At this point of the NFL offseason, the Eagles’ 2025 starting lineup doesn’t have many holes. But Eagles general manager Howie Roseman can still upgrade certain positions, including the pass rush.
The Eagles lost their best pass rusher, Josh Sweat, to the Arizona Cardinals in free agency and might struggle to replace him. Philadelphia’s edge rush rotation of Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Azeez Ojulari, Josh Uche, Bryce Huff, Jihaad Campbell, and Antwaun Powell-Ryland could be a good unit, however, the group is flawed and unproven.
In the past, Roseman has traded for wide receiver A.J. Brown, cornerback Darius Slay and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to strengthen those respective position groups.
His next significant move could be trading for an edge rusher. Due to their cap situation, the Eagles can’t take on an expensive contract, which makes Cincinnati Bengals star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson an unrealistic trade candidate.
In April, Hendrickson requested a trade from Cincinnati. Then, he told reporters last week that he won’t play for the Bengals on his current contract, which has one-year remaining for $15.8 million.
To land Hendrickson, the Eagles would have to give the Bengals multiple draft picks and agree to a long-term extension with Hendrickson that makes him one of the NFL’s highest-paid edge rushers.
Next offseason, the Eagles will likely sign All-Pro defensive tackle Jalen Carter to a massive extension, and handing out a lot of money to Hendrickson would make that difficult to accomplish. In 2026, Philadelphia is only slated to have $27,972,122 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com. That’s not a lot of room for big contracts.
Perhaps Roseman could evaluate his edge rushers’ performance during the first half of the season before adding another pass rusher. He wouldn’t need to trade for someone if the group is playing well.
In his second year, Smith amassed 6.5 sacks and 42 tackles during the regular season, then he racked up 4.5 sacks in the playoffs. The 24-year-old could finish with better numbers as the Eagles’ No. 1 edge rusher in 2025.
But outside of Smith’s production, the team may struggle to consistently get after the quarterback from the edge.
Hunt, who showed flashes in his rookie season, including an encouraging Super Bowl performance, might not be ready to become a full-time starter.
Ojulari, who was a solid starter for the New York Giants, is expected to compete with Hunt for starting snaps, however, the Eagles can’t count on him because he has battled injuries in recent years.
Uche, who amassed 11.5 sacks and 49 pressures in 2022 with the New England Patriots, has not played well the last two years, so he can’t be expected to earn a large role.
In the first year of his three-year, $51 million deal, Huff only finished with 2.5 sacks and was pushed to the bottom of the depth chart after missing five weeks (Week 12-16) with a wrist injury. His disappointing year came to an end when the Eagles made him a healthy scratch for their Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Going forward, the expectations for Huff should be low.
Campbell, the Eagles’ 2025 first-round pick, could turn into a high-level pass rusher/off-ball linebacker, but it might take him a while to make an impact as he returns from offseason shoulder surgery.
Powell-Ryland, one of the Eagles’ sixth-round picks, amassed 16 sacks during his final season at Virginia Tech, but due to him being undersized (6-3, 258 pounds), he could struggle translating to the NFL.
The Eagles’ defense needs its pass rushers to step up to be elite again. Roseman could add one more edge rusher to make sure the group doesn’t fail.
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