Choices to Make

Coaches and general managers want options. Building a roster and creating a team is a fluid situation. Howie Roseman signed Zack Baun last year. Vic Fangio and LB coach Bobby King helped Baun become a star. Howie signed Mekhi Becton. Nick Sirianni suggested they try him at RG. Jeff Stoutland was able to coach Becton into becoming a good starting guard.

Baun was only one option at LB. The Eagles also signed Devin White and Oren Burks. They drafted Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

Becton was only one option at RG. Tyler Steen was penciled in for the job. Tyler Hennessy was signed to compete for the spot. The Eagles also drafted Trevor Keegan.

Options.

The Eagles are going to have choices to make over the next few months. Let’s think about the safety position. Right now Sydney Brown is the front runner to start in place of CJGJ. The Eagles can sign a veteran if they want one. Justin Simmons is still n the market and has interest in the Eagles.

Free agent safety Justin Simmons has plenty of connections in Philly. @heykayadams | @jsimms1119 pic.twitter.com/wAYn9IWP5D

— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) April 8, 2025

Simmons sure sounds like a player who desperately wants to come to Philly. He’d be joining a great team and playing for coaches he knows. You can understand his thinking. Simmons is a 30-30 guy. He’s 31 years old and has 32 career INTs. You can see where he would make sense for a team that has Super Bowl expectations.

The Eagles might prefer to add someone in the draft. We just found out that Penn State safety Jaylen Reed had a visit with the Eagles. Reed is a talented playmaker. He started 29 games for the Nittany Lions, finishing with 12.5 TFLs and 5 INTs.

Jaylen Reed is an explosive safety prospect.

Reed excels in a variety of alignments and plays with his hair on fire. He constantly makes splash plays as a blitzer and run defender.

He has the physical tools to improve in coverage. Late day 2/early day 3 talent from Penn State. pic.twitter.com/6Y5fH3Sh7g

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) January 23, 2025

It will be interesting to see what the Eagles do at safety.

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DT is another position where the Eagles have options. Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo are the returning players who will fight to eat up the snaps available after Milton Williams departure. Davis is the run stuffer. Ojomo is the pass rusher.

The Eagles could target a DT early in the draft if they feel like they need an impact player at the position. Or they could focus on Davis and Ojomo and then add a Day 3 pick to give depth at the position. The Eagles haven’t had any visits with first round DTs. We did learn they had a visit with TJ Sanders, who will most likely be a second round pick.

TJ Sanders is a pure athlete at defensive tackle.

He’s a twitchy, explosive DT at 6’4, 284lbs and wreaks havoc against both the run and pass. 60 pressures, 10 sacks, and 54 stops in the last two seasons at South Carolina.

Top 50 player for me right now. pic.twitter.com/f4zVSQsarB

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) February 3, 2025

Sanders is probably my favorite DT in the draft. I think he would be an excellent fit on the Eagles. I love his ability to play different spots and be disruptive in multiple ways. I don’t know if he would make it to pick 64. The Eagles could trade back from 32 or up from 64 if they really like him.

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TE is another spot where the Eagles have some things to figure out. Dallas Goedert is still on the roster. They would love to keep him, but only if it makes financial sense. We may not get a formal decision on DG until after June 1st.

The Eagles have Grant Calcaterra, Harrison Bryant and Kylen Granson on the roster now. That is a good trio of TEs, sort of. All three are good backups. I’m not sure any of them is a true #1 TE. Do the Eagles give Calcaterra a chance to start? Bryant is a solid blocker and receiver. They could try him as a starter. Both of those moves would be projections.

This is a deep, talented TE class in the upcoming draft. The team could target someone early. Mason Taylor could be a Top 40 pick. I guess the Eagles could try to trade up if Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland slips into the 20’s. The Eagles could add someone in the middle rounds. We’ll just have to see how they decide to address the position.

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The point of all this is that the Eagles don’t have to target a certain position. They have options. They can focus on individual players and not just positions. We know the Eagles do prioritize certain positions.

Howie knows he’s going to have to take some chances. That could be Ojomo or Brown or Calcaterra. The Eagles can’t address every spot with a high pick or a veteran addition.

The front office did a great job of finding the right combination of players last year. They will have some tough decisions to make with several key holes to fill, but there is good news. The Eagles have a great coaching staff and they still have good resources to use to improve the roster.

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