This was the latest in a line of quintessential Howie Roseman offseasons for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles were able to withstand some of the most consequential departures, particularly on defense, because of Roseman’s longstanding forward-thinking philosophy during the NFL Draft of selecting players capable of seamlessly stepping up and replacing veterans on the cusp of cashing in on, at times, market-setting contracts in free agency.

Similarly, it is becoming glaringly obvious that A.J. Brown will be elsewhere as early as the strike of midnight on June 1. That’s the moment it becomes palatable against the cap for everyone involved to pat each other on the back, shake hands, and move on.

Roseman and the Eagles spent much of the offseason acquiring scheme-specific depth receivers tailored to what they’ll be asked to do in new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s passing game.

It’s almost as if the Eagles’ past three draft classes were built around having ascending players in place to not skip a beat when the likes of Nakobe Dean, Reed Blankenship, Brown, and others inevitably wound up elsewhere while insulating against the need to break the bank against the cap to keep them in place.

Likewise, Roseman didn’t toss money around like it was going out of style during free agency, rather waited for the initial market to settle during the legal tampering period before targetedly spending on players who fill specific traits at key positions of need.

The pressure might be higher than at any point of the Nick Sirianni-Jalen Hurts era in Philadelphia, and the Eagles’ offseason seemed to be built around plugging holes in a ship boasting a steady track record for success than making major, high-priced upgrades at the expense of future flexibility.

Here’s a breakdown, and grade, for the Eagles’ offseason …

EDGE - Jonathan Greenard (trade), WR - Dontayvion Wicks (trade), CB - Riq Woolen, EDGE - Arnold Ebiketie

Echoing Roseman’s 2022 draft night heist of Brown that became pivotal to the Eagles reaching two, and winning one Super Bowl, Philadelphia upgraded what had quickly become one of the few glaring deficiencies across the roster by acquiring veteran pass rusher Jonathan Greenard in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings.

Greenard, 28, posted just four sacks last season but added 47 total quarterback pressures and now Vic Fangio’s heat-seeking missile and the focal point of the Eagles’ revamped pass rush.

Roseman’s overhaul of the front seven also included signing Arnold Ebiketie to a one-year deal worth $7.3 million. In advance of free agency, multiple sources told Between The Hashmarks that several teams believed Ebiketie had 8-10 sack upside in a more expanded role than he had been playing in Atlanta. The former Falcons’ pass rusher arrives in Philadelphia with 16.5 sacks through his first four seasons and should be a major piece of the puzzle in Fangio’s rotation of rushers.

In the secondary, despite rising homegrown stars in Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell entrenched at the top of the depth chart, Fangio and the Eagles spent the entirety of the 2025 season trying, and largely failing to identify consistency and production from a third cornerback.

As a result, the Eagles tossed $12 million at Riq Woolen

Offensively, no arrival will be more impactful to the Eagles’ 2026 season and the direction the franchise takes after it, than Sean Mannion’s hiring as offensive coordinator.

In Green Bay, Mannion helped head coach Matt LaFleur craft game plans around spreading the football around in the passing game to receivers built around YAC while exploiting the middle of the field — a previous weakness in Hurts’ game and an under-utilized portion of Philadelphia’s playbook in recent years.

Wicks brings scheme familiarity to act both as a coach on the field for Mannion as well as an interpreter inside the receiver room during install periods this spring and summer. The 24-year-old also had an 11.6-yard Average Depth of Target, according to Pro Football Focus, which seems to telegraph how every receiver not named DeVonta Smith may be deployed this season.

Jaelan Phillips (EDGE), Reed Blankenship (S), Nakobe Dean (LB)

For most franchises, it would be difficult to replace the significant talent that walked out the door from an Eagles defense that finished 13th in the league last season but allowed the fourth fewest points per game in the league.

The Eagles, though, aren’t most franchises and Roseman isn’t most general managers.

