The reigning Super Bowl champions have the pieces to repeat
The Philadelphia Eagles suffered some hits in free agency on the defensive side of the ball, which led to some concern about their chances to repeat.
You need not worry.
They are still loaded, and general manager Howie Roseman always has guys ready to step up and take over key roles. Free agency and the draft have done exactly what was expected: replenish in areas of concern.
The Eagles, who won the Super Bowl in February in dominating fashion over the Kansas City Chiefs, will head into next season as the favorite to win it all again, and they are the top team right now in my Power Rankings.
That’s despite losing key defensive linemen Josh Sweat (Cardinals) and Milton Williams (Patriots) in free agency, releasing starting cornerback Darius Slay and trading safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to the Texans. That’s four starters from a defense that ravaged Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl who are no longer on the roster.
But the Eagles have young players in Jalyx Hunt to take over for Sweat and Moro Ojomo to take over for Williams. It’s not like the cupboard is bare up front. They also added veteran edge rusher Josh Uche.
They have two good second-year corners in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean and signed former Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Plus, they like young corner Kelee Ringo. Sydney Brown is expected to get the first shot to take over for Gardner-Johnson, but they also drafted Andrew Mukuba from Texas.
They will be just fine.
The offense, aside from right guard Mekhi Becton, returns intact. The Eagles got former first-round pick Kenyon Green from the Texans in the trade for Gardner-Johnson, so he could be their newest reclamation project like Becton was last year.
The talent is still abundant, which is why the Eagles remain atop the post-draft Power Rankings. The pressure to repeat will intensify as we get closer to the start of the season. That will challenge head coach Nick Sirianni, a guy many Eagles fans wanted axed early last year. By the way, they won’t admit that. Not now anyway.
No team has repeated in the NFC East for 20 years, so even that will be a test. But this Eagles team has the makeup to win the division and maybe even repeat as Super Bowl champs, which we know won’t be easy.
For now, they are the team at the top.
