A starting six-step Eagles offseason plan to run it back

Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, and Nick Sirianni likely will have a specific goal on their minds when the Eagles enter the 2025 season: to run it back.

Winning back-to-back Super Bowls isn’t easy. Only nine teams have nabbed consecutive Lombardi Trophies in NFL history. The most recent team to earn back-to-back titles was the Kansas City Chiefs (2023-24), who had their dreams of the NFL’s first three-peat ended by the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.

Could the Eagles be the next in line to win consecutive Super Bowls? That prospect isn’t impossible to fathom. The majority of key players on both sides of the ball are set to return in 2025 and beyond, from Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley to Jalen Carter and Cooper DeJean.

Still, the Eagles brass has a variety of decisions to make this offseason that could determine whether the team has a chance at another Super Bowl in 2025. They can’t control everything, such as the improvement of their competitors (looking at you, Washington) and the difficulty of their schedule next season (fourth-most difficult by opponent win percentage in 2024).

Regardless, if the Eagles want to position themselves for continued success in 2025, here is where they could start:

Sirianni turned his hot seat into a heck of a season. After the mid-to-late-season collapse of 2023 and a 2-2 start in 2024, he helped guide the Eagles to dominance out of the bye week as they won 16 of their next 17 games.

His results across his entire body of work as Eagles coach are unprecedented. Sirianni is the first head coach in the Super Bowl era to make the playoffs in each of his first four seasons while reaching multiple Super Bowls (LVII and LIX). His 54 career wins in that span, including the playoffs, are the second-most by a head coach through their first four seasons in NFL history, according to Next Gen Stats.

Sirianni is due for an extension this offseason. He just completed the fourth year of his reported five-year, $35 million deal that he signed in January 2021. It seems unlikely that the Eagles would let Sirianni go into the final year of his contract. Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys are the latest examples of how that scenario typically goes.

If the reported salary of one particular recently hired first-time coach is any indication, Sirianni is going to get a raise. Ben Johnson, the new Chicago Bears coach, reportedly will make $13 million per year. Sirianni reportedly is making $7 million.

Jalen Hurts’ quest for continuity continues. The Eagles are set to hire their fourth offensive coordinator in five seasons after Kellen Moore departed for the New Orleans Saints to become their coach. Now, Hurts is slated to work with his 12th play-caller in his 10 collegiate and professional seasons.

“If there was a chance to have continuity, I think there could be … I don’t know if we’ll ever know,” Hurts said at the Eagles’ locker clean-out on Thursday.

Could the Eagles maintain some sort of consistency by promoting from within, though? Kevin Patullo has been the Eagles’ passing game coordinator since he followed Sirianni from the Indianapolis Colts in 2021. During the week leading up to the Super Bowl, the 43-year-old Patullo described his role as “half head coach, half offensive coordinator.” Patullo aspires for the full role as offensive coordinator and primary play-caller.

When asked about the prospect of Patullo being a candidate to become the offensive coordinator, Hurts hesitated to make a projection between the assistant coach’s current role and his potential one.

“Kevin Patullo has never been a … he’d have a different role,” Hurts said. “So it’s hard to compare that role to this role, because his job is going to demand something totally different of him. And I have a lot of confidence in him and what he’s shown. However, I know over the years, I’ve learned that’s out of my jurisdiction. So kind of just taking things as they come and try to go out there and be the best I can be and just learn and evolve.”

Perhaps the Eagles would feel more comfortable going down a proven route outside the organization. That’s the path they took last offseason when hiring Moore, who had previous stops with the Cowboys (2019-22) and the Los Angeles Chargers (2023) as their offensive coordinator. The Eagles hired him to refresh an offense that had gone “stale,” as Sirianni put it, in 2023 when the team lost six of its last seven games (including playoffs).

The Eagles have 18 pending free agents and a smidgen of cap room in 2025. According to Over the Cap’s projection, the team is slated to have about $19.6 million in cap space at the start of the new league year on March 12. That projection does not include the incoming rookie class contracts.

Over the Cap currently is projecting the Eagles’ effective cap space (a team’s cap space after signing a minimum of 51 players and its projected rookie class to the roster) at $17 million, which would be the 12th-lowest in the NFL. With that in mind, the Eagles likely won’t be able to bring back all four of their big-name unrestricted free agents: Milton Williams, Zack Baun, Josh Sweat, and Mekhi Becton.

