The Philadelphia Eagles had some nice moments in free agency, but there were plenty more that they wished they could have figured out how to make work.
Philly lost some key players in free agency, including Reed Blankenship, Nakobe Dean, and Jaelan Phillips. Bleacher Report writer Alex Kay named off contracts he wished he had seen, with one of them being the Eagles re-signing Phillips on a three-year, $75 million contract instead of his four-year, $120 million deal with the Carolina Panthers.
"Despite investing a Day 2 pick into acquiring him, coupled with some promising contributions and the potential for far greater production from a full offseason learning Fangio's scheme, Philadelphia failed to make a strong enough push to retain Phillips. The 26-year-old went on to sign a four-year, $120 million deal with the Carolina Panthers. While Phillips revealed that the Eagles "definitely did" want him to return, he admitted Carolina's brass made a "more attractive offer" that he couldn't refuse. It's understandable why the Eagles elected not to match a $30 million per year contract for a player whose production thus far hasn't correlated to that type of money, but Phillips could have been special for the club and taken a massive leap in Year 2."
NFL writer wishes Jaelan Phillips stayed in Philly
Most Eagles fans feel the same way. Phillips made more of an impact in half a season of work last year than most players on the team did the whole 2025 campaign.
Ultimately, though, no one in Philadelphia is going to argue against Eagles general manager Howie Roseman's decision not to bring Phillips back. $30 million per year is just way too expensive for a player who didn't play full seasons in 2023 and 2024 due to serious injuries. That kind of investment would have been too risky when the Eagles have to save their money for young players lining up for contract extensions in the next few years, like Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell, and Cooper DeJean.
Instead of re-signing Phillips to a massive contract, they are replacing him with Arnold Ebiketie and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. Those are not quite the guys Eagles fans imagined taking his spot, but most likely Nolan Smith Jr. and Jalyx Hunt will be filling in as the main starters for the season, with Ebiketie and Tryon-Shoyinka rotating in.
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It's a shame it didn't work with Phillips, but most Eagles fans are okay with what happened and know that Roseman made the right decision for the franchise.