With the Philadelphia Eagles set to take on the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs on Sunday, now feels like a good time to answer some questions, solicited from readers on Twitter, Bluesky, and Threads. This will be Part I of a two-part mailbag.
Question from @dallas-dave (via Bluesky): With next season's intimidating schedule, pending free agents, and a couple of aging players (Darius Slay, Lane Johnson), how much pressure is there to capitalize on the 2 seed?
There's always pressure to capitalize on good opportunities in the playoffs, but I hear what you're saying. Let's tackle those three things you mentioned one at a time:
• Intimidating schedule:
The Eagles will play 11 games in 2025 against teams that made the playoffs in 2024. The combined 2024 records of the teams the Eagles will play in 2025 is 162-127 (0.561). There were eight teams (Eagles excluded) that finished with 11 wins this season, and the Eagles will play seven of them. They'll actually have eight total games against them. So, yeah, it's a very hard schedule.
When we published the Eagles' 2025 opponents, a common response was that future schedules don't mean much, because some good teams can be bad the following season, and vice versa. Hard disagree on that one. Good teams typically remain good, and bad teams typically remain bad.
The Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls, and went 15-2 this year. The Bills had their sixth consecutive double-digit win season this year. The Packers have made the playoffs in five of the last six seasons. The Lions have a pair of double-digit win seasons, and a great roster.
Those are just four examples of teams the Eagles play next year. Barring devastating injuries, does anyone really think those teams will be bad in 2025?
Concern level: High.
• Upcoming free agents:
We've touched on this in previous articles, but the Eagles have four players likely to attract good money this upcoming offseason, whether it's from the Eagles or some other team. They are Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Zack Baun, and Mekhi Becton. I highly doubt the Eagles will lose all four of those guys. If I had to guess, my bet would be that they prioritize retaining Baun and Williams.
But this isn't like the 2023 offseason, when the Eagles were coming off of their 2022 Super Bowl appearance and they had a boatload of free agents like Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, James Bradberry, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Isaac Seumalo, T.J. Edwards, Kyzir White, and Marcus Epps.
They won't suffer losses as bad as that offseason.
Concern level: Low-to-moderate.
• Older players:
The Eagles hit big in the draft on Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, which softens the concern over Darius Slay's play falling off a cliff at some point. The Eagles also have some young players like Kelee Ringo or Isaiah Rodgers (if they re-sign him) who could step into bigger roles if needed.
At RT, Johnson had one of his best seasons in 2024, and he has said that he felt better this year than he usually does at the end of the season. Barring some negative health development in the playoffs, I think you can count on him playing well again in 2025.
I would also add Brandon Graham to your list. The Eagles will have to replace him and potentially Josh Sweat this offseason.
But this upcoming offseason isn't the same as losing Kelce and Cox, for example.
Concern level: Low-to-moderate.
In summary, I'm confident the Eagles will field one of the best rosters in the NFL in 2025, but I wouldn't count on them winning 14 games again with that schedule.
Question from @doug.bauer3 (via Threads): Not to get ahead of ourselves, but this offseason, how would you rank the most important contracts to get done of the guys who would become FAs?
Above I mentioned that I think they'll prioritize Baun and Williams. I'd rank the four main guys like so:
- Zack Baun: Baun made a tangible impact on the defense this season, and it would be foolish to let him walk, barring some absurd offer from some other team.
- Milton Williams: The Eagles are thin on the interior of their D-line, and Williams is a home-grown player they like.
- Josh Sweat: The Eagles forced Sweat into a pay cut last offseason, so I'm sure he'll be eager to test the market. I wouldn't completely rule out a return, though, if his offers just aren't there.
- Mekhi Becton: The Eagles are already paying big money to Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Lane Johnson, and coming soon, Cam Jurgens. Becton is going to attract good offers from teams desperate for offensive line starters, and it's going to be too difficult for the Eagles to retain him, in my opinion.
Question from @hense83: Going into the playoffs, what is the weakest position group on the entire team, and why? Where may teams exploit the Eagles and take advantage of the matchups?
