Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles could be a serious suitor for disgruntled Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett, according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini.

Russini reported Saturday that the Eagles' interest is "real," and one general manager compared a trade for Garrett to Philly's signing of running back Saquon Barkley last offseason.

"He's an impact add and isn't a free-agent overpay," the GM said. "[General manager Howie Roseman's] not afraid to try stuff, and it fits where they are as a team."

The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year publicized his trade request on Feb. 3, but the Browns have held firm so far. General manager Andrew Berry said at the NFL Scouting Combine that nothing has changed from the team's perspective.

Sooner or later, though, Berry may have no choice but to move his best player.

Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot reported Friday that Garrett and agent Nicole Lynn "have apparently slammed the door shut on negotiations" over a new contract. He has two more years left on his current deal.

If the choices are trading Garrett and having this situation linger for two years before he hits the open market, then the former might be better.

Acquiring the 29-year-old would fit with Roseman's general strategy of spending big on established veterans. However, Philadelphia only has $17.7 million in available salary cap space, and Garrett will count for $19.7 million against the cap.

Russini suggested that Roseman will inevitably have to let some key free agents go, with linebacker Zack Baun edge-rusher Josh Sweat, defensive tackle Milton Williams and offensive guard Mekhi Becton cited as possible candidates.

But the Eagles wouldn't be weighing a trade for Garrett if they didn't think it was possible, and putting him on the Philly defense is a scary thought for the rest of the NFC.

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun, an impending free agent, is expected to have a "great market," to the point where the defending Super Bowl champions "may get outpriced" for his services, The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported on the Scoop City podcast (24-minute mark).

"I really expect Zack Baun to have a great market after having the year he had," Russini said. "There are a lot of teams in on Zack Baun. He's going to be expensive for Philadelphia, if they want to do it. I just think they may get outpriced there."

Baun, one of five finalists for the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year award, amassed a team-high 151 tackles (93 solo), five forced fumbles and three-and-a-half sacks. He was exceptional during the Eagles' four-game Super Bowl run, accumulating 33 tackles (20 solo) and a pair of interceptions.

Baun's second-quarter interception of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes set the Eagles up for a touchdown that put Philadelphia up 24-0 going into halftime.

Needless to say, Baun outperformed his one-year, $3.5 million contract. He was largely a reserve linebacker over the first four years of his career with the New Orleans Saints, who selected the ex-Wisconsin star with a third-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

But now Baun is expected to strike it rich in free agency, and it's well-deserved after a tremendous year. Whether it's with Philadelphia or somewhere else is the main debate.

A.J. Brown unveiled some new merchandise featuring his viral playoff moment during the Philadelphia Eagles' run to a Super Bowl LIX victory.

Brown posted a picture of an "A.J Brown Book Club" T-shirt on his Instagram story, and they're available for purchase on his website. The same graphic is also available on hoodies.

The star wide receiver was spotted reading a book on the sideline during the Eagles' 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round.

Brown explained why he chose to read during the game when speaking to reporters after the contest.

"Man, it gives me a sense of peace," Brown said (h/t NFL.com's Coral Smith). "That's a book that I bring every single game. My teammates call it 'the recipe.' It's the first time I heard that y'all got me on camera, but it's not the first game. It's got a lot of points in there, it's a lot of mental game, a lot of mental parts about it, and you know for me this game is mental."

The 27-year-old also flipped through the same book, Jim Murphy's "Inner Excellence," after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter of Philadelphia's 40-22 Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Brown is coming off another successful year with the Eagles, hauling in 67 receptions for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games.

The three-time Pro Bowl wideout also recorded 163 yards and two scores in four playoff appearances.

After Brown hoisted the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in his career, he released shirts commemorating the accomplishment as well as his affinity for reading.

Linebacker Zack Baun produced a breakout season in his first year with the Philadelphia Eagles, and it sounds like the team is hoping to keep him in the fold for the foreseeable future.

Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Eagles have made re-signing Baun "a priority" ahead of his impending free agency this offseason.

After spending the first four years of his career with the New Orleans Saints, Baun signed with the Eagles on a one-year deal prior to the 2024 campaign. He was switched to a full-time off-ball linebacker for the first time in his career, and the move paid off in a major way.

Baun was named to the Pro Bowl and earned first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career after producing career highs of 151 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, four passes defended, an interception and a fumble recovery. During the postseason, he racked up 33 total tackles, three passes defended, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble to help lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl title.

McLane noted that the Eagles "have long undervalued the position" of off-ball linebacker, but their desire to re-sign Baun stems from the fact that they "also haven’t had an off-ball linebacker perform at his level in some time."

"Obviously a phenomenal season — first-team All-Pro, top-five defensive player of the year. Tremendous person, tremendous character," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said of Baun at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. "Made a huge difference during the regular season, made a huge difference during the playoffs, made a huge difference in the Super Bowl. And so, those are guys that you obviously want to keep. There’s no doubt about it, we’ll make a concerted effort to try to keep him here. But … obviously he has an opportunity to hit free agency."

The Eagles are likely to have a ton of competition in their pursuit of Baun, but McLane reported that the 28-year-old "has openly expressed his desire to stay in Philadelphia and play in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme." It wouldn't be a surprise if he chose to run it back in hopes of earning a second straight Super Bowl ring.

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has heard the noise surrounding potentially banning the tush push, and he isn't a fan of it.

"I almost feel a little insulted because we work so hard at that play," he told reporters Tuesday. "... And our guys are talented at this play."

He also addressed any safety concerns and said, "I think that's a little made up. … I can't remember one injury we had on that play, and we ran it more than anybody else."

The tush push has been a significant topic of discussion in the early portion of the NFL Scouting Combine, as Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported the Green Bay Packers submitted a formal proposal to the NFL's competition committee to ban it.

That drew quite the dismissive response from Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson:

Green Bay isn't the only one to have a problem with it, as Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris told reporters Tuesday: "I'll definitely be one to vote against it. … It should have been illegal three years ago."

Opposition from the Packers in particular isn't surprising, as team president Mark Murphy wrote that he does not like the play and believes "there is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less."

He added: "The play is bad for the game, and we should go back to prohibiting the push of the runner."

While there could be arguments to be made regarding the pushing element from running backs and tight ends who line up behind Jalen Hurts or other quarterbacks on the play, the idea that there is no skill involved is fairly easily disproved because other teams struggle to run it as effectively as the Eagles.

That was on full display in the AFC Championship Game when the Buffalo Bills had issues in short-yardage situations during a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Philadelphia then ran the play to perfection against that same Chiefs team for the opening touchdown of the NFC East team's Super Bowl victory.

Sirianni made it clear he believes there is skill and hard work involved as he offered his pushback to the recent chatter surrounding the play, and his team's consistent success underscores his point.

Garbage-time points are still points, and giving up points doesn't sit well with Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

Even if they come in the closing minutes of a surefire Super Bowl win.

Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt discussed Fangio's reaction to the team's 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl and said the defensive coordinator called the unit's second-half effort "unacceptable."

On paper, Philadelphia was much better defensively in the first half than the second half considering the Chiefs didn't score before intermission. However, 16 of Kansas City's 22 second-half points came in the final three minutes of the game after the NFC representative built a 40-22 lead and was in full control.

Patrick Mahomes threw touchdown passes to DeAndre Hopkins and Xavier Worthy in those last three minutes, which made the final score look closer than the game actually was for the majority of the contest.

Hunt can at least say he did his part, as he notched 0.5 sacks in that Super Bowl win. He was a secondary contributor for much of the season with just 21 tackles and 1.5 sacks, but he had the half-sack in the Super Bowl and tied his regular-season production with 1.5 sacks in the four postseason games.

As for the Eagles' chances at defending their crown, Fangio's attitude toward giving up garbage-time points is a fairly good indication he will not be complacent heading into the 2025 campaign. 

That should help his defense avoid complacency as well, which will be much-needed if the team is going to win another Lombardi Trophy.

A triceps tear didn't stop Philadelphia Eagles pass-rusher Nolan Smith from closing out the team's 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, Smith underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair the triceps injury that he suffered against Kansas City. The 24-year-old performed "on one arm" in the second half of the Super Bowl, per Rapoport.

Smith finished with two quarterback hits against the Chiefs.

While the 24-year-old's offseason activity will be affected by the procedure, Garafolo noted that he's expected to be ready heading into Week 1 of the 2025 season.

Smith was selected by the Eagles with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, recording one sack in 17 games as a rookie while primarily operating as a depth option.

He's coming off a breakout 2024 season, starting in 10 of his 16 games played. Smith racked up 42 tackles, 15 pressures, 11 quarterback hits, 6.5 sacks and two passes defensed.

He served as a key piece on an Eagles team that owned the second-best scoring defense in the NFL, allowing just 17.8 points per game during the regular season.

The Georgia product continued to excel during Philadelphia's playoff run, recording four sacks and a forced fumble in four postseason appearances.

Smith wasn't the only Eagles player to fight through an injury in the Super Bowl, with center Cam Jurgens playing through nerve pain in his back throughout the second half of the title game. Jurgens later underwent surgery to address the issue.

