The Eagles got some good news this week. While the roster is full of talented players already under contract for 2025, the team does have some key free agents. The Eagles would love to keep them, but they can’t do that because of the salary cap.
The NFL today informed teams that the 2025 per-team salary cap will fall in the range of $277.5 million to $281.5 million, way up from last year’s $255.4 million. Cap will have increased by more than $53 million over the last two years.
The Eagles knew the cap would go up. I don’t think they anticipated it going up that much, though. It will give them more cap room to work with, which could help them to keep a couple of their free agents.
There is no excuse for losing Zack Baun, unless some other team makes him a ridiculous offer. As good as Baun was in 2024, he is an off-ball LB. Those aren’t guys to hand a blank check. You do that for pass rushers, DTs and CBs. Hopefully he and the Eagles can work something out.
This could help them to keep Mekhi Becton around. He loved being an Eagle and I’m sure would love to stay. The money just has to make sense.
One of the reasons Howie Roseman is so good at his job is that he understands the cap. He knows it will go up and plans accordingly. There is risk in that because the cap has flat-lined in some seasons, but the Eagles front office is adept enough with contracts to get through those years.
New salary cap numbers very good news for big spending teams like the Eagles.
I still think Milton Williams and Josh Sweat will get big deals and end up leaving. The higher cap does at least give the Eagles a chance to see if they can work something out. It gives them more flexibility as they make offseason plans.
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While Baun’s breakout year was a surprise to everyone, the Eagles really did like him.
Going through old notes, here’s this from last March on Zack Baun — an example of how even then, the Eagles were intrigued by him (but didn’t know he would become a DPOY candidate…): pic.twitter.com/biJbnYdTuc
The Eagles signed him on the first day of free agency. This wasn’t a depth signing after all the big players were taken. The Eagles targeted Baun and went after him. It wasn’t big money, but they were aggressive.
What a move. Worked out great for both sides.
Please keep it going.
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One of the concerns with paying Becton is that the team already spends a lot at LT, LG and RT. And they will want to give Cam Jurgens an extension in the very near future.
Eagles Pro-Bowl center Cam Jurgens underwent a back procedure Tuesday in Los Angeles with Dr. Robert Watkins to alleviate nerve pain, per sources. Doctors believe a full recovery is expected by July, in time for training camp. Jurgens is headed into the final season of his rookie… pic.twitter.com/ZP8Eg3OoAu
That’s not ideal to hear. Back issues can be a recurring problem. Do you want to invest big money in a center with back problems? The Eagles medical staff will advise Howie and the front office on whether this is something to be concerned about. If the Eagles work on an extension, that tells you they don’t see this as a long term problem.
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This is going to be an odd offseason for QBs. The draft class isn’t great. The free agents are all flawed, and many of them old. If recent years have taught NFL teams anything, it should be not to chase after QBs that don’t make sense. Too many teams talk themselves into a QB. They waste money and time. The Jets, Falcons and Steelers have nothing to show for Rodgers, Cousins and Wilson. Wasted years.
You wonder if someone will call the Eagles about Kenny Pickett. He’s still on his rookie deal. He’s got starting experience.
The Eagles have their man in Jalen Hurts. Tanner McKee is ready to be the primary backup. It would be great if they could deal Pickett and add another pick for the upcoming draft or for 2026.
Nick Sirianni isn’t one to rush decisions when it comes to his coaching staff so I wondered how quickly the search for an offensive coordinator would go. Well, the search is over.
Let’s start by talking about the OC position. The OC runs the offense and calls the plays. He builds a gameplan each week with the help of the rest of the offensive staff. The Eagles won’t have a new playbook. There will be adjustments as there are every year, but the overall offensive design will be the same.
Play-calling is a tricky subject. Most people think of the coach making some genius call in the spur of the moment. That’s not what usually happens. Think about the play sheet you see so many coaches holding.
Coaches spend the week with the offensive staff building a play sheet. That way they are ready when the situations come up on gameday. They aren’t thinking about the whole playbook. The coach is choosing from a handful of plays that fit that situation. The hard work is the preparation of the sheet. That’s where you put all your research into action.
Andy Reid never called plays before coming to Philly. But he did help Mike Holmgren design the gameplan and put the play sheet together. Reid was ready when he got to the Eagles and became a great play-caller over time.
Is Patullo ready? Only time will tell. He has an extensive NFL background and he’s been part of some very good offenses. He’s been part of 5 teams that were Top 10 in points and yards in the last 7 seasons.
