As Jalen Hurts dodged questions about whether or not he has proven enough to be considered the Eagles’ future starter, three longtime Eagles teammates met on the sideline at Lincoln Financial Field one last time.
It was 37 degrees and there was a light rain late falling after the Eagles’ loss in the season finale to Washington but that didn’t stop Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz and Jason Kelce from spending one last moment together.
The three teammates, along with Eagles VP of security Dom Disandro, met on the Eagles’ sideline for over 30 minutes in street clothes well after the game went final and didn’t leave the field until after 1 a.m.
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It certainly felt like the end of an era.
Because their futures are very much undecided.
Kelce, at 33, is the oldest of the group. The potential Hall of Famer has contemplated retirement after each of the last couple seasons and perhaps a 4-11-1 record capped by that loss on Sunday is enough for him to call it a career. Kelce has said when he finally decides to retire, he won’t do it quietly. He’ll let everyone know.
Meanwhile, a report surfaced on Sunday that Wentz is expected to request a trade and that comes not long after another report that said he wasn’t interested in returning if he was a backup. So perhaps the Eagles’ franchise quarterback, who was inactive on Sunday, has already played his last game for the team that drafted him at No. 2 overall.
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And then there’s Ertz, whose contract situation went public before the season, when he publicly wondered if the Eagles really wanted him to be a part of their future. The 30-year-old then went on to have an unproductive and injury-plagued season. It seems likely he’s traded out of town this offseason. Right after the game, Ertz was the last player to head inside. Still in full pads, he sat on the bench soaking in the moment.
That’s the exact same spot he returned to a little later, this time in street clothes and joined by the other two.
The Eagles are at a crossroads. They just finished off one of the worst seasons in franchise history and that Super Bowl victory is so far in the rearview it’s almost invisible. So here were three guys who played major roles in the Eagles’ first Super Bowl victory holding on for one last moment in the wee hours of Monday morning.
Changes are coming to the Eagles this offseason. We don’t know the extent of them but they’re as inevitable as they are necessary.
The core of players that paraded down Broad Street a few years ago is dwindling and there’s an obvious need for an influx of young talent, new talent. It’s as obvious to the players on the team as it is to the front office as it is to the fanbase.
By the time the three teammates wrapped up their chat, the lights at Lincoln Financial Field had been dimmed, their teammates had already driven home to their families, but that light rain continued to fall.
Those three walked off the field together for one last time into a future where the only certainty is that change is coming.
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