Eagles Offcially In Retool Mode Following 2026 NFL Trade Deadline

The 2026 NFL trade deadline has come and gone, and the Philadelphia Eagles have officially picked a direction for their future.

Just two years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were in the middle of one of their best seasons in franchise history and capped it off with their second Super Bowl championship. Now two years later, the team is in a spot many didn’t expect.

They have just two wins heading into the second half of the season, and multiple star players are either hurt and done for the season or are likely to be shut down for the year. It’s a loss season, whether the team will admit it or not, and heading into the trade deadline, they had a few options.

The Eagles could stay the course, not make moves, and see if they could actually still pull out a division win in a weak NFC East race. They didn’t make that decision. Or they could’ve completely blown the team up, trading essentially every star that has value and going into a full-blown rebuild. They didn’t make that decision either.

Howie Roseman and Co. decided to do the approach that I thought was best: retool and gain assets for the next few seasons. While they didn’t make as many trades as I thought they would, they still made one move that clearly showed that Philadelphia is all in on getting this Eagles team younger and bringing in brand-new stars with future draft capital.

Roseman traded nose tackle Jordan Davis to the Jacksonville Jaguars, ending the former first-round pick’s tenure at just four and a half seasons and making quite the shakeup in the Eagles locker room. Many felt the Eagles would make some trade at the deadline, but didn’t expect it to be a player that they just resigned eight months ago.

However, when you think about it, the deal was a no-brainer for Phialdelphia, as they lose a dominant run-stopper defender in the middle, but the gain back in compensation and roster flexibility shows that the Eagles are ready to retool their current roster.

In return for Davis, Philadelphia received not only a 2027 first-round pick, but also a second-round pick in 2029. Those picks increased the Eagles’ total first- and second-round picks over the next three NFL drafts to 10. They have two first-rounders in the next two drafts, thanks in part to the AJ Brown trade, and two second-rounders in 2028 and 2029 thanks to the Cam Jurgens trade.

Philadelphia now holds multiple early draft picks that can be used to bring in big-time prospects that can help fill the major holes that this current team has, and will have moving forward.

While many don’t want to admit it, the current Eagles “stars” are beginning to age out of their “primes.” While in no way am I calling them bad football players, even before these injuries, the pace of play, especially on offense, wasn’t the most effective thing you’ve ever seen.

Is that on the players? Is that on coaches? It’s still unfortunately tough to tell who’s at full fault, as both sides haven’t been able to coexist. However, if they feel they need different types of players to come in who can run the systems put in place.

The offensive line is likely going to be one of the major overhauls as going into next season, the only player that is “guaranteed” to be back is Jordan Mailata. Landon Dickerson could be heading towards retirement, Tyler Steen is a free agent, and young players Markel Bell and Drew Kendall could be very easily replaced depending on who is drafted/signed.

Also on offense, Saquon Barkley is unfortunately not getting any younger, Dallas Goedert is a free agent, and Eli Stowers hasn’t shown any signs of being the next big Eagles tight end. Wide receivers could potentially need help, and who knows if the Eagles want to extend Jalen Hurts, so the offense has some serious question marks heading into the next few years.

As for defense, the Davis trade opens the door for a Moro Ojomo extension, but Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean both need second contracts soon. The Eagles are going to have to spend big-time money on their defensive stars soon, meaning finding young replacements is key, hence the desire to acquire more draft capital.

Overall, for this Eagles team, they realized very quickly that this current group is stuck in a bit of purgatory. The disappointing 2025 season somewhat rolled into an even worse 2026, and injuries have made it 10 times worse.

Deciding that they need to gain some value from extendable players is a tough decision to make, especially when you’re less than two seasons removed from those said players helping you win a Super Bowl. However, the NFL is a business, and retooling teams that have issues and avoiding having to go through a full rebuild is something many teams fail to accomplish. As of now, the Eagles are hoping they can do it.

Time will tell whether or not trading Davis and trying to right the ship with the somewhat solid core of players the Eagles have is the right move, but they can’t say that they don’t have the assets in the upcoming drafts to support the retool. Now we wait and see if said draft picks will be hits and help potentially spark another Super Bowl run in the future for Philadelphia.

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