Despite the roster turnover, the Philadelphia Eagles still look like a team built to matter in 2026.
There’s talent everywhere. The defense is loaded with young pieces, Jalen Hurts has a deep receiver group around him, the run game has a real weapon, and the offensive line remains a steady part of the operation. ESPN’s Kevin Clark put the Eagles on his list of top Super Bowl contenders for 2026 during an appearance on First Take, but he also made it clear another NFC team sits ahead of them.
"Also have the Eagles there. Last segment I talked about how much respect I have for Jalen Hurts, that entire operation. They're gonna win a bunch of games, even if I have the Cowboys going first there."
That’s the part Eagles fans won’t love: Clark had the Dallas Cowboys ranked above Philadelphia.
He backed that up by praising Dallas even after a 2025 season that ended with a losing record and no playoff berth. Clark pointed to head coach Brian Schottenheimer and quarterback Dak Prescott, calling Dallas "an actual NFC favorite" and saying he expects them to win the NFC East.
That kind of Cowboys optimism is nothing new. Plenty of analysts buy into Dallas every year because of Prescott and the offense, only for the season to drift into the same familiar ending, with the defense letting things unravel and Prescott piling up yards and touchdowns late.
Philadelphia, though, has earned a different kind of trust under Nick Sirianni. Over the last five years, the Eagles have reached two Super Bowls, won one, and taken the NFC East three times. If you’re picking a team to believe in as a real contender, Philadelphia has the stronger case.
The biggest questions still sit on offense. Sean Mannion is in his first year as the play-caller after two seasons as a coach, and Hurts is coming off a year that drew plenty of criticism.
Still, the Cowboys chatter comes as no surprise. ESPN loves talking about Dallas, and Clark said as much on the air. The more predictable part may be how this plays out if the usual pattern holds: the Cowboys fade late, and the Eagles keep control of the NFC East for a third straight season.
In Other News...
Brandon Grahams Eagles Future Suddenly Feels Like A Final Goodbye
Brandon Graham has spent so long as the face of the Eagles defensive front that it still feels strange to talk about his future in anything but the present tense. The longest-tenured player in franchise history sat down on Good Morning Football and sounded like a man who has made peace with whatever comes next, even after coming back last season to play nine games following an initial retirement. He remains third on the Eagles all-time sack list, a reminder of just how much he has meant to this defense over the years.
What makes the situation feel different now is how much of the roster around him has changed. Philadelphia has built a strong defensive line, and Graham acknowledged that he is content with where life stands at the moment while still leaving the door cracked for another season. For a player who has already given the Eagles everything from production to leadership, the question is no longer whether he belongs in the conversation. It is how much longer that conversation lasts. [Read more 🡒]
Saquon Barkleys 2026 Floor Should Have Eagles Fans Feeling Torn
Saquon Barkleys 2025 season was good by most standards, but it still felt like a step back after his 2024 breakout, with 1,140 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Even so, there is reason for Eagles fans to think the running game could be headed back up in 2026, especially if the offense leans harder into the ground game and the front five stays intact.
Zach Berman of The Athletic sees Barkleys floor next season landing around 1,252 rushing yards, which would still qualify as a strong year and one of the better marks of his career. The catch is that the number depends on a few moving parts, from how much the scheme shifts toward wide-zone and under-center runs to how much work backup Tank Bigsby takes on, so the range of outcomes may be wider than the projection suggests. [Read more 🡒]