The Philadelphia Eagles’ offseason has largely been dominated by the storyline surrounding wide receiver A.J. Brown. While Nick Sirianni and his men took the NFC East with ease, they came out flat in the playoffs, losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card Round. Now, the pressure is on to come back stronger; however, did they have a good offseason?
Eagles Could Be in a Lot of Trouble After a Troubled Offseason
Brown’s future in the NFL is still up in the air. At 28, he still has plenty of good football left in him; however, that football will unlikely be played in Philadelphia. With a trade war going on behind the scenes for his services, only time will tell where he’ll end up.
As for the Eagles, they seem to be already preparing for a future without the star wideout, having stolen USC product Makai Lemon away from the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2026 NFL Draft. While Lemon was regarded as one of the top receivers in the 2026 class, former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho wasn’t impressed with the team’s offseason in general.
“[The team facing] more pressure this season has gotta be the Eagles,” he said on “Speakeasy.” “The Eagles have more expectations. And I also think the Eagles made a lot of questionable decisions this offseason. The first decision was all the tumultuous natures surrounding A.J. Brown.”
“If you move off of an All-Pro caliber talent, if you move off of a top-10 wide receiver in football, I would probably suggest a top-five wide receiver in football, you can’t afford to get worse,” Acho added. “If you get worse after moving off of A.J. Brown, everybody is going to question that decision.”
Questions are also lingering around how good the offensive line will be next season after longtime coach Jeff Stoutland left the team. The Eagles’ O-Line has arguably been the biggest factor in the franchise’s sustained success since Sirianni arrived.
“Jeff Stoutland has been in Philadelphia since 2013, when Chip Kelly first got there,” Acho continued. “Jeff Stoutland, probably the best offensive line coach, maybe in NFL history. [If] you let Jeff Stoutland to out the door, and you get worse, there are going to be a lot of questions that have to be answered.”
Finally, the analyst addressed Lemon, who’ll join a receiving corps that features DeVonta Smith, Dontayvion Wicks, and Marquise Brown. They’ll have the added help of tight end Dallas Goedert as well, but how well Lemon holds up remains uncertain. The young wideout did record an 85.1 PFSN CFB WR Impact score in 2025, though, which ranked fourth in the nation.
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“You drafted Makai Lemon in the first round,” Acho concluded. “That’s a stretch. That’s a reach, for a team, particularly that has an All-Pro wide receiver. You wanna trade an All-Pro wide receiver, potentially to a Super Bowl contender, just to draft an undersized wide receiver… So, the Eagles have made so many questionable decisions this offseason that if you go into the season and you don’t dominate, it’s going to be anarchy.”
Whether fans and analysts underestimate Philly’s offseason business will be answered once the 2026 campaign kicks off.