A year ago, it was easy to point to the linebackers, and know that opposing offenses were going to try to exploit the middle of the field. This year, are there really any obvious weaknesses to exploit?
On offense, there are some who think Jalen Hurts is a potential weakness, but opposing defenses are always going to gameplan for the quarterback anyway, obviously. As far as deficiencies to target, the Eagles don't have any weak links along their offensive line. A more subtle weakness is perhaps that defensive backs can largely ignore the WR3 and give more attention to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
- MORE EAGLES
- Eagles-Packers preview: Five things to watch when the Eagles have the ball
- Eagles-Packers preview: Five things to watch when the Packers have the ball
- What's the Eagles' best path to the Super Bowl?
Defensively, the Eagles don't have star edge rushers, but that's not necessarily something that opposing offenses can exploit, unless they're just awful against the run or something, which they're not, aside from Bryce Huff, who doesn't play on run downs. Again, a subtle weakness could be that opposing offenses just leave their tackles on an island against the Eagles' edges. But on the back end, what's there to attack? The linebackers and defensive backs have been great this season.
I think another subtle weakness could be in the kicking game. If Keisean Nixon fields the ball 6 or 7 yards deep in the end zone, for example, the Packers might have him try to return it.
Question from patrickwall (via Bluesky): What does it say about DVOA that they love the Packers, despite Green Bay winning exactly three games against teams that finished above 0.500?
The final DVOA rankings:
- Ravens
- Lions
- Packers
- Bills
- Eagles
I respect the folks who modeled DVOA and I generally find it to be a reliable 60,000-foot view of the league, but the notion that the Packers played better this season than the Eagles or Bills is ridiculous, obviously.
Question from @theronlongley: Now that the playoff seeds are finalized and Wild Card games scheduled, what would be Jimmy's ideal path for the Eagles to emerge as Super Bowl Champs (show your "math" with results of NFC and AFC playoff games)? TIA 🦅
I answered some version of this question previously, and came up with a trio of teams that were an impossibility, based on their seeding. I have failed you all. Sorry for that. So I'll take another crack at it.
• Wild Card Round: Eagles beat Packers.
• Divisional Round: Eagles beat the Rams, which is possible if the 4 seed Rams beat the 5 seed Vikings, and the 6 seed Commanders beat the 3 seed Bucs.
• NFCCG: Eagles play the Commanders, which is possible if the Commanders then beat the Lions in Detroit.
• Super Bowl: Eagles play the Steelers.
That's their easiest possible path, in my opinion. If you would sub out the Steelers for the Texans, I wouldn't put up much of a fight.
Question from @nflgimpy (via Bluesky): Which backup QB is more likely to be traded this offseason?
Kenny Pickett. I think the Eagles would be looking for a Day 2 pick at a minimum for Tanner McKee, and I can't see some other team giving that up based on the public tape of him that is available. I think the Eagles would be more willing to part with Pickett, for, ohhhh, say, a 4? And I think that's a reasonable price some backup-needy team might pay.
Question from thenoid (via Bluesky): The Lewis Cine poaching seems to be something they do often very late in the season. Is that a deliberate strategy and how often has it worked out (e.g. Boston Scott)?
The practice squad poaching that worked out famously for the Eagles was Jake Elliott, from the Bengals, although that wasn't at the end of the season, as you're describing. As you mentioned, Boston Scott is probably the best previous example of a late-season signing with the intent of getting a look at him the following season.
In December 2020, they signed a couple of guys -- LB Joe Bachie, from New Orleans, and OL Ross Pierschbacher, from Washington. So yes, it's an intentional strategy, but it's not an every year thing.
Cine is worth getting a look at. He was a 2022 first-round pick out of Georgia, and I'm sure the Eagles asked some of the Georgia guys about him. If he actually plays in some games for the Eagles, great. If not, no harm.
Question from @bgussoni (via Bluesky): Top 5 sandwiches
- Grilled cheese
- Beef on Weck
- Muffuletta
- Roast pork
- Sausage and cheese
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader