The Eagles traded for veteran edge rusher Jonathan Greenard in April and signed him to a new four-year contract because they think he can make an impact for them on the field.
Greenard doesn’t view that as the only reason why he’s in Philadelphia, however. He will be part of a position group that also includes third-year player Jalyx Hunt and 2023 first-round pick Nolan Smith, and both of the younger players impressed him enough during the team’s offseason workouts that he sees part of his role as making sure that they keep developing.
“I’m really excited. Jalyx and Nolan, their game is only going to continue to grow,” Greenard said, via the team’s website. “And I think my job here is just continue to help them with that. Any two cents I got, I’m going to [give them] to make sure that they get to that point that I know they want to get to.”
The best-case scenario for the Eagles would be for Greenard to remain an effective pass rusher while Hunt and Smith take the next steps to form a potent trio they can pair with defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis on the front line of the defense.
Eagles Clips
The NFL Players Association released its annual Rising Stars list on Tuesday and the first overall pick of this year’s draft is one of the players at the top.
Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza is No. 1 on the list of the 10 rookies that the NFLPA projects to be future members of the Top 50 list of licensed player product sales. There is also a list of 10 players with NFL experience who have not been on the Top 50 and it is topped by Saints quarterback Tyler Shough.
Mendoza is followed on the list by Cowboys safety Caleb Downs, Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love, Titans wide receiver Carnell Tate, Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon, Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles, Saints wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, Giants linebacker Arvell Reese, Ravens wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, and Buccaneers edge rusher Rueben Bain.
The list of veteran players also includes Bears tight end Colston Loveland, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker, Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, Dolphins running back De’Von Achane, Bills running back James Cook, and Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni says his new offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion, has proven himself before calling a single play.
Sirianni says the work ethic Mannion has displayed this offseason is showing how hard he’s going to try to improve the Eagles’ offense.
“This dude loves football and he loves to work,” Sirianni said, via Dave Zangaro of NBCPhiladelphia.com. “I mean I’ve really enjoyed being around him and just his desire. Sometimes we think ‘man he’s talented’ about everybody, ‘man he’s just got it.’ But it doesn’t happen without, whether it’s a player, whether it’s Sean, it doesn’t happen without just this obsession to get better. And Sean has this obsession to get better, this obsession with his craft, which is why he’s excelled in this profession. And I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with him.”
The 34-year-old Mannion is one of the least experienced coaches ever to be hired as an NFL offensive coordinator: He has just two seasons of coaching experience, in 2024 with the title of offensive assistant in Green Bay, and then in 2025 as the Packers’ quarterbacks coach. He spent nine years in the NFL as a quarterback, but started only three games in that time. He has never called plays.
“I’m not at all concerned there as far as his inexperience on that because he’s worked his ass off,” Sirianni said. “And I know that he’ll work his ass off to be as ready as he possibly can that day. And he’s got people there and coaches there with him, like Coach [Josh] Grizzard, Parks [Frazier], myself, that have done this and have been in this situation. He’s got a lot of people to help bounce ideas off of.”
Sirianni says he’s constantly quizzing Mannion about which plays he’d call in certain situations.
“My job is to make sure I put him in as many scenarios as I possibly can to help him go through that,” Sirianni said. “And you can change how training camp goes. I’ve done some different things in OTAs, as far as putting him in these scenarios of some situations that maybe I would have told Kellen [Moore] about, or maybe I would have told Shane [Steichen] about. ‘Hey, Shane, we’re going to do 3rd-and-12 from the minus-3 today. Make sure you’re ready.’ And sometimes you tell him, and sometimes what we’ve been doing is kind of a pop quiz. So he has to have a call sheet ready and go from there.”
Sirianni won’t know for sure what kind of play caller Mannion is until he sees him in those situations in real games. But six months after hiring him, Sirianni sounds confident he made the right choice.
The wait for the Eagles to trade A.J. Brown to the Patriots was the dominant storyline of their offseason, but the team didn’t wait to move Brown before they started making plans to replace him in their lineup.
Those plans unfolded on three fronts. They signed Hollywood Brown as a free agent, drafted Makai Lemon in the first round and made a trade with the Packers to acquire Dontayvion Wicks. Wicks also signed a two-year extension and is familiar with new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion and wide receivers coach Ryan Mahaffey since they both were on Green Bay’s staff the last two seasons.
Wicks had 69 receptions over those two seasons, but Brown’s absence opens up a prominent role in the Eagles offense and the wideout said he is looking forward to making the most of the “different opportunity” he has in front of him this season.
“I just want to say I’m blessed to be able to be in this position,” Wicks said, via the team’s website. “It just showed me the value and love that Philly has for me and I want to come out and show what I’m worth.”
The Eagles never found an offensive groove during the 2025 season, which contributed to their quick exit from the playoffs and led them to bet on Wicks being able to do more than he showed with the Packers. If that bet pays off, it should make for a more pleasant season in Philadelphia.
Two years after multiple NFL stars had their residences burglarized while they weren’t home, the home of Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was invaded on Saturday while he and his family were inside.
In addition to trying to solve the case, the authorities will attempt to determine whether the incident is connected to any of the criminal groups that target athletes.
“We will look at all angles of this because we know, obviously, it’s been all over the news in the past few years about different professional athletes’ homes getting burglarized,” Capt. Tyler Moyer of the Tredyffrin Township Police Department told WCAU-TV, via ESPN.
At least one suspect entered Barkley’s home.
“They were home, and fortunately, as you know, with any situation like this, our main concern is that the residents of that home at the time were unharmed, which they were,” Moyer told reporters. “They were fine afterwards, obviously unsettled as anyone would be.”
Police are searching for at least two suspects.
In 2024, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow were among the victims of a crime ring that has since been disrupted, with multiple arrests.
Eagles first-round rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon missed some time during Organized Team Activities with a hamstring injury, but he says he’ll be good to go for the start of training camp.
Lemon told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he’s “feeling great” and will be “100 percent” ready to go at the Eagles’ first training camp practice, on July 29.
Neither the Eagles nor Lemon have said a lot about the injury that was affecting him in the spring, but he missed some OTAs and was not practicing at the Eagles’ mandatory minicamp. But Lemon said even when he was not practicing, he was doing things to get himself ready for training camp.
“Just how to take care of your body,” Lemon said. “Just how to attack your preparation. Every little thing that them guys do, I’m watching closely. I feel like I can learn so much from them boys.”
The Eagles, who traded away wide receiver A.J. Brown, are counting on Lemon to make an immediate impact as a rookie. He sounds ready to do just that.
The home of Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was invaded on Saturday morning.
Via Brendon Brightman of NBC Philadelphia, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office said the incident occurred at 5:00 a.m. ET in the Malvern section of Tredyffrin Township.
“We are incredibly grateful that the Barkley family was not injured during this incident,” the office said. “We are asking the public to help us identify those responsible by checking any home security cameras for suspicious activity in the area around 5:00 a.m. If you saw anything unusual or have video that may assist investigators, please contact the Tredyffrin Township Police Department immediately.”
The suspects had fled before police arrived.
Police have released a photo of a vehicle that may have been involved.
Former NFL receiver Alshon Jeffery’s case of felony insurance fraud is on track to be resolved with something far less than the maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.
Via Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today, Jeffery and prosecutors in California have reached an agreement that will result in the dismissal of two fraud charges, if he complies with his end of it within 60 days.
Per the report, Jeffery is required to perform 50 hours of volunteer work and to pay $840.46 to Kemper Insurance, $500 to the California Department of Insurance Anti-Fraud Fund, and $2,500 to the driver of the car that Jeffery’s car struck in September 2025.
Jeffery, per prosecutors, has already made the required payments.
The situation arose from an allegation that Jeffery had lied about the date of the accident, telling the insurance company it had happened on September 28, not September 21. He had allegedly reinstated his car insurance on September 24, after the wreck.
Jeffery, whose representative dismissed the charges as a “misunderstanding,” had failed to appear in court on March 9. That resulted in the issuance of a warrant for Jeffery’s arrest, his arrest, and his release on $25,000 bond.
“We are glad we were able to clear up this unintentional error and have the case completely dismissed,” Jeffery’s attorney, Brian Watkins, told Schrotenboer.
It’s a fair outcome, even if Jeffery did indeed falsify the date of the accident in order to trigger insurance coverage. It’s not a major crime, but he shouldn’t have done it. The entire ordeal, the relatively minor financial loss, and the volunteer work seems to be a fair consequence for not just covering the damage to the other car in the first place.
