The off-season ninety-man rosters are now more or less filled out. Teams may shuffle around four or five guys between now and training camps, but what you see is largely what you get now.
In Howie Roseman's post-draft news conference, he explained that due to so many kids opting to stay in college for the NIL money this year (often more than they'd get for turning pro) the Eagles opted to raid other teams' practice squads for players as the talent level there would be higher than what they'd get in undrafted free agents this year. It's expected to be a one-year blip and next year the talent pool should be deeper again.
Not too many "What the heck were they thinking?" moments in this year's draft. Well, other than the Falcons using their first-round pick on a QB after signing Kirk Cousins. By and large, teams made the moves they were more or less expected to make.
Jalyx Hunt was something of a surprise for the Eagles, but reportedly Vic Fangio loved the kid and wanted him, so Howie took him. He'll likely need a year in the strength and conditioning program but could earn a bigger role next year.
Offensive lineman Trevor Keegan appears to be a Jason Kelce type of personality. Video of him shirtless holding the NCAA championship trophy in his left arm while drinking a beer in his right hand is eerily reminiscent of Kelce's Super Bowl celebration. A big kid (6'-6" and 310 pounds) he talked of wanting to do the Brotherly Shove and looking forward to learning more about that. More of a mauler than a technician on the o-line.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was a fan-favorite pick. He's got a lot to live up to though and we'll have to see how he looks on the field. The Eagles took two wide receivers on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Ainias Smith is a little speedster type. Possible kickoff return guy also. And then Johnny Wilson later at 6'-6" and 231 pounds who some teams wanted to move to TE, but the Eagles seem to think he's more of a WR. He runs a 4.52, so he's fast in addition to being big. Not terribly productive at the college level, but the athleticism and traits are there to be special. Needs to improve his foot speed at the snap. (If possible.) Nick Sirianni is still a WR coach at heart and will work on the kid.
The Eagles' first two picks are guys who were rated one and two on many of the draft "experts" ranking of the best college DBs in 2024. Quinyon Mitchell will be a corner while Cooper DeJean may be a corner, but will likely be a safety or hybrid corner/safety/linebacker. I'm not sure either one will be a starter this year, barring injury or a loss of ability by one of the starters, but both figure to move into starting roles in 2025/2026.
While most of the league seemed focused on building explosive offenses this year in the draft, the Eagles more looked to shoring up their future defense. (Not many holes on the Eagles offense with Hurts, Barkley, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert all signed for the next three or four years.) Will Shipley will compete for a RB job with the Eagles. He was a good fourth-round pick. Similar to current backup RB Kenny Gainwell, he's more of a pass-catching, shifty runner. The Eagles did focus on adding offensive line depth later in the draft with Trevor Keegan and Dylan McMahon. I suspect McMahon will be a practice squad guy. He could use a year in the strength and conditioning program. Keegan's likely to make the 53-man roster though.
So, now things quiet down until training camps start up. The ninety-man rosters are more or less set. The free agents are bought. The kids are drafted. Coaches will get their hands on the kids in the coming weeks at OTAs and minicamps. By training camp a few coaches will know this will be a tough year while others will be pleasantly surprised by the kids and free agents.
In the NFC East, the Eagles and Commanders look to have both made improvements through both free agency and the draft. The Giants need whichever QB takes the reins (Drew Lock or Daniel Jones) to have a big year. They have the potential to be among the worst teams in the league in 2024. The "all-in" Cowboys appear to be anything but all-in. They're counting on a lot of later-round kids stepping into starting roles and that's typically asking too much. They're apt to go shopping for cast-offs as teams cut down to the 53-man roster in late summer.
Which teams will be the worst teams in 2024? The Patriots and Giants both have the potential to be pretty bad. All of the teams with a rookie QB likely starting in 2024 are question marks. You just never know how a kid will do. The Panthers are always in contention to be bad. The Titans weren't able to improve their roster as much as they'd have liked. Kudos to them for trying hard though. They were in contention for nearly every upper-tier free agent, but most opted for other teams instead. At least they tried. My gut says the Giants will be really bad in 2024. I don't think they're in the right place in terms of headspace and a lot of football gets played between the earholes.
Dallas will be an interesting team to watch in 2024. I'm not sure the Jones aren't sabotaging Mike McCarthy to give them a reason to flush him and start over. They don't seem interested in re-signing Dak. They're a bit slow on re-signing CeeDee Lamb and the price for WRs keeps going up. (AJ Browns' $32 million a year average reset that market.) Dak, Parsons, and Ceedee could all be unhappy over their contracts, or lack thereof, heading into 2024 and that's not ideal. They created a lot of roster holes and seem to be counting on kids to fill them which is iffy, at best. Could they win ten to twelve games again? Sure. They could also struggle to win four. You just don't know.
On to the OTAs and minicamps now. Then a bit of a lull as everyone disappears in early July before training camps start.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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