Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Eagles Notebook

Posted April 27th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

The Eagles moved on to some non-draft business on Monday. They decided to address the contract situation of a couple of young defenders. Don’t get too excited. This was just a couple of simple moves that were expected.

Both players could end up getting contract extensions. But both are complicated. Jalen Carter is one of the best DTs in the league so his will involve major money. That’s never a simple thing. There is also the fact he had a bit of a down year, mainly due to a lingering shoulder issue. The spitting incident from the opener didn’t help matters. That set a weird tone for his whole season. Still, he is a difference-maker. You want to keep those guys when they are young. Carter just turned 25 so he is just getting ready to enter the prime of his career.

Smith played well in 2024 and really came alive in the playoffs. He also had an injury that limited him last season. The Eagles like Smith. They just don’t know how good he is right now. I’m sure they’ll talk about getting something done, but the edge market was crazy this offseason. You can’t overpay for Smith since there is still some uncertainty with him. Let’s hope he stays healthy and has a good year.

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Huge front office news.

Johnston took over when Jake Rosenberg left and has done a great job as the cap guru. When you wonder how the Eagles spend so much and still have cap space, it is due to those guys. They are brilliant with numbers and contracts. Adam Berry could be his successor. Howie Roseman needs a good cap guru to ensure the Eagles can continue to be as aggressive as possible. They’ve got a lot of mouths to feed with all the young stars on defense about to need new deals.

Good luck to Johnston in Atlanta. He’ll be reunited with former Eagles executive Ian Cunningham. Great move by the Falcons.

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The Eagles drafted safety Cole Wisniewski late on Day 3. Andrew DiCecco interviewed his college position coach, Rob Greene, and wrote an excellent piece on the rookie.

“I think it’s a perfect fit,” Greene said in an exclusive with Inside The Birds. “I was really excited that the Eagles were the team he got drafted by. I’ve never worked on coach [Vic] Fangio’s defensive system, but I’ve tried to study it a bit from afar. And I think a lot of the coverage concepts that we utilized here – and especially some of the ones he utilized at North Dakota State – will be pretty similar to what he’s going to be doing there, which is great because I think that fits the strengths of his game.

That’s good to hear.

“But if you go look at any drill tape from that special teams segment, his reps are the teach-tape reps,” Greene said. “I think he’ll be an elite special teams player in the NFL because he’s big, he’s fast, he’s strong, he’s smart. He can tackle, he can get off blocks, he can sustain blocks. His skill set, I think, translates phenomenally well to special teams at the NFL level.”

STs are important for rookies. That’s how the initially get the coaches attention. If Wisniewski can make his impact felt in STs drills, he will improve his chances of getting on the field on defense. His coach had a lot of good things to say. I would suggest you go read the whole article.

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Consider Mike Mayock sold on Makai Lemon.

Let’s hope he’s right.

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Someone pointed out that John Mackey Award winners generally do well in the NFL. That’s the award for the best TE in college football, which Eli Stowers won this season. Here are the winners from the last decade.

2016 – Jake Butt – Michigan
2017 –  Mark Andrews – Oklahoma
2018  – T. J. Hockenson – Iowa
2019  – Harrison Bryant – Florida Atlantic
2020  – Kyle Pitts – Florida
2021  – Trey McBride – Colorado State
2022  – Brock Bowers – Georgia
2023  – Brock Bowers  – Georgia
2024  – Tyler Warren – Penn State
2025  – Eli Stowers – Vanderbilt

Jake Butt is the only one who totally flamed out, but that was due to bad knee injuries. He only got to play in a handful of games. If Stowers plays anywhere close to some of the guys, he will prove to be a great draft pick.

I’m really excited to see him in action this summer.

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One final nugget.

I’m sure this will anger more than a few of you. The problem is that the 2027 draft could be a special class. Teams are going to keep their picks, especially in the first round.

I would think the Eagles would get some kind of 2027 pick in the deal. Maybe incentive-based. Howie will get good compensation. If you have to wait for 2028 for the first, I’m guessing you get something else with that.

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