Here is not some breaking news: the Philadelphia Eagles are pretty, pretty good. Plus, what a difference a season makes. In 2023, the team appeared to fall apart and regressed as the season grew old. There was even a direction change for the defense late in the season.
But last year? All was good. The Eagles ascended and were literally unbeatable by the end of the year. The Super Bowl was not close, as Philly dominated the trenches both offensively and defensively. The same thing could happen again this coming season.
But some roster changes will be made as they always are. The three players below might struggle to make the active 53-man roster, but that is a positive overall. It means Philly has a lot of quality depth.
These three Eagles might struggle to make the 2025 roster
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### Wide receiver Ainias Smith
Is it too early to give up on the 2025 fifth-round pick? That would be unlikely if he played on a different team, but the Eagles have a lot of good receivers and could [take another in the 2025 draft](https://insidetheiggles.com/ranking-realistic-eagles-wide-receiver-prospects-2025-nfl-draft). This would undoubtedly make Smith expendable.
In limited reps last year, he did catch seven passes (and hey, one was for a touchdown), but his average yards per catch was a paltry 5.9. He also did not contribute on special teams. If he is going to make the roster, he will have to have a great training camp and preseason and prove to the coaches that he took a step forward this offseason.
### Edge rusher Bryce Huff
Huff is an enigma. In his five-year career, he has started just 13 games. He did not start any with the New York Jets in 2023, but managed to have 10 sacks that season. In every other year of his career, he has had no more than 3.5 sacks. What caused his one season to be magical and translate into an overpriced contract? (His cap hit in 2026 will be $11,733,000, if he is still on the roster.)
One thing is clear and that is defensive coordinator Vic Fangio does not want to play him, so [there is a lack of trust](https://insidetheiggles.com/eagles-inactives-and-injury-tracker-bryce-huff-is-a-healthy-scratch) for some reason. Last year, his snaps numbers regressed (except for the last game of the season when many backups were playing) from the beginning of the season.
The Eagles can't cut him because he would cost too much money, but maybe Philly can find a trade partner. If he does somehow make the team, he won't play very much.
### Safety Tristin McCollum
With more playing time in his second season, McCollum played a lot worse than he did as a rookie. He whiffed on 20 percent of his tackle attempts, and he allowed 12 of the 16 passes thrown his way to be completed. Three of those went for touchdowns. That is awful.
Fortunately, McCollum is expected to be nothing more than a backup this coming season. If he is forced to play, Philly will need to change its alignments on defense for fear of McCollum getting beat deep. If he doesn't make the team, the team loses nothing from the cap.