The Philadelphia Eagles enter the 2026 offseason facing a quiet crisis at a position that has long been the heartbeat of their passing game.
With both Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra set to test the free-agent waters, general manager Howie Roseman finds his tight end room suddenly vacant. And to maintain the explosive nature of an offense headlined by A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, the Eagles don't just need a body; they need a mismatch.
Enter NC State's Justin Joly.
The Senior Bowl Surge
At the Senior Bowl in Mobile, the NC State product didn't just participate -- he executed. He produced, and he got better as the days progressed. Measuring in at 6-foot-3 and 251 lbs, Joly was named the National Team’s Tight End MVP.
For an Eagles team that struggled to find consistent third-down and red-zone answers when Goedert was bracketed, Joly offers a solution as he isn't just a safety valve; he is a separator.
Peeling back the layers, the Eagles' offense thrives when the middle of the field is a threat. Joly brings a background as a former wideout, evident in his route-running, with a sink in his hips to snap off intermediate routes and the vertical speed to threaten the seam. By adding a player who can win on second-and-four or third-and-nine, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion can force defenses to pull help away from the perimeter, effectively giving Brown and Smith more room to breathe.
Furthermore, Joly has silenced critics regarding his "finesse" label. At NC State, he added over 20 pounds to his frame, and in Mobile, he proved he could compete as an in-line blocker, a crucial part of the Eagles' identity. As a tight end who can’t clear a path for Saquon Barkley, he simply won’t see the field in Philadelphia.
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While names like Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon) might dominate the early rounds, the late Day 2/ Day 3 bucket is where Roseman could find his value in a loaded class of flex weapons as the rounds progress with names like Michael Trigg (Baylor), Nate Boerkircher (Texas A&M), Eli Raridon (Notre Dame), and Terrance Carter Jr (Texas Tech), among others. Joly fits in among the class's elite in terms of ability in space, and his skill set in an Eagles offense with new wrinkles expected could showcase a new, youth-infused piece to build around at the position.