Blue-chip talent isn't an issue for the Eagles. They have more than enough.
Between Saquon Barkley, Jalen Carter, A.J Brown, Jalen Hurts, Quinyon Mitchell, DeVonta Smith, Cooper DeJean, Dallas Goedert and their annually superior offensive line, the Eagles are in great hands even after saying goodbye over the past 48 hours to some roster hopefuls and after a difficult offseason in which a number of major contributors to last year's Super Bowl title headed for the exits.
But what they'll need in 2025 to counteract a dubious NFC East historical trend and some opponents who spent the offseason loading up with the Eagles in their crosshairs is the same bout of fortune they encountered last season in staying mostly healthy, and for some of those roster hopefuls from past seasons to emerge.
Because along with having a couple more question marks at starting positions this year than last year, depth in some critical spots is also a questionable, namely on the offensive line and in the defensive front.
Real depth isn't just having bodies in the reserve tank; every team has those. The Eagles [unveiled an initial 53-man roster on Tuesday](/analysis-eagles-initial-2025-53-man-roster/) with 11 offensive linemen, but do they really trust Brett Toth, Trevor Keegan and/or rookie Drew Kendall to start at left guard next Thursday against the Cowboys in the season opener if Landon Dickerson isn't ready?
Real depth is having talent that can step in and perform without leading to a colossal implosion.
The 2017 Eagles Super Bowl team was one of the deepest – maybe _the_ deepest – Eagles team ever assembled, enough to withstand the losses of an eventual Hall of Fame left tackle, MVP-caliber quarterback, playmaking starting linebacker, and one of the greatest multi-dimensional running back/return specialists in the sport's history.
That year's team – the first Super Bowl championship team in Eagles history – also won 13 games despite losing starting cornerback Ronald Darby for 10 games and despite replacing its starting left guard with backup Stefen Wisniewski just a few weeks into the season.
Last year's championship team was arguably the best starting 22 ever assembled in team history, and its depth – especially in the secondary and on the offensive line – wasn't tested nearly as much. Some starters missed a a few games, and Goedert missed a bunch, but the only long-term injuries were Graham's torn pec and Nakobe Dean's lis Franc.
Graham still returned for the Super Bowl, and Dean didn't go down until the NFC Wild Card game, after the Eagles had already won 14 games to secure the No. 2 seed.
Looking at the first iteration of this year's 53-man roster, you see plenty of the talent that helped last year's team destroy the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, but you can also see where depth shortcomings could come back to haunt them, especially facing a much harder schedule and having the red circle drawn around them all year.
Howie Roseman isn't unaware of this. He repeatedly said Tuesday, shortly after the announced cutdowns, that the roster is highly subject to change, in the coming hours, days, weeks and months.
"I would say we're not done here," said the architect of the Eagles' two Super Bowl title rosters, also announcing to the public that he's got plenty of draft picks over the next two seasons at his disposal that can be used as assets. "This is a work in progress."
Roseman's master tactics annually result in some roster decisions that look odd on the surface but pay off down the road. You might have noticed that the Eagles' first 53 featured six backup offensive linemen but no actual long snapper; they released veteran Charley Hughlett in order to keep an extra position player on the 53.
The likely scenario is Hughlett spending the first three weeks of the season getting elevated from the practice squad before being signed to the 53. By then, some injury, trade or other transaction will have cleared the way for Hughlett's activation to the 53 without Roseman losing a player he'd like to keep.
Roseman uses every gadget in his playbook to balance the team's objective of fielding a Super Bowl-caliber roster each year while also keeping developmental prospects whose best years are two or three seasons down the road.
This year's Eagles team has the firepower to finally break the division's 20-season streak of no repeat champions but also has some hopefuls who'll be inactive nearly every week. It's a delicate balance of making sure the Eagles can compete today and don't have a prolonged streak of missing the playoffs in a salary cap-driven sport.
This method can lead to some depth concerns each season, but if Eagles starters and key role players stay generally healthy, they'll be in good shape.
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