Feb. 11, 2026, 12:25 p.m. ET
Calling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers one of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ rivals may be a stretch. Technically, they aren’t. There is, however, something there, and whatever it is, it isn’t healthy.
It isn’t the same level of disdain that exists when speaking of the Dallas Cowboys or New York Giants in unflattering terms. Still, one might argue that there’s more venom between the Birds and Bucs than there is between Philadelphia and the Washington Commanders.
Washington is a division rival, so how do we refer to Tampa Bay? Nemesis maybe? That works, right? Too often, big games have come along, and those doggone Buccaneers have been in the way.
They closed Veterans Stadium with a loss, and they opened Lincoln Financial Field with another. Now, it seems that someone who has covered them for a long while believes they’ll rob the Eagles of a fan favorite.
FOX Sports predicts Nakobe Dean lands with the Buccaneers during free agency.
We’ve reached that time of year where free-agency theories and early draft ideas dominate the discussions about the Eagles. 20 players are scheduled to hit the open market, and if nothing changes between now and March 11, Philadelphia would have limited resources to accomplish anything. That makes guys like Nakobe Dean very interesting.
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Fox Sports released its ranking of the top 100 players entering free agency, and swings were taken at guessing where those players might land. Dean ranks 32nd. Greg Auman, the author, believes the Buccaneers would serve as a viable landing spot.
“Dean, 25, has been limited by injuries throughout four seasons in Philadelphia. His peak was 128 tackles in 2024 in a Super Bowl season for the Eagles, though a knee injury sidelined him for most of the playoffs and through the first month of this season. He can get to the quarterback — seven sacks and 16 tackles for loss in the last two seasons — but his durability is a question mark. The Eagles used a first-round pick on Jihaad Campbell last year, so maybe they’ve already decided on Dean’s future. How much can Dean get as a free agent? There’s a wide range of projections, but he’s likely in the $8 million a year vicinity.”
What makes this interesting is that Auman covers the NFC South for FOX and has also covered the Buccaneers for years. If anyone understands temperature and their mode of thinking, it would certainly be him.
The Eagles currently have insurance at the linebacker position if Dean were to leave. Zack Baun is still on the roster. Jihaad Campbell and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. wait in the wings. Smael Mondon is an exciting prospect and a special-teams player.
And yet, knowing all of that doesn’t make the idea of Dean’s exit any easier to swallow. He has become a fan favorite, and he’s normally the kind of player Philadelphia fights to keep.
He’s young and productive when healthy. He plays the game as if his life depended on it, sometimes to his own detriment. Losing him would already sting. Losing him to Tampa Bay would twist the knife a little more.
The Eagles may have contingency plans at linebacker, but rivalries, official or not, have a way of making departures feel personal. If Dean does end up wearing pewter, orange, and red, it won’t just be another free-agency move. It’ll be another chapter in a quiet, aggravating feud that refuses to go away.