the season changed their view of roster building prioritization. Roseman ignored the part about the defensive line and went right to the linebackers.
"I feel like we've had a long history of success here building the team a certain way, and I think maybe there are some preconceived notions that at the linebacker position, that we don't care who we play at linebacker," Roseman said. "Again, our two Super Bowl teams over the last six years, the linebacker play was good from those guys.
"I think if anything, it's my belief in the players that we have, the young players that we have. I have a lot of belief, and I know Coach does, as well, in Nakobe Dean. I believe in the player. I believe in the person. We lost two linebackers at that spot, two good players from our Super Bowl team, and we had Nakobe waiting in the wings. We drafted him for that role. Obviously, it didn't work out perfectly for him this year. That doesn't change the belief we have in the player."
Basically, the Eagles plan was that Dean would become a No. 1 linebacker on the team, and then they'd try to find some super cheap veteran to put next to him. That plan didn't work, to put it kindly.
#JimmyVerdict: It's pretty clear that the Eagles put way too many eggs in the Nakobe Dean basket in 2023, expecting him to go from a backup who barely played at all to the "green dot" helmet guy who was going to stay on the field for all three downs while also getting the defense lined up on every play. It appears that they may be headed in that direction again. To be determined if they'll have a better contingency plan if it doesn't work out. Stay.
The Eagles entered training camp with six linebackers, in order of importance at the time:
Only Dean and Elliss made the initial 53-man roster. Morrow was cut after a bad training camp. He would rejoin the team and eventually play the most snaps among all the Eagles' linebackers:
#JimmyVerdict: In recent years, Eagles fans have had to suffer through linebackers like Nate Gerry, Duke Riley, Eric Wilson, Zach Brown, and in 2023, Nicholas Morrow. He cannot return. Go.
After singing Dean's praises during his end-of-season presser, Roseman turned to Cunningham.
"We felt like we'd have the ability to get an off-ball linebacker, WILL linebacker, who can run and hit, and honestly when you watch the tape, Zach Cunningham had a good year," Roseman said. "He really did. He had a mentality that we like for that position."
Cunningham wasn't even on the roster until the second week of training camp, when he was added along with Myles Jack because the linebackers in place looked wholly underwhelming. He was not part of the team's plans heading into the season. The Eagles were lucky to have gotten competent play out of him.
But did he really have a "good year?" On the season, Cunningham had 85 tackles (only 2 for loss), 4 pass breakups, no INTs, no forced fumbles, no sacks, 1 QB hit. No impact plays. It's probably safer to say that he didn't actively suck in comparison to some of the other linebackers.
#JimmyVerdict: Interestingly, newly hired linebackers coach Bobby King coached Cunningham in Houston and Tennessee. Combine that with Roseman's praise for Cunningham, and my bet is that he's back on a cheap one-year deal. Stay.
Leonard was a Colts second-round pick in 2018. In his rookie season, he led the NFL with 163 tackles, and also had 7 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 2 INTs, and 8 pass breakups on his way to earning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-Pro honors. He was also an All-Pro in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
In 2022, he had two surgeries on his back, and only played in 3 games. In 2023, Leonard was unhappy with his diminished role, and was released by the Colts.
After taking some time to choose between the Eagles and Cowboys, Leonard decided to play the rest of the season in Philly, and, well, he looked nothing like the player he once was. He looked uncomfortable in coverage and he was slow to the football against the run.
#JimmyVerdict: Go.
Bradley was a core special teamer for the Eagles in 2020, 2021, and 2022, but interestingly he did not play a single snap in the regular defense in 2022. Like, not even in any of the Eagles' blowout wins. He played in 15 games and had seven tackles.
In 2023, Bradley suffered an Achilles tear in training camp, ending his season before it ever started.
#JimmyVerdict: My guess is that Ben VanSumeren will become the new Shaun Bradley and Bradley will look to get a tryout in some other team's training camp. Go.
The Eagles signed VanSumeren as an undrafted rookie free agent last offseason. The consensus on VanSumeren was that he was a more of an athlete than he was a football player. His athleticism is certainly appealing, as he ran a 4.45 40 and vertical jumped 42.5" at 231 pounds.
Ben VanSumeren is a LB prospect in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 9.65 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 93 out of 2652 LB from 1987 to 2023. QTing just to get updated numbers #Eagleshttps://t.co/DdoHP02K40 https://t.co/vnmuqFhqEO pic.twitter.com/Qec3npME9u
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 30, 2023
Credit VanSumeren for working his way onto the roster and finding a role as a regular on special teams, where his athleticism was often praised by Michael Clay.
#JimmyVerdict: VanSumeren seems to have put himself in position to be a core special teamer, while also continuing to develop at linebacker. Stay.
Smith was a Panthers fourth-round pick in 2022 who like VanSumeren above is a great athlete. He did not play any snaps in the Eagles' regular defense in 2023.
#JimmyVerdict: Smith will be back in Eagles camps this offseason after signing a futures contract, but he's behind VanSumeren and the Eagles probably can't fit two special teams-only linebackers on their 53-man roster.
Green = Stay
Red = Go
Blue = Will be back in camp in 2024, but a 53-man roster spot is not a given.
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| HC | Nick Sirianni ✅ | ||||
| OC/DC/ST | Sean Desai ✅ | Matt Patricia ✅ | Brian Johnson ✅ | Michael Clay ✅ | |
| QB | Jalen Hurts | Marcus Mariota | Tanner McKee | ||
| RB | D'Andre Swift | Kenny Gainwell | Boston Scott | Rashaad Penny | |
| WR | A.J. Brown | DeVonta Smith | Quez Watkins | Olamide Zaccheaus | Julio Jones |
| TE | Dallas Goedert | Jack Stoll | Grant Calcaterra | Albert Okwuegbunam ❌ | |
| OT | Lane Johnson | Jordan Mailata | Jack Driscoll | Fred Johnson | |
| OG | Landon Dickerson | Tyler Steen | Sua Opeta | ||
| C | Jason Kelce | Cam Jurgens | |||
| ED | Haason Reddick | Josh Sweat | Brandon Graham | Nolan Smith | Patrick Johnson |
| iDL | Fletcher Cox | Jalen Carter | Jordan Davis | Milton Williams | Moro Ojomo |
| iDL (cont.) | Marlon Tuipulotu | ||||
| OBLB | Nakobe Dean | Nicholas Morrow | Zach Cunningham | Shaq Leonard | Shaun Bradley |
| OBLB (cont.) | Ben VanSumeren | Brandon Smith | |||
| CB | |||||
| S | |||||
| K/P/LS | |||||
| KR/PR | Britain Covey (PR) | Boston Scott (KR) |
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