Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman said this week that wide receiver A.J. Brown is a great player and that he doesn’t believe in improving teams by subtracting talent like that from the roster, but he also said that he’ll listen to calls from other teams about any player so there’s likely to be more chatter about a potential trade involving the wideout in the coming weeks.
Some of that speculation will be related to the Patriots. Oddsmakers have installed New England as the likeliest place for Brown to play other than Philadelphia and the presence of Mike Vrabel has a lot to do with that. The Patriots head coach and Brown were together with the Titans and Vrabel said on Wednesday that the relationship remains a significant one.
“It has meant a lot,” Vrabel said, via a transcript from the team. “I’ve watched him grow. I’ve watched him mature. I’m proud of him, proud of the father that he is. I’m proud of the husband. That has nothing to do with where he plays or where he played. Those are the things that are important. We reach out and text each other during the good things that happen to each other. Sometimes things don’t go so well for the people that you’re close with, and you text for those as well. It’s a two-way street of support and reminders of what got us to where we are here today.”
Vrabel also held a session with local reporters in Indianapolis on Wednesday and he was asked specifically about pursuing a trade for Brown. Vrabel said, via Karen Guregian of MassLive.com, that “we’ll look at everything that we can possibly look at to add to our roster” before adding that there’s “a lot of back and forth” involving compensation in trade discussions.
It remains to be seen if the Eagles will be engaging in such conversations, but Vrabel’s history with Brown and the makeup of the Patriots’ receiving corps suggests that they could be an interested partner if the door is open.
Eagles Clips
The tush push will live to see another year.
In 2025, the Packers proposed a ban of the quarterback push play, citing safety concerns. The revision failed by two votes.
This offseason, no team presented a proposal, and Competition Committee didn’t discuss it.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, whose team uses the play more than any other, said he doesn’t have strong feelings either way.
“I didn’t really have a feel like I’m like, ‘Oh, I felt this way. I felt that way,’ you know?” he said. “There’s a lot of different things that are proposed, and that come up within a year, and your job as a coach is to be able to adapt, whether that’s the kickoff rule that we had to adapt to. That’s your job as coach to figure that out. But you never know what that’s going to be until you get to it.”
The Eagles converted only 21 of 33 attempts (63.6 percent) last season, according to TushPush.fyi. According to ESPN, the league’s conversion rate on the play fell to 76.8 percent compared with 82 percent from 2022 through 2024.
“I will tell you, it felt like there was momentum going into league meetings that it would be overturned [last year] and then it kind of flipped and those things happen,” 49ers General Manager John Lynch said Tuesday. “Now, we went through a year, maybe people have gotten a little bit better at defending it. Maybe they’re doing it less. People aren’t wanting to put their quarterbacks in those type of situations. You’re seeing more variety. They line up in the tush push, [and] they run outside. So maybe, just maybe, it’s kind of solving itself, but we’ll see.”
Sirianni said the Eagles will have to figure out how to convert more of their “Brotherly Shove” plays.
“We either have to get back to being able to be as dominant as we were at it or we find new avenues to be able to convert on third down or in the red zone,” Sirianni said. “And so know that’s the fun part about the offseason, is to be able to go through those processes. . . . I think you saw us do some cool things off of it, and you still want to be able to do that.
“You’re doing that with your entire offense. ‘Hey, here, this play is coming. Just kidding. We’re running this play.’ And that’s what you’re constantly trying to do to put seeds of doubt within the defense. And this play has that ability. . . . It took a little bit of a step back, and we’ve got to coach it better. We’ve got to execute it better and looking forward to seeing where that goes in the future.”
One of the hot topics on Tuesday at the Scouting Combine was the future of Eagles receiver A.J. Brown. And while the Eagles are saying all the right things regarding Brown’s future in Philly, odds as to his next team have emerged.
At DraftKings, the current favorites are the Eagles, at -130.
Next on the list is the Patriots, at +275. The Chargers land at +750, with the Bills at +900.
A return to the Titans is a +1000 bet. The Raiders are +1400, with the 49ers, Dolphins, and Ravens at +1600.
Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman made it clear that they’ll listen to any team that makes any offers about Brown or any other player. The question is whether another team will make the Eagles an offer they won’t refuse.
Broncos coach Sean Payton is back on the Competition Committee. And he’s not afraid to share his opinions about league rules.
During his Tuesday press conference at the Scouting Combine, Payton was asked about last year’s opposition to the tush push, which came within two votes of ending it.
“I don’t think the push sneak — I think if that ever goes away, it’s not a health and safety thing,” Payton told reporters. “We discussed that last year for two hours and we just adopted a thousand more kick returns. Which play do you think is more of a health risk? A thousand more kick returns. So I think if we choose to ever move on from that, it won’t be because of health and safety. It will just be like, ‘We don’t like it.’ Which is OK.”
