There’s plenty of Eagles talk to chew on this time of year, but not every spring storyline deserves a full-blown panic. The A.J.
Brown trade, the noise around Jalen Hurts, the rookie class, Jalen Carter’s future, and the safety picture all have people reaching for conclusions early. That’s usually a mistake.
Start with Brown. A lot of people assume the Eagles are automatically worse without him, but that’s not the only way to read it.
The offense may actually operate more cleanly now, and there’s also the simple fact that Brown is no longer around to stir things up. Former three-time Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall made that point on the Hard Rock Bet podcast, saying, “Distractions just take the focus off of football and winning games, and this caused a ton of distractions in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room,” he said.
Hall didn’t stop there. “Even when they won games, there was always talk about Brown’s stats and whether he got enough targets,” Hall continued.
“There was always something. So, now they can wash their hands, and there’s no more Jalen (Hurts) versus A.J. talk.
That offense is going to be able to flow a little bit smoother than it did last season, and they can put the focus back on winning football games. Sometimes it can be good for both sides to just have a clean break and go their separate ways.”
That lines up with the idea that the Eagles may be better off simply moving forward. Nobody in the locker room is going to say publicly that Brown was a problem, but the source material makes clear not everyone was thrilled with his pettiness.
The same overreaction applies to Hurts. It’s spring, and that matters.
Some people are already treating his uneven OTAs and minicamp like a warning sign, which is a stretch. He’s learning a new offense, and expecting him to look like Tom Brady at this stage is a lot.
The bigger point is still the same: Hurts wins, including against some of the league’s best quarterbacks, and the belief here is that he’ll settle in as training camp unfolds and keep doing what he does.
The rookie class got dragged into the spring anxiety, too, even though this is exactly the time when rookies are supposed to look like rookies. First-round receiver Makai Lemon missed most of the action while dealing with a hamstring injury.
Second-round tight end Eli Stowers was barely noticeable as he worked through the pro game and his blocking. Quarterback Cole Payton looked overmatched, Cole Wisniewksi missed team drills because of an injury, and the list goes on.
But again, it’s spring. Lemon, Stowers, and Markel Bell should be fine. The rest will have to sort itself out once August arrives and the pace picks up.
Jalen Carter is another case where it’s too early to sprint to a conclusion. If his shoulder issues check out and the maturity questions are put to bed, a contract extension should follow.
He’s a top defensive tackle, and Howie Roseman has already made his stance on players like that clear. As he put it, “It’s hard to find great players in the NFL.”
Roseman said that in reference to A.J. Brown earlier in the offseason. At that time, he also said, “I think that when you're trying to be a great team, it's hard to trade great players.”
And then there’s safety, where the answer may end up being much simpler than the speculation suggests. If the Eagles believe Marcus Epps, Drew Mukuba, Michael Carter, Andre Sam, and Cole Wisniewski give them enough, they’ll stay put.
If they don’t, Roseman can always work an August trade. Either way, it’s not something that needs to set off alarms in early July.
In Other News...
Howie Roseman May Have Already Nailed The Eagles Sneakiest Moves
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What makes the stretch especially interesting is how much of it points to Howie Roseman already thinking several steps ahead for 2026. Philadelphia did not just add depth and shuffle roles, it also made a major in-draft move for Jonathan Greenard that looks like the sort of bet teams make when they believe the fit and the contract can pay off in a big way. If the rest of these additions settle in the way the Eagles hope, this could end up looking like one of those offseason clusters that quietly changes the shape of a roster. [Read more 🡒]
Former Player Just Raised An Uncomfortable Question About Eagles New OL Coach
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For Philadelphia, the timing makes Kupers arrival especially notable. He steps into a job that has long been one of the most important on the roster, and the expectations are as high as ever with questions surrounding the groups durability and growth. The Eagles have built a reputation on line play, and now the pressure is on Kuper to keep that standard intact while proving he can get the most out of a unit with plenty still to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles May Suddenly Need More From Hollywood Brown Than Expected
Marquise Brown arrived in Philadelphia on a one-year deal with a clear job description: bring veteran steadiness to a receiver room that looks a lot different now. With Dontayvion Wicks added and Makai Lemon drafted, the Eagles have given themselves more bodies and more competition at the position, but Brown still stands out as the proven speed element in the passing game and a player who should be part of the initial roster.
What makes his role interesting is that the Eagles may need more than the usual field-stretching threat from him. Brown is expected to help open space for the rest of the offense, but if the younger receivers take time to settle in, his value could climb quickly beyond being just another depth piece. [Read more 🡒]