The Eagles’ 2026 countdown has already reached one of the biggest names on the roster, and Jordan Mailata sits near the center of everything Philadelphia wants to do next season.
Mailata is entering his sixth year as the starting left tackle, and the expectation around him hasn’t changed: he has to keep playing at an elite level. That matters even more now because the Eagles’ offensive line didn’t look like its usual self last season.
Lane Johnson missed half the year with an injury, while Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson were both dealing with pain. The result was a group that never quite matched its standard.
That dip came after the line helped power the run game and protect Jalen Hurts during the Super Bowl LIX run, but the 2025 version of the offense was not nearly as sharp. Mailata, though, remained steady. The 2024 second-team All-Pro gave up just two sacks and 28 pressures across 566 pass pro reps, once again putting himself among the league’s best at left tackle.
What makes this next stretch especially interesting is that Mailata won’t be operating in the same environment. Jeff Stoutland, the assistant who taught him the position after he arrived as a former rugby player and 2018 seventh-round pick, is gone after 13 years in Philadelphia. In his place is new offensive line coach Chris Kuper, part of a broader staff overhaul that also brought in offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.
Mailata has embraced the shift. This spring, he called Mannion an “evil genius” and described Kuper as “a great addition to the team.” The new staff is expected to install a wide-zone running scheme, which is a different approach from what the Eagles have used before.
“I feel like a rookie again,” Mailata said. “It’s great.
It’s a very humbling experience, and I think you should always be of that learning mindset. ... So it’s been fun.”
For Philadelphia, the formula is simple enough: keep Mailata healthy, get him comfortable in the new system and let him keep doing what he does best on the blind side.
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