The Philadelphia Eagles invested everything they had in a Super Bowl run this season, determined to win one more championship before the window closed on their veteran core. And it almost worked. They were the best team in the NFL this season, right up until the second half of Super Bowl LVII when they blew a 10-point lead.
The aftermath of their 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Arizona on Sunday felt more like an ending than a beginning. But that’s not what the Eagles want to believe. Through the pain and the hurt of a missed opportunity, they immediately focused on what they believe is a bright future.
And they all seemed to agree that they’re still loaded for another run at a title next year.
“Like I told the team, ‘Don’t forget what you did this year. It’s going to serve us next year,'” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. “Feel this sting because it definitely hurts. Boy, it stings. You can taste it. You can feel it. But it will definitely make us stronger for this comeback.'”
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And there will definitely be a comeback, Graham insisted.
“We’ll be back next year,” he said.
But will they? That’s hard to imagine given the challenges facing general manager Howie Roseman and coach Nick Sirianni as they try to keep the Eagles on top. The offseason losses already started on Tuesday, when both of the Eagles’ coordinators departed for other jobs. Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen was hired as the new head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. And defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon reached a deal to become the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Then there’s their famed “Core Four” — half of whom could be gone next year. Center Jason Kelce is 35 and hasn’t committed to returning for his 13th NFL season. And defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is 32, scheduled to be a free agent in March, and might not be re-signed.
Cox is just one of nine Eagles starters heading towards free agency. He joins cornerback James Bradberry, running back Miles Sanders, guard Isaac Seumalo, linebackers T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, and safeties Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. That’s a lot for a team currently projected to have only about $8.3 million in salary cap space for 2023, according to OverTheCap.com.
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“That’s the terrible part about it,” White said. “This team will look completely different. We’ve got a lot of pending free agents. You’ve got to really enjoy every moment because you might not suit up with them again.”
“I know we have some free agents. There will be time to discuss that,” Sirianni added. “But I know we’ve got a good nucleus of guys back to continue to build on. As a team, this one stings. This one hurts. We will no doubt get better from it. We’ve got a good young quarterback that’s played a phenomenal year, a good offensive line, good defense. We know we have the right people in place.”
Sirianni isn’t wrong about that. The Eagles still look particularly loaded on offense, starting with quarterback Jalen Hurts who very likely will get a mega-contract extension from the Eagles in the coming months. Even in the Super Bowl, he was outstanding, completing 27 of 38 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown while running 15 times for 70 yards and three touchdowns. He proved all season long that he’s an MVP-caliber player capable of carrying his team.
And most of his weapons will be back, including receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert. Maybe the Eagles will have to replace Kelce and/or Seumalo on the offensive line, but that unit showed this season that it has good depth. And while many expect that Sanders will price himself out of the Eagles range, they do seem to trust his backup, Kenneth Gainwell (240 yards on 4.5 yards per carry) and are confident in their rushing game with Hurts and their strong line.
The defense, though, might be completely overhauled. Of the six defensive starters heading to free agency, re-signing safety Gardner-Johnson is a priority, according to a team source, though that could prove costly since the price of safeties has ballooned in recent years and he likely will cost more than $14 million per year. No matter what the Eagles do to create cap room, they almost certainly won’t have enough to bring them all back.
Which means Roseman will either have to get creative to replace them or simply rebuild the defense through the draft. The good news is that the Eagles will have two first-round picks in April — their own at 31, plus the 10th overall pick they acquired from the New Orleans Saints last year. The bad news is they only have six picks overall, and two of those are in the seventh round.
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Given the job Roseman has done in his 14 years running the Eagles, he’s earned a measure of trust when it comes to rebuilding on the fly. But the real wild card for the Eagles might not be their personnel. It might how Sirianni and his players are able to shrug off a long season that eventually ended just short of their goals, so they can gear up mentally for another long run again.
“I just reminded them of that, you know all of the things we went through in our lives that was something that was adversity,” Sirianni said. “We’ll overcome this too because of the type of guys we have in there. We will use this to motivate us. We will use this pain. We will use this failure to motivate us so that we can make it a strength.”
“Obviously, we had a big-time goal that we wanted to accomplish and we came up short,” Hurts added. “I think the beautiful part about it is everyone experiences different pains, everyone experiences different agonies of life, but you decide if you want to learn from it. You decide if you want that to be a teachable moment.
“I know I do.”
Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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