Sports

10 Thoughts I Have On Eagles in July: Front Office Has To Show More Faith In Jalen Hurts

By Jeff Kerr Sports Illustrated

Updated July 8, 2026 6:13 PM

We are officially less than three weeks away from the Philadlephia Eagles reporting to training camp.

The dog days of summer are almost over and the Eagles will begin their quest of going for a second Super Bowl in three years. Does it even feel like a Super Bowl caliber season?

There has been a lot of movement going on with the roster, between the changes in the coaching staff to the A.J. Brown trade. It's been a long offseason, as we're all just ready for the pads to come on.

I have some thoughts on the 2026 Eagles as they prepare for training camp. I'm not as optimistic about this season, but I do think this team can win a title (if some things go right). Here are 7 reasons why by the way...

As Vic Fangio likes to say, the warts always come out. Here are 10 thoughts I have on the 2026 Eagles:

1. I'm concerned who is going to replace DeVonta Smith

The Eagles have a replacement for A.J. Brown as the WR1 -- that's DeVonta Smith. The real question is who's going to replace Smith at WR2?

Dontayvion Wicks is going to get the first opportunity at the job, but he's struggling to catch the football consistently. That's a problem for a player who is expected to get 70+ targets.

Makai Lemon is already behind the 8-ball with a hamstring injury, missing the majority of OTAs and mandatory minicamp. He'll be playing catch up this summer, which is an issue if the Eagles are relying on him to play a major role in the offense.

This is where I may be too concerned. Cooper DeJean missed half of training camp in his rookie year -- and the first few weeks of the regular season -- and he was excellent in year one. That gives me hope for Lemon. The Eagles have also hit on five of their last six first-round picks (too early to tell with Jihaad Campbell), so they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Hollywood Brown could win the WR2 job, so what does that say about Wicks and Lemon? I do think Brown is going to be camp darling.

The Eagles are better off without Brown, but they are not better at wide receiver.

2. I wish the Eagles would show more faith in Jalen Hurts

These hasn't been a quarterback that has won at the clip Jalen Hurts has in an Eagles uniform.

Hurts has a 57-25 record in his career as a starter, an astonishing .695 win percentage. If you can find another quarterback that has won games like this for the franchise, you'll have to go back to Tommy Thompson -- and he hasn't taken a snap since 1950.

Amongst active quarterbacks with 50+ career starts, Hurts is third -- behind Patrick Mahomes (.754) and Lamar Jackson (.710). These three quarterbacks are in the top-10 in win percentage for quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era.Hurts has also outplayed Mahomes in two Super Bowls.

Peopel like to tell you wins aren't a quarterback stat. Fine, but do you think the Eagles win 69.5% of their games with Daniel Jones or Jacoby Brissett at quarterback? Do they even win that many games with Justin Herbert at quarterback?

Is Hurts the perfect quarterback? Of course not, but he's a leader and knows how to win games. Those are intangibles you can't evaluate. No one was complaining in the 1990s when Troy Aikman was winning championships with all the talent around him on the Cowboys.

The Eagles are dating Sabrina Carpenter, but they want Sydney Sweeney. They want a quarterback that is a proficient passer and can win games. I'm not sure there is a quarterback that can do that outside of Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen.

They can win with Hurts -- and have won with him. They could do a better job at showing that.

3. Why is Jalen Hurts' superpower being taken away?

You know what makes Hurts an excellent quarterback? His ability to run the football.

For some bizarre reason, the Eagles and Hurts haven't been running the football as frequently as in the past. Whether that's Hurts making that call or the Eagles, it's stupid.

Might as well take Spider-Man's webbing away while we're at it. Think Spider-Man can beat the Green Goblin without that?

Hurts is a weapon when the Eagles use that plus-one in the running game. That has been taken away from him in recent years, and the numbers demonstrated that in 2025.

If the Eagles want to save Hurts for the playoffs, that's okay. He had five carries for 14 yards in the playoff loss to the 49ers, so there's more between the tea leaves there.

If the Eagles want Hurts to play at his best, then he has to be utilized as a plus-one in the run game. If not, Hurts won't be back after 2026.

4. I think Lane Johnson is going to play until he's 40

This seems laughable, but Johnson has indicated that's a goal of his. Johnson didn't want to go out the way he did last season, but he appears no where close to giving up football.

This isn't like Landon Dickerson, who is an injury away from retiring. Injuries have frustrated Johnson, but he's still playing at a high level -- and keeps getting better.

Johnson didn't allow a sack in 251 pass-blocking snaps last season and had a pressure rate allowed per dropback of 2.0%. His pressure rate allowed per dropback has been 2.0% or lower in four of the last five seasons, and he's allowed just one sack in his last 2,138 pass-blocking snaps.

Johnson is still elite and will continue to be elite at 36 years old. He's aging like a fine wine.

If Johnson does go until he's 40, that means he's playing five more years and he would retire after the 2030 season. Seems crazy right?

I wouldn't put it past Johnson to at least try to play until he's 40, especially if he keeps playing at this level.

5. This may be Saquon Barkley's last year with the Eagles

For all the conversation if the Eagles are going to keep Jalen Hurts after the 2026 season with how his contract is structured, the real conversation should revolve around Saquon Barkley -- thanks to how his contract is structured.