Baun’s return could be the most realistic and most pressing. The 28-year-old inside linebacker thrived in his first year as a starter at the position under Vic Fangio. His versatility was a boon for the position, as he demonstrated his ball-hawking instincts in coverage (three interceptions and seven pass breakups) and his pass-rushing ability when he walked up to the line of scrimmage (3½ sacks).

Without Baun in the picture, the future of the Eagles’ inside linebacker position is a bit uncertain. Nakobe Dean, who is going into the final year of his contract, is recovering from a torn patellar tendon. Will he be able to return to 2024 form following the injury? Aside from Dean, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is the only 2024 active-roster inside linebacker under contract in 2025. Is he ready for a starting role?

Baun is expected to be relatively more affordable than someone like Williams. According to Pro Football Focus, Baun is projected to command $13 million per year in his next multiyear deal, which would make him the sixth highest-paid inside linebacker on an average annual basis. Meanwhile, Williams is projected to command $21 million per year, according to PFF, which would land him among the top 14 earners at his position.

Losing Williams could be slightly easier (but not much easier) to stomach, given two factors. One, the Eagles have pass-rushing depth on the interior in Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo. Two, Roseman could identify Williams’ replacement through the draft, seeing as the 2025 class is replete with talented interior defensive linemen.

Dallas Goedert, at 30, is coming off a season marked by injuries. Despite playing just 10 regular-season games, a single-season career low, Goedert was efficient when he was on the field. He made a career-high 80.8% of his catches and averaged 11.8 yards per reception (his third-best rate in his seven seasons).

The veteran tight end is going into the final year of his four-year, $57 million deal. According to Over the Cap, his cap hit is set to rise to $11.8 million in 2025, which is the sixth-highest on the Eagles. He does not have any guaranteed money in the final year of his deal.

While cutting Goedert could create a cap savings this year, the Eagles do not have a deep tight end group in 2025. Grant Calcaterra and EJ Jenkins are the only others under contract. It may make the most sense to restructure Goedert’s contract for 2025, which could create up to $4.3 million in cap savings, according to Over the Cap, and bring the veteran back for one last season.

The Eagles are in a similar position with Darius Slay as they are with Goedert. The 34-year-old cornerback is going into the final season of his three-year renegotiated contract that carries a cap hit of nearly $13.8 million (fifth-highest on the team). Like Goedert, Slay also does not have any guaranteed money in the final year of his deal.

Unlike Goedert, Slay only missed two games because of injury this season (Week 9 vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars because of a groin injury and Week 13 vs. the Baltimore Ravens because of a concussion). He performed at a high level as the season progressed and finished with a team-high 13 pass breakups.

But would the Eagles want Slay back in a starting role in 2025? Slay has stated that he aspires to play one more season, which would be his 13th in the NFL. While he would prefer to play for the Eagles, he expressed an understanding that Roseman has business decisions to make.

The Eagles have considerable cornerback depth, with DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, Kelee Ringo, and Eli Ricks slated to return next season. Isaiah Rodgers is set to become a restricted free agent and could make for a potential replacement. If the Eagles want to continue to get younger on defense, Roseman could create up to $4.3 million in cap savings by cutting Slay with a post-June 1 designation. It isn’t an easy decision, given Slay’s sustained performance, but the Eagles could use the cap space in 2025, and the cornerback could get paid elsewhere.

» READ MORE: 2025 NFL mock draft 1.0: Abdul Carter lands in Cleveland; Eagles add explosive D-lineman

The Eagles will need to replace whoever walks in free agency on the open market or through the draft. If Williams is gone, the Eagles could stand to draft a defensive tackle, one of Roseman’s highly coveted positions in the trenches.

The team could use the edge rusher depth, too. Sweat and Brandon Graham are set to become unrestricted free agents. Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, and Bryce Huff are the only 2024 active-roster players at the position who are under contract next season. Like the defensive tackle group in this year’s draft, the edge rusher class also is packed with talent.

The draft isn’t the only place where the Eagles could bolster their edge rusher corps. Could Roseman kick the tires on a Myles Garrett acquisition? It would be difficult to get him in the door, let alone pay him once he arrives. He has two years left on his contract ($19.72 million cap hit in 2025, $20.37 million in 2026, and one void year in 2027 at $40.92 million) and he likely will seek an extension with his next team. Plus, the Eagles would have to give up a haul in a trade with the Browns.

Meanwhile, even if Goedert returns in 2025, the Eagles need to address their future at tight end through the draft or on the trade market.