Phillips’ impact was far more significant than his two sacks might indicate, because of the number of times his pressures resulted in sacks for the likes of Jalen Carter, Brandon Graham, or Jordan Davis.

Philadelphia was optimistic in the weeks, days, and hours leading up to the legal tampering period that a deal would get done to keep Phillips in place long-term, before the Panthers reset the market by guaranteeing him $80 million over the next four years.

Greenard’s arrival, though, softens the blow and reinforces the decision not to blow up the salary cap in a Phillips bidding war.

Blankenship is widely viewed as an ascending star at safety, is coming off a 53-tackle and one interception season and is in the midst of developing into a truly well-rounded safety.

But, the Eagles selecting Andrew Mukuba in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, in hindsight, was a forward-thinking move to reset the financial clock at a key position and an insurance policy on a team like the Houston Texans prying Blankenship away for $24.75 million over the next three seasons.

Then, there’s Nakobe Dean, a freakishly athletic linebacker who seemed to finally be hitting his stride last season, after battling myriad injuries throughout his career. Dean posted a career-high four sacks last season to go with his 30 total tackles, before the Raiders committed $36 million over the next three seasons to pair him with freakishly athletic former Packer Quay Walker in a revamped front seven.

Fortunately, for Philadelphia, Jihaad Campbell’s arrival as the Eagles’ first-round pick last spring and getting the former Alabama standout a year’s worth of playing time eases any transition for Fangio and the front seven in 2026.

Makai Lemon (WR), Eli Stowers (TE)

Philadelphia’s first two picks in this spring’s draft don’t just fill immediate needs, serving as upgrades at two positions, but reinforced Roseman’s signature posture of long-term planning for the roster.

Leading up to the NFL Draft, multiple evaluators in multiple buildings suggested to Between The Hashmarks not only that Lemon’s skill-set compared extremely favorably to Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but his positional versatility as a “Slot and Z combo” pushed him up their boards.

Following the draft, one personnel director listed Lemon to the Eagles as one of the best scheme fits of any player selected across the league and another scouting director pointed out that because Mannion will be able to line him up on the outside or in the slot that he’s an ideal complement to DeVonta Smith.

Trading up for Lemon in the first round wasn’t just about adding an after the catch machine who thrives over the middle of the field for Jalen Hurts, in Mannion’s system, but further softening the incoming blow for life after Brown.

Meanwhile, there were several evaluators who believed there wasn’t much — if any drop-off from Kenyon Sadiq to Stowers, and that the former Vanderbilt star may be the more complete tight end than Sadiq, who went off the board at No. 16 overall to the New York Jets.

Selecting Stowers in the second round gives the Eagles a top-tier pass-catching option to pair with Dallas Goedert this season, mirroring how frequently Mannion and the Packers deployed two-tight end sets in Green Bay.

Crucially, Stowers also provides a clear financial reset at the position beyond 2026, coming on the heels of the Eagles inking Goedert to a one-year extension for the second consecutive offseason.

After a rather dramatic regression in 2025, Roseman and the Eagles seem to have done everything possible to set the offense up for a successful overhaul while stemming the tides of change on defense despite watching three high-level starters get paid elsewhere.

This is a general manager and a franchise that has earned the deserved benefit of the doubt, which has met these offseason changes. The two Lombardi Trophies in the Jefferson Health Training Complex are a testament that the philosophy of the multi-year vision works.

There’s also the elephant of uncertainty in the room about just how significant losing Brown is going to be, how impactful Wicks, Hollywood Brown, and Lemon are capable of being, and what exactly this offense is going to look like without such a force-multiplying deep threat on the perimeter.

How the new pieces come together, how the scouting reports that accompany the likes of Lemon and Stowers translate onto the field, and how quickly the quarterback not only grasps but excels in what could be a dramatically different scheme than his traits are built for, though, will dictate just how lofty the Eagles’ ceiling is in 2026 and what kind of undertaking a potential overhaul in 2027 could turn out to be.

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