Barkley does make $16.75 million guaranteed in 2026, and that number drops to $2.5 million in 2027. This is where things really get interesting.

Barkley makes $20.6 million a season on average and has an option bonus of $14.405 million in 2027. This plays a role in what the Eagles will do regrading Barkley's future. The Eagles could designate Barkley as a post-June 1 cut and save just over $5 million against the salary cap -- which would be a smart business decision.

If the Eagles pick up the option, they are paying a lot of money for a 30-year-old running back. Barkley wasn't elite last seaosn, and it may not matter if he's elite this season.

The contract extension the Eagles gave him last offseason did Barkley no favors, but maybe he and the Eagles both knew that. This has been a good ride, but it may be coming to an end.

6. Jonathan Greenard was the move the Eagles needed to make

Once the Eagles lost Jaelan Phillips in free agency, they had to acquire an edge rusher. They couldn't get by with Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt starting and playing the majority of the snaps.

Hunt wouldn't have been as effective and neither would have Smith. With Greenard in the fold, the Eagles pass rush is significantly better.

Greenard is due for a bounce-back season. His pressure rate was a career-high 18.1% last season in 12 games, despite only having 3.0 sacks. This is coming off a season which Greenard had a 15.9% pressure rate (was was his previous career high). Greenard had 80 pressures and 12 sacks that season, his first year after signing a big deal with the Vikings.

The pressure rate indicates Greenard will have a big season. Think about how good Hunt and Smith were with Phillips last year, and now they'll get a full season with Greenard. Don't be surprised if both of them have 50+ pressures if they both can stay healthy.

The Eagles also added Arnold Ebiketie as the No. 4 pass rusher. He'll be a menace on third downs. A.J. Epenesa is also with the Eagles now, making them five deep at pass rusher.

This unit will be fun to watch this year. They're going to get to the quarterback.

7. The Eagles better pay Jalen Carter

Carter and the Eagles are at an impasse in contract extension talks, which is okay at this stage in the game. The Eagles want to see if Carter can show more maturity and be more consistent on the field, while Carter and his camp want to reset the market at defensive tackle.

This is a Catch-22, and Carter could hold in while at training camp. While the Eagles are correct in their assessment of Carter, they have to pay him.

Carter hasn't lived up to his potential as a dominant defensive tackle, but he's shown flashes of it. The Eagles want to see that occur week-to-week, which is more than fair. The problem is -- they've done contract extensions with premium players early in the past and have yet to accomplish the same with Carter.

What if this lasts past a week? Does Carter and his representation demand a trade? Do the Eagles then push back and pay him?

There are moves the Eagles can make here, but Carter is a generational talent. What are you telling the fanbase if you move on from A.J. Brown and Carter in the same offseason?

Good organizations pay premium players. Jalen Carter is one of them.

8. I'm convincing myself the Eagles are trading for a safety

The Eagles are willing to give Marcus Epps every opportunity to win the starting safety job opposite of Andrew Mukuba. I do belive Epps can win the job, or at the very leats be a part of the safety equation in 2026.

With that being said, there's no way the Eagles go into the year with Mukuba, Epps, and some combination of Michael Carter II, Cole Wisniewski, J.T. Gray, and two undrfated free agents.

If anyone remembers the start of training camp in 2022, the Eagles had Epps and Anthony Harris as the starting safeties entering training camp. Jaquiski Tartt and K'Von Wallace were the backups.

The Eagles acquired C.J. Gardner-Johnson near roster cutdown day and Redd Blankenship made the team. Epps and Wallace remained while Harris and Tartt were out, the veteran additions.

I can roll with Epps as the starter, but I just don't think he'll be the starter at the end of the day. The Eagles will make a move to improve safety at some point.

9. The Eagles are going to have the best pass defense in football

If you want to see how well the Eagles pass defense has been the past two years, here are the numbers.

The Eagles have allowed the lowest passer rating (79.0), yards per attempt (6.2), pass touchdowns (36), and completion rate (59.5%) over the last two seasons. They are the No. 1 pass defense in football -- and they added Tariq Woolen!

Woolen has been the best player in minicamp, and he'll get to play with two All-Pro cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Woolen and Mitchell will be on the outside and DeJean is strictly going back to the slot.

DeJean will even be on the field at safety in a base defense, so all three players will be on the field at the same time. Somehow, the No. 1 pass defense in the NFL got even better.

This pass defense will be fun to watch this season. If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, look at the pass defense.

10. I hate the backup QB competition

The Eagles created a problem that didn't need to exist. Unless Tanner McKee was worse than we thought last year (we don't get to watch more than warmups in practice during the year).

McKee didn't play well when he started in the meaningless Week 18 game, but he showed enough to be the QB2. The Eagles traded for Andy Dalton to make the quarterback room deeper, but Dalton is the front runner to win the QB2 job.

This could have been avoided, but perhaps the Eagles are in the process of trading McKee. In the final year of his rookie contract, McKee could fetch a high Day 3 pick for the Eagles. This process may already be ongoing.

This thing can't drag out. It's going to be a waste of McKee's time and a waste of Dalton's time. Both should be on the roster anyway, given how bad Cole Payton looked this spring.

All this is for the title of the most popular player in Philadelphia -- the backup quarterback.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi as 10 Thoughts I Have On Eagles in July: Front Office Has To Show More Faith In Jalen Hurts.

This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM.