Eagles stay or go: Specialists

During the early part of the NFL offseason, we're taking position-by-position looks at which players will likely be back with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024, and which ones likely won't. Today we'll finish off the series with the specialists.

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.

Jake Elliott

Elliott is one of the best kickers in the NFL, and it's probably pretty safe to consider him the best kicker in Eagles history.

Elliott missed just two field goal attempts and one PAT in 2023. He was 30 of 32 on field goal attempts, including 7 for 8 from beyond 50. Elliott made three monster kicks:

1. 61 yarder into the wind at the end of the first half against the Vikings.
2. 54 yarder to beat the Commanders in OT.
3. 59 yarder in the rain and into the wind to send the Eagles-Bills game to OT.

If he didn't make the kick against the Bills, the Eagles would have lost. If he didn't make the kick against the Commanders, that game probably would have resulted either in a loss or a tie. 

I think we can mostly agree that A.J. Brown was the Eagles' best player in 2023, but Jake Elliott really might not be very far behind.  

#JimmyVerdict: Stay, duh.

Stay or go: Jake Elliott

Braden Mann

After the Eagles had finally seen enough of Arryn Siposs (way too late), they signed Mann after Week 2 and he turned in a really good season, finishing eighth in punter EPA.

He averaged 49.8 yards per punt, with a very good 43.8 net average. He could punt for distance as well as in "pin deep" situations, as he had just one touchback vs. 15 punts inside the 20.

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#JimmyVerdict: Mann is an unrestricted free agent. The Eagles will want to bring him back, but I'm curious to see if some other team out there makes it interesting with a payday the Eagles might not want to match. They have typically shied away from paying punters, so we'll see, but for now my guess is that Mann will stay.

Stay or go: Braden Mann

Rick Lovato

Lovato threw the ball through his legs with speed and precision in 2023, as usual.

#JimmyVerdict: Stay.

Stay or go: Rick Lovato

"Big Dom" DiSandro

Big Dom kept Nick Sirianni from yelling at players, and he got an opposing linebacker ejected from a game. That's more than a lot of players on the roster did in 2023.

Side note: Come to think of it, Dre Greenlaw exited games this season in two highly irregular ways this season:

1. He took a swipe at an opposing head coach's handler.
2. He tore an Achilles jogging onto the field.

Anyway, Big Dom has become the most famous Chief Security Officer in the NFL, or perhaps better stated, the only famous Chief Security Officer in sports.

When he was on the sidelines during regular season games, the Eagles had a point differential of +56.

When he was absent on the sidelines, they had a point differential of -51. 

#JimmyVerdict: Women want him, and men want to be him. Stay.

Stay or go: Big Dom DiSandro

#JimmyVerdict Stay or Go Results

Green = Stay

Red = Go

Blue = Will be back in camp in 2024, but a 53-man roster spot is not a given.

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