Why was returning to the rule-recommending body OK with Payton?
“I like the pain,” Payton said with a laugh. “I like our league. I like talking about stuff like that. Like when I bring up that, we literally spent two hours on the health and safety of a quarterback sneak. . . . Literally a half an hour prior, we passed a rule that allowed for over a thousand more kick [returns]. So every once in a while your B.S. meter goes up. I’m passionate about the game and being involved in it.”
He’s referring to last year’s decision to move the touchback point for a kickoff from the 30 to the 35, which resulted in a significant increase in kickoff returns.
And he’s right about the tush push. The opposition came from, we believe, the reaction by someone in the league office to the scene that played out in the 2024 NFC Championship, when Washington jumped offside multiple times as the Eagles tried to use the formation to score a touchdown. It happened so many times that referee Shawn Hochuli eventually warned the Commanders that, if it happened again, the Eagles would be awarded a touchdown under the never-before-used “palpably unfair act” rule.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown’s future with the Eagles was a frequent talking point when he expressed frustrations with the offense during the 2025 season, but General Manager Howie Roseman said in January that Brown is a great player and that it is hard to find those in the NFL.
Roseman’s messaging was not any different in a session with reporters ahead of this week’s Scouting Combine. Roseman reiterated his earlier point and said that parting ways with players like Brown is not part of his vision for how the Eagles will improve on last season’s results.
“I think that from my perspective, we’re looking to improve in all areas, and you don’t do that by subtracting,” Roseman said, via Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Roseman added that he’ll listen to any offers that come the Eagles’ way and head coach Nick Sirianni said he “can’t guarantee how anything’s going to play out into next season,” so it’s possible the Eagles could find something on the table that doesn’t add up to subtraction in their minds. For now, though, it doesn’t look like moving Brown is in the forefront of anyone’s mind in Philadelphia.
The Eagles are promoting Montgomery VanGorder to assistant quarterbacks coach, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports.
The team already promoted Parks Frazier to quarterbacks coach from passing game coordinator.
VanGorder will join Frazier in the quarterbacks room after joining the Eagles last season as a quality control coach.
VanGorder played at Notre Dame from 2014-17 before spending his final season at Youngstown State in 2018. He began his coaching career at Georgia the following season.
VanGorder worked as an offensive quality control coach for the Bulldogs from 2019-24.
Frazier, VanGorder and new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, who arrived from the Packers, are charged with helping Jalen Hurts find consistency after an inconsistent season.
The following are PFT’s top 100 free agents for the start of the 2026 league year. The rankings include prospective unrestricted free agents and released players. The list will be updated as events warrant, with signings, tags and re-signings denoted when announced and/or reported. Players released after initial publication may be added and all 100 players initially on the list will still be listed after any additions.
1. Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens.
2. Colts quarterback Daniel Jones.
3. Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum.
4. Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd.
5. Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
6. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts.
7. Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce.
8. Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson.
9. Jets running back Breece Hall.
10. Packers quarterback Malik Willis.
11. Bucs cornerback Jamel Dean.
12. Seahawks WR/KR/PR Rashid Shaheed.
13. Packers offensive tackle Rasheed Walker.
14. Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker.
15. Colts offensive tackle Braden Smith.
16. Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean.
17. Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe.
18. Packers linebacker Quay Walker.
19. Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal.
20. Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans.
21. Seahawks defensive back Coby Bryant.
22. 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings.
23. Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs.
24. Jaguars running back Travis Etienne.
25. Broncos edge rusher John Franklin-Myers.
26. Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
27. Eagles edge rusher Jaelen Phillips.
28. Commanders wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
29. Bills center Connor McGovern.
30. Jets guard Alijah Vera-Tucker.
31. Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen.
32. Chiefs safety Bryan Cook.
33. Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright.
34. Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa.
35. Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb.
36. Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely.
37. Chargers edge rusher Odafe Oweh.
38. Steelers offensive guard Isaac Seumalo.
39. Lions defensive tackle D.J. Reader.
40. Browns linebacker Devin Bush.
41. Bears safety Jaquan Brisker.
42. Rams safety Kamren Curl.
43. Bills offensive guard David Edwards.
44. Patriots edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson.
45. Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
46. Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor.
47. Chargers offensive guard Zion Johnson.
48. Browns offensive guard Joel Bitonio.
49. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert.
50. Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone.
51. Panthers center Cade Mays.
52. Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack.
53. Bears safety Kevin Byard.
54. Colts edge rusher Kwity Paye.
55. Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss.
56. Ravens edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones.
57. Browns offensive guard Wyatt Teller.
58. Lions edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad.
59. Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner.
60. Giants wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson.
61. Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins.
62. Cowboys edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
63. Saints linebacker Demario Davis.
64. Panthers running back Rico Dowdle.
65. Falcons edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie.
66. Titans offensive guard Kevin Zeitler.
67. Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins.
68. Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson.
69. Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton.
70. Saints edge rusher Cameron Jordan.
71. Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe.
72. Giants offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor.
73. Texans wide receiver Christian Kirk.
74. Browns tight end David Njoku.
75. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
76. Giants offensive guard Greg Van Roten.
77. Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota.
78. Jaguars cornerback Montaric Brown.
79. Falcons defensive tackle David Onyemata.
80. Bucs linebacker Lavonte David.
81. Bengals guard Dalton Risner.
82. Vikings safety Harrison Smith.
83. Giants quarterback Russell Wilson.
84. Ravens wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
85. Jets safety Andre Cisco.
86. Buccaneers running back Rachaad White.
87. Packers edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare.
88. Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen.
89. Dolphins cornerback Rasul Douglas.
90. Texans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins.
91. Titans tight end Chig Okonwko.
92. Eagles safety Reed Blankenship.
93. Raiders offensive guard Dylan Parham.
94. Browns safety Rayshawn Jenkins.
95. Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton.
96. Broncos outside linebacker Justin Strnad.
97. Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco.
98. Colts cornerback Mike Hilton.
99. Bills defensive tackle DaQuan Jones.
100. Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier.
The 2025 offseason featured a vote on banning the tush push, but the proposal put forth by the Packers failed to get the 24 votes needed for the rule to be enacted.
The play continued to be featured by the Eagles and others during the season. The way things like false starts and forward progress were officiated continued to generate chatter, but defenses had some more success stopping the play than they had in the past and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said in November that it was “becoming tougher and tougher” to run the play after losing a fumble in a loss to the Bears.
That change may have also cooled plans to revive the debate about eliminating the play. Competition Committee co-chairman Rich McKay said on Sunday that he has not seen a proposal from any team similar to the one that fell short last year.
“There’s no team proposal that I’ve seen from it,” McKay said, via longtime NFL reporter Mark Maske. “So I wouldn’t envision it. But you never know.”
Further discussions on possible rule changes by the committee will take place this week and any proposals for the full league will be voted on at league meetings later in the offseason.
Running back Saquon Barkley was one of several Eagles offensive players who failed to reach their previous heights during the 2025 season and the unit’s overall performance led to a change at offensive coordinator last month.
Sean Mannion replaced Kevin Patullo in that role and Barkley said on NFL Network that he’s had a chance to speak with the new member of the staff. Barkley said they have not started breaking down the intricacies of the offense at this point, but loves “the challenge of putting yourself in a new system” and that what he knows of this one sets it apart from any other one that he’s played in so far.
“I’m super excited about it,” Barkley said. “I’m going on Year 9, which is crazy to say, and I’ve had a lot of different coaches and head coaches and been a part of a lot of systems. I don’t think I really came across a system like this. For me, it’s refreshing. You get something new. You get to learn something new.”
The Eagles also saw longtime offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland leave the team this offseason, so it will be a significant course correction after a disappointing season for the Super Bowl LVIX champs. If that correction means Barkley bounces back to his 2024 levels, Mannion’s hiring will prove to be a very popular one in Philadelphia.
During the first three years of Frank Reich’s tenure as head coach of the Colts, Nick Sirianni served as Reich’s offensive coordinator. Before Reich accepted the job as the Jets’ new offensive coordinator, Sirianni and Reich considered a reunion.
In a profile of Reich by Dan Pompei of The Athletic, Pompei points out that Sirianni and Reich discussed the possibility of Reich becoming an adviser to Sirianni in Philadelphia.
After Kevin Patullo was fired, Sirianni didn’t interview Reich to become the Eagles’ offensive coordinator. Reich ultimately got a better opportunity to run the offense in New York, for a head coach whose specialty is defense.
The pressure seems to be relatively the same in both organizations, for different reasons. With the Eagles, there’s a very high bar. With the Jets, there’s urgency to finally exceed a very low bar.
With the Jets, there’s also flexibility at the quarterback position. Reich surely will have some say when it comes to who they’ll acquire.
Pompei writes that Reich jokingly called Andrew Luck, the Stanford G.M., about playing for the Jets. Last year, it was Luck who tabbed Reich to take the reins of a Stanford program that was in turmoil.
Reich, as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator, helped the franchise win its first Super Bowl in 2017. He parlayed that into a twelfth-hour candidacy to become the coach of the Colts. Luck’s retirement sparked a revolving door that ultimately prompted Jim Irsay to roll the dice on Jeff Saturday. Then, only 11 games into Reich’s first season with the Panthers, he was unceremoniously fired and ushered out of the building by security.
He’s still getting his head-coaching salary from Carolina through 2026. And Reich has a chance to remind everyone that he knows a thing or two about designing and calling plays. Especially if the Jets can get a quarterback who’ll be able to effectively and consistently execute.
