PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – DECEMBER 31: Dallas Goedert #88 of the Philadelphia Eagles spikes the … More ball after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field on December 31, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
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For the Philadelphia Eagles, the plan set into motion during the offseason reached its logical conclusion over the three days of the 2025 NFL Draft. The team chose to prioritize several big-ticket retentions — extending Saquon Barkley, keeping Zach Baun and Jordan Mailata — over defensive linemen Milton Williams and Josh Sweat, defensive backs C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Isaiah Rodgers and backup quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Naturally, Howie Roseman cannot simply spend beyond the salary cap he must adhere to the way 31 other NFL teams do. But he can rely on a scouting department which produced 12 of the 22 starters for Philadelphia’s 2024 Super Bowl champion team through the draft, many of them taken well after the end of the first round, to build both frontline replacements and depth.
So while there are some unresolved questions — notably, how the tight end position will shake out by the time the Eagles begin playing in September — many of the positions that looked thin just after free agency began have been filled by competitions among younger (read: more affordable) players.
With linebacker Jihaad Campbell at 31 — the Eagles traded up one spot to get him — followed by safety Andrew Mukuba at 64, defensive tackle Ty Robinson at 111, cornerback Mac McWilliams at 145 and linebacker Smael Mondon at 164, the Eagles utilized their first five picks on the defensive side of the ball. Roseman was quite clear about the economic reasons for that balance when he met with reporters following the conclusion of the draft on Saturday.
“Well offensively, we have a bunch of starters under long-term contracts, starters who are in the prime of their career, so it allows you to really, on the fly, get young on that side of the ball,” Roseman said. “And we needed it a couple of years ago. I’d say this year’s draft, we were open to whatever the board told us at where we were picking. We really felt like we were taking the best guys. We were really sticking to the board in terms of where we are. I’ll go home, like I’ve talked about, on Saturday night and I’ll have a big glass of Fosforo Mezcal and I’ll kind of figure out everything that we did. It’s hard when you’re going through it and trying to make each decision the best you can to really get a big picture perspective.”
Campbell represents a growing stable of versatile playmakers at the position for the Eagles, alongside Baun and Nakobe Dean. With Dean injured, and the clear opportunity for those who play at linebacker to make an outsized contribution within the schemes of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the choice comes down to far more than just Campbell’s South Jersey roots.
“Vic does a tremendous job with getting guys who have pass rush ability to be versatile players like that,” Roseman said shortly after selecting Campbell on Thursday night. “I think what’s really fun is that those guys who have that versatility who can go out on the edge and get pressure as a rusher and he’s got speed, he’s got power as an edge rusher, he was trained as an edge rusher. And then, he’s got the versatility to play off the ball and blitz from depth and play in space, in pass coverage, as an off-ball linebacker.”
“…You just look around the league, the teams that we have to get through to get where we want to go, they have fast explosive quarterbacks, players in their backfield that we’ve got to bring down at all levels of our defense, and we need a tremendous amount of front seven players to contain those guys. It’s always been a priority for us. This doesn’t deviate what we believe. We believe in affecting the passing game on offense and defense, and this guy can affect the passing game on defense.”
In Mukuba and McWilliams, the Eagles are building on the idea, which paid off handsomely last season, that they have an infrastructure in place allowing young defensive backs to thrive. It’s hard to argue, given the rookie seasons Cooper DeJean and Quinton Mitchell — both 2024 draft picks — just enjoyed.
Notably, three of their seven picks in the fifth and sixth rounds were offensive linemen. And what’s interesting here is the extent to which the Eagles clearly believe their development staff at that position — famously led by Jeff Stoutland — can create starters, even stars, out of players without the elite pedigree. Witness, for example, Mailata, who struggled to find his niche with the New York Jets before arriving in Philadelphia.
“We’re always looking to replenish the offensive line,” Roseman said. “We go into every draft and look for opportunities to pick offensive linemen. It didn’t work in the first couple of rounds when we were picking on Thursday night and Friday and anytime that an offensive lineman was the top player on our board, we took them. We doubled up because it worked out that way and we weren’t going to hesitate to do that. It’s so important to get those guys. It’s so hard to find tackles with traits in their body.
“Both the tackles that we took, they have critical factors that we can really work with and develop and obviously they have things to work on, that’s why they were drafted where they were. But when you get guys with critical factors with the coaching staff we have, I’ll take our chances with that. Then [C] Drew [Kendall], you talk about somebody who’s just made to play in the NFL, obviously his dad was the first-round pick. It’s hard to find. It is a center deficient league. There are not a lot of centers on draft boards.”
Roseman, for his part, stressed that he was dedicated to picking the best player on his draft board at every turn. But this, too, carries shades of gray. He traded down twice this year, which is a tacit acknowledgement that he didn’t need to precise player atop his board at two different moments in the selection process. He did add Kyle McCord to his quarterback room, a likely Pickett replacement, but the Eagles did not draft a tight end.
That would seem to lock in Dallas Goedert for 2025 — though Kylen Granson and Harrison Bryant were added in free agency, and Grant Calcaterra returns — but with a $11.7 million cap hit for 2025, Roseman has ample reason to potentially renegotiate or even jettison Goedert by June 1, when he can save $9.5 million of that. After June 1, the savings would drop to $4.1 million.
“Dallas is part of the team as we speak,” Roseman said. “Obviously, as we go forward, we’re going to continue to address things on this team and right now nothing further… Dallas is a heck of a player – a heck of a player, a heck of a person. Certainly don’t want to do anything publicly where we’re discussing anyone’s business, but I have so much respect for him. Been to two Super Bowls together and obviously would love him on this team. You always love having Dallas on this team, but we’re not there right now on any of that. But, love Dallas Goedert.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of his status. But considering it is only April, with how many questions the Eagles just answered in the draft and free agency, there’s plenty of time for Roseman to figure this one out.