After a fourth straight loss, the Eagles are drifting closer to full evaluation mode, and the pressure is mounting on the players whose contracts run through the 2026 season. With the trade deadline less than a month away, that lens is getting sharper by the week.
Philadelphia’s 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 6 put that reality on display. Several players were forced into bigger roles, and for some, the opportunity was useful. For others, it was another reminder that the roster still has holes.
Tanner McKee got his first start of the season and handled it well enough to help himself. Filling in for Jalen Hurts with a depleted backfield and offensive line, he completed 26 of 45 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown. He also had one rush for zero yards.
There were good moments in there. McKee landed a 19-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith and flashed enough to suggest he can keep building momentum.
He still had trouble pushing the offense down the field against heavy pressure, but this wasn’t a damaging outing. If he keeps trending upward, his free-agent value next offseason could keep climbing toward bridge QB territory.
At edge rusher, Arnold Ebiketie was thrust into a larger job and answered with volume. The Eagles were already thin with Jalyx Hunt and A.J.
Epenesa out, then Nolan Smith Jr. got hurt as well, and Ebiketie had to absorb more snaps. He finished with a team-high nine tackles and one pressure.
It wasn’t a breakout pass-rush performance, and Eagles fans would like to see more disruption there. Still, Ebiketie was active, productive, and showed enough to justify staying in the rotation.
Dallas Goedert, meanwhile, kept doing what he always seems to do: steady work, no drama. He caught six passes for 61 yards, including an 18-yard completion in the loss, and remained one of the most dependable pieces on the roster. With McKee at quarterback, that reliability matters even more.
There’s still chatter about Goedert as a trade candidate because he’s in the final year of his contract. But he’s playing well enough to matter, and the Eagles may need him around to support their young quarterback. If he does leave, he should be positioned to get good starter money somewhere else in the offseason.
Johnny Mundt’s first season in Philadelphia has not gone the way the Eagles hoped. The blocking issues haven’t been solved, and his impact in the passing game has been minimal.
He was supposed to be a fit because of his long connection with Sean Mannion, and the idea was that he could help fix the tight end blocking problems the Eagles had with Grant Calcaterra last year. That hasn’t come close to happening, and Mundt is looking more and more like a wasted investment.
In Other News...
Eagles May Have Found An Unexpected Edge Rusher To Watch
When the Eagles needed help on the edge, Keyshawn James-Newby suddenly found himself in the middle of the action. The rookie had spent the year on the practice squad before being elevated for his first NFL game, and the opportunity came with a much bigger workload than anyone likely expected.
James-Newby ended up logging 48 snaps and held up well enough to get noticed by teammates and Vic Fangio after the game. He chipped in two tackles and two hurries, and for a player who was just trying to make the most of a call-up, that kind of debut gives Philadelphia something interesting to track as the edge room continues to sort itself out. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Suddenly Have A Big Monday Night Question On Offense
The Eagles Week 7 injury report added another layer of uncertainty to a game that was already carrying plenty of weight, with Monday Night Football against the Cowboys now arriving with several offensive questions still hanging in the air. Philadelphia listed six players as non-participants in practice and eight more as limited, while 10 others were full participants, a snapshot that suggests the team is still sorting through availability as it gets closer to kickoff.
On the offensive side, the biggest concern is the collection of players still working through injuries, including DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert, two central pieces of the passing game whose status will shape how the Eagles can attack Dallas. Saquon Barkley was among the limited participants as well, giving Philadelphia a clearer sense of where some key veterans stand, but the final answer on who will actually be available is still the kind of thing that can swing a primetime game plan in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Suddenly Face Bigger Questions Than The Jalen Hurts Controversy
Saquon Barkley pushed back on the swirl around Jalen Hurts this week, making clear he did not like the way the quarterbacks situation was being framed. Barkley praised Hurts and wished him a speedy recovery, trying to steer the conversation away from any suggestion that the issue should be read as the Eagles and their quarterback being on opposite sides of the same story.
The larger concern in Philadelphia is that the Hurts situation may only be the start of what comes next. Once a team is suddenly dealing with a major health issue at quarterback, the questions do not stay confined to one player for long, and the chatter around Barkley has already drifted into whether the roster picture could change in a bigger way. [Read more 🡒]