The Eagles have spent the last half-decade turning inconsistency into a strange kind of rhythm. They’ve reached two of the past five Super Bowls, yet in the seasons in between, they’ve failed to win a playoff game. After the way 2025 unraveled, with an early playoff exit and a busy offseason that followed, it would have been easy to assume the league had cooled on Philadelphia.
That’s not what’s happening.
NFL executives are still treating the Eagles like a real threat in the NFC, and maybe more than that. Mike Sando of The Athletic polled executives on who they think can win the conference this season, and four of the six voters put Philadelphia in the Super Bowl contender conversation.
In Sando’s ranking, the Eagles came in third, behind only the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks. ESPN’s current Super Bowl odds match that view, with Philadelphia holding the third-highest odds among NFC teams to win a championship this year.
Even with that vote of confidence, the sentiment around the Eagles comes with a built-in warning label: the ceiling is high, but the floor is just as visible.
One executive put it plainly: "They could go either way, to be quite honest. I think they will be better.
The thing that was really good for them is a potential concern, and that is the receiver position and running back. Saquon (Barkley) did not have a great year.
The offensive line health and age is a concern. They will still be formidable."
That’s the balancing act for Philadelphia heading into 2026. The Eagles are leaning on offseason changes that could reshape the offense quickly, and new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion sits at the center of it. His system could look very different from what Jalen Hurts and the rest of the offense are used to.
The pass-catching group has also changed significantly, with A.J. Brown's departure set to alter the identity of the unit.
There’s real bust potential in all of that. If Hurts doesn’t settle into Mannion’s system, or if the receivers and offensive line can’t hold together, the Eagles could stumble right out of the gate. But if those pieces click, Philadelphia has the kind of profile that keeps it in the Super Bowl conversation - and keeps feeding that every-other-year pattern the franchise has built under Nick Sirianni.
In Other News...
Zack Baun Is Becoming Even More Important To This Eagles Defense
Zack Baun has hardly left the field for the Eagles this season, and that has mattered as much as any box score number. Even while dealing with multiple injuries, he has started every game and been on the field for 98% of the teams defensive snaps, still functioning as one of the most stable pieces of a defense that has needed steady voices in the middle. The raw production has dipped from his 2024 All-Pro peak, but his value has clearly gone beyond splash plays.
Bauns influence has been especially important with Nakobe Dean gone and second-year linebacker Jihaad Campbell stepping into a bigger role. Eagles linebackers coach Bobby King has pointed to Bauns toughness, leadership and the way he has helped Campbell adjust to life as a starter, which says plenty about where the veterans importance now sits. Even if the numbers are not as eye-catching as they were a year ago, the Eagles keep finding more reasons to lean on him. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Hurts Faces A 2026 Eagles Test He Has Never Had Before
The Eagles offense is about to ask Jalen Hurts to do something he has not done much of in his NFL career, and that makes Sean Mannions arrival as offensive coordinator one of the more important changes in Philadelphia this offseason. Mannion comes over from the Packers with a scheme that leans more heavily on under-center throws, a shift that could reshape how the Eagles approach the passing game and how Hurts is used within it.
For a quarterback who has built much of his success operating in a different style, the transition could become one of the defining storylines of Philadelphias 2026 season. The adjustment will not just be about comfort level, either, because the effectiveness of Mannions offense may hinge on how quickly Hurts adapts and whether the Eagles can keep their attack moving without a long growing pains period. [Read more 🡒]
Howie Rosemans 2016 Trade Is Still Paying Off For The Eagles
The ripple effects of Howie Rosemans Sept. 3, 2016 deal are still showing up in Philadelphia years later. By sending Sam Bradford to Minnesota, the Eagles landed draft capital that helped shape the roster that went on to win Super Bowls, with the return eventually touching players such as Derek Barnett and Josh Sweat. It was the kind of move that looked like a clean quarterback transaction at the time and wound up becoming a foundational piece of the franchises recent run.
What makes the trade even more striking is how long the benefits kept compounding. The 2018 fourth-round pick also stayed in the Eagles ecosystem, eventually turning into a compensatory pick that helped Philadelphia move up for wide receiver Makai Lemon in 2026. For a front office that has built a reputation on squeezing value out of every asset, it is a reminder that one September swap can still echo through the roster nearly a decade later. [Read more 🡒]