The Eagles clinched their second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history partly due to the heroics of Smith, who persevered through a triceps tear after halftime to close out the win.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown believes his team's promotion of passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo to offensive coordinator is a "great hire," per comments made on NFL Network's The Insiders during an interview that will air Thursday. He also noted that the defending Super Bowl champions must continue "to get better" as they look for back-to-back Lombardi trophies.

"For our fans, they need to understand everything has to change," Brown said, per Nick Shook of NFL.com. "I know we just won, but it has to change. We have to get better, and we have to do things different. But I truly feel like it's a great hire; he already has been involved in almost everything. Him, Kellen (Moore) and Nick (Sirianni) basically called the plays already.

"So, it's a great hire and he's already familiar with us. We have a great relationship, and he knows what we need to work on because he's been there, and he's been there for a while, and like I said, he's already been a part of all the situations and the conversations and everything. So, I think it's a great hire."

Brown also spoke to the fact that the Eagles will need be ready for the challenge of defending their Super Bowl crown:

"It has to change; it has to evolve," Brown said. "I don't know what wrinkles would look like, but we have to find ways to get better, you know? It's a lot of fame out there on us — we just won — and guys are gonna be coming at us. We're not the hunting anymore, we're the hunted, and we have to get better."

The Eagles needed a new OC after Kellen Moore left to become New Orleans Saints head coach. Patullo, who has been on Nick Sirianni's staff since 2021 and got promoted to associate head coach in 2023, was the logical replacement.

It seems as though Patullo and Brown are on the same page about the need to evolve, based on comments the new OC made during Super Bowl week.

"Around the league, the offenses are kind of evolving every year and so as a coach, that's your job," he said, per Dave Spadaro for the Eagles' website. "You have to evolve. You have to study other people and take what you like and past experiences and go from there."

The Eagles arguably evolved and improved in the late stages of the season. The pass game was not clicking, to the point where Brown called it out after a close 22-16 win over the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 8.

The passing game ended on a high note, though, as quarterback Jalen Hurts connected on 17-of-22 passes for 221 yards and a pair of scores, one each to Brown and DeVonta Smith, in a 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

In 2025, the Eagles' offensive personnel should look virtually the same, so Patullo has the elite talent to work with as the team seeks to continue its success. But, as Brown noted (and Patullo knows), there's work to be done for the Eagles to continue evolving in hopes of taking the offense to even greater heights.

The Philadelphia Eagles still on the roster from the 2022 team that lost the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs were clearly motivated by getting revenge ahead of their 40-22 stomping in this year's rematch.

A.J. Brown even said he almost trolled the Chiefs in his speech during the Eagles parade in Philadelphia last Friday before thinking better of it.

"That speech happened after a couple shots of Don Julio, on the back of that bus, in my Notes," Brown said during an appearance on the Kickin It With Dee show (14:30 mark). "... Funny story about that. I was about to troll the Chiefs a little bit. And so that's why I was stuttering a little bit at the beginning. I backtracked. I was like, 'Nah, I'm not gonna do that.'"

Instead, Brown thanked the fans and hit back at some of the narratives regarding him from this past season.

"They said I was a diva," he said in his speech. "They said all I care about was stats. If you're going to get all of those things wrong about me, there's one thing you can get right—I'm a f--king champion!"

And with that, Brown stepped away from the mic. There wasn't much else that needed to be said.

A.J. Brown has a unique pregame routine.

The Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver detailed his ritual prior to games during a Thursday appearance on the Kickin' It with Dee podcast, which includes watching highlights of seven-time Pro Bowl wideout Julio Jones in a dark room.

“First of all I’m in the room by myself, pitch black, watching Julio," Brown said. "Because I'm like, s--t, if he can do it I can do it. But this one song 'Hometown Glory' by Adele, it just takes me there.”

"And then I just visualize, I'm visualizing the plays I'm making," he added (57:00 mark). "I'm ready to go."

The pregame routine seems to be working, as Brown is coming off another impressive year in Philadelphia. Despite appearing in just 13 regular-season games due to a hamstring injury, he hauled in 67 receptions for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns.

Brown also caught 12 passes for 163 yards during the Eagles' playoff run that culminated in a Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 27-year-old has recorded at least 1,000 yards and seven scores in all three years he's spent in Philadelphia.

He shares a prior connection with Jones, as the pair were teammates on the Tennessee Titans during the 2021 season and again with the Eagles in 2023. Jones earned six consecutive Pro Bowl nods from 2014-19 with the Atlanta Falcons, surpassing 1,300 receiving yards in each year during that span.