2024 PHI 2023 PHI 2022 PHI 2020 IND 2018 IND
He was with the Jets when they were Top 11 in points and yards.
Patullo has worked with a variety of coaches…Chan Gailey, Ken Whisenhunt, Frank Reich and Sirianni. He spent the 2017 season w0rking for Kevin Sumlin at Texas A&M. He’s coached on offenses that had a variety of QBs. He was with Ryan Fitzpatrick a couple of times. There was also Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett and Philip Rivers. Patullo has coached wide receivers, quarterbacks and been the passing game coordinator.
Some will think of Patullo as Sirianni’s comfort hire. They have become very close over time, but Patullo was in the NFL for a decade before he ever worked with Sirianni. Patullo has done everything you can to be prepared for this opportunity. That doesn’t guarantee he will succeed, but this isn’t a casual decision by Sirianni. He knows the importance of this hire.
Kevin Patullo on the perception that he’s an extension of Nick Sirianni: “I would say that’s unfair. If you’re in or around us, you would see we’re not the same. I think we work because we don’t see it the same way, which is good.” https://t.co/hgKejJcCxt
Sirianni just won the Super Bowl. He’s earned the right to choose his OC. Patullo has been his right-hand man since arriving in Philly. Patullo helped Sirianni put the original coaching staff together. He helped him design the playbook the team has used. Patullo has been a key part of the Eagles success over the past four seasons.
The biggest upside to the hire is continuity. Jalen Hurts has dealt with new coaches year after year. Patullo will be new to the role, but he and Hurts have worked together on a daily basis for four years. There is real value in that. Patullo has worked with Jeff Stoutland, which is key. Stoutland manages the run game. The OC has to be comfortable with how Stoutland wants his part of the offense to work.
Here are some videos of Patullo so you can get a better feel for him.
Is there a risk in this hire? Patullo could prove to be in over his head. Being part of the offensive staff is different from being the OC. The only way to find out is for Patullo to get a chance to show what he can do. He’ll be able to lean on veteran coaches like Jason Michael, Sirianni and Stoutland. Michael and Sirianni have each been an OC. Stoutland has had a key hand in NFL offenses for more than a decade. Patullo won’t be out there on his own.
I can’t stress enough that this is different from Brian Johnson being promoted two years ago. Johnson only had two years of NFL experience at that point. He had not been part of different NFL staffs. He had spent the bulk of his time in college. Johnson was a good QBs coach, but simply wasn’t ready to be the OC. He might be a fantastic OC in a year or two. He wasn’t the right guy for the job in 2023. As I mentioned earlier, Patullo has a lot of experience. He’s been on different teams with different coaches and around different players. He knows the NFL.
The Eagles passing game from last season is a complicated subject. The passing game looked discombobulated at times. If Patullo ran it, why is he getting promoted? The Eagles offense was a mixture of the old playbook and some Kellen Moore stuff. It can take time to get everyone on the same page. That was complicated by the fact the Eagles threw the fewest passes in the NFL. Saquon Barkley was so good that the Eagles became a running team. The passing game went to the back burner.
Jalen Hurts and the passing game really came alive in the NFC title game and the Super Bowl. The talent had been there all year, but things just didn’t work as hoped. The offense looked really good in those two games. The passing attack was outstanding. Hurts had QB ratings of 110.1 and 119.7. He spread the ball around and used his weapons. If the Eagles can build on that, 2025 could be a dynamic offense.
Hurts will have to adapt to at least one new coach. The Eagles are expected to hire Parks Frazier to replace Patullo as the team’s passing game coordinator. While that sounds like a made up name, apparently he is a real person. Frazier coached with the Colts from 2018-2022. He was the passing game coordinator for the Panthers in 2023 and the Dolphins in 2024.
Sirianni will be able to add someone he and Patullo are familiar with, but who also has been part of some other staffs and offenses. There is definitely value in that. Frazier gives them a young coach to develop in case Patullo does a great job and they lose him to another team.
Parks Frazier gives the staff some new young blood to work with that the decision makers made a priority. Their logic is that (ideally) they never want to be in a position where they’d have to hire from outside the building just because they’re successful, their coaches get…
The Eagles still need to hire a QBs coach to replace Doug Nussmeier. Bringing in a veteran like Frank Reich would make some sense, but Sirianni might prefer to go get another young coach. We’ll see how this plays out.