A second-round pick of the Bears in 2012, Jeffery spent nine years in the NFL. He won a Super Bowl with the Eagles to cap the 2017 season. He earned more than $63 million during his professional career.
Two years ago, Saquon Barkley signed as a free agent in Philadelphia, won a championship in his first season there, and became one of the city’s most beloved athletes. Barkley is now recommending the same course of action to LeBron James.
James is a free agent and the Philadelphia 76ers are among the teams in the mix to sign him. Barkley has weighed in and told James that
“I think it’s one of the greatest sports towns in the world,” Barkley told NBC Sports Philadelphia. “I know [New York Knicks player] Josh Hart said the opposite. I saw that today on Twitter. But I have to disagree with him. If you want to go out with a bang, I feel like a great spot would be in Philly, and bringing a championship to Philadelphia, you’d be remembered forever.”
James has played for three NBA teams and won championships with all of them, winning in Miami in 2012 and 2013, Cleveland in 2016 and Los Angeles in 2020. Barkley thinks Philadelphia in 2027 would be a nice place for James to cap his career.
Tom Brady has been in and around the NFL since 2000. He’s seen a thing or two. And one thing he’s seen is fairly constant.
Receivers bring drama to the game.
“I think that’s the only position on offense that requires a lot of extra energy and attention,” Brady said on the latest episode of the New Heights podcast with the Brothers Kelce. “Because the running backs are gonna touch the ball. The line, they’re gonna be engaged in every play. The tight ends, run or pass, you’re gonna be engaged in every play. It’s the receivers who stand, you know, 25 yards from the ball, just talking smack with the DB. Trying to figure out, ‘Alright, I ran my ass off and didn’t get the ball, and how do I stay locked in and committed to the team when I don’t touch the ball?’
And it’s a hard thing. Like, they’re working hard to get the ball and they don’t get it. So they get frustrated so easy, and I almost think, like, when I see these NFL offseasons, I think, I swear to God, I think now, like, ‘This is just déjà vu.’ I’ve been seeing the same shit since 2000 when I came into the league. You know, this guy . . . gets in trouble, he’s arrested. This guy gets cut, this guy gets traded. This guy’s unhappy at receiver. You know what I mean? It’s like Real Housewives of the NFL.”
Part of the challenge is to get receivers to ride the highs and lows of the number of times the ball comes their way.
“It’s the same script, and it’s, like, over — and we just, that position, it’s like I almost want to like — the psychology of receiver,” Brady said. “I almost want to say, like, ‘You’re gonna catch 110 balls this year, OK? Seventeen games. You’re a great receiver. You’re gonna catch 110 balls. One game, you’re gonna get 11 and one game, you’re gonna get three. And the next game, you’re probably gonna get 11, then you’re gonna get three. I can’t have you, like, the happiest guy in the world when you catch 11, or the most miserable guy on the team when you catch three.
“We’ve got to look at it over the course here, you’ve got to sustain, because it is a lot of emotional energy that you put out to that position to go, ‘Come on, come on, got it? Come on, stay locked in. Let’s go, because I need you. Come on.’ And it’s like, that position takes away if you have that volatile, emotional output, it takes a lot of energy from a lot of people to keep that player really stable. So you’ve got to, like, try to reframe it for them. And just say, ‘Listen, like, you may get three, but you’re gonna get 11. Or you might get 11, 11, 11. And then, you know, three, three.’”
The question came up in the context of unhappy receiver A.J. Brown, who was traded last month from the Eagles to the Patriots.
“We’re gonna see it again this year,” Brady said. “Who’s the next unhappy receiver? And I understand it. I mean, they want to be involved in the game, you know. And A.J. wanted to be involved — I covered a lot of those Eagles games. That passing offense isn’t — that’s not what that team’s known for. So now he’s actually going to a team where they are more known for their passing offense. So, you know, there will be maybe a little more satisfaction from him from that standpoint.”
Lately, Brown hasn’t gotten much satisfaction from his NFL team. But he tried. And he tried. And he tried. And he tried.
He’ll keep trying this year, in New England. And regardless of whether Brown finds it, Brady is right. There will always be an unhappy receiver, somewhere.
