A look at what’s left on Eagles’ defense after free agency exodus

They still have their all-pro linebacker and their Pro Bowl defensive tackle. They still have their two Defensive Rookie of the Year finalists and their playmaking safety. They still have the 24-year-old pass rusher who led the NFL in postseason sacks and 24-year-old linebacker who played at a Pro Bowl level during the regular season.

Despite a mass exodus of defensive free agents, the cupboard is hardly bare.

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Seven of the Eagles’ opening-day starters on defense are still under contract, and nine of the 13 players who played the most defensive snaps are still here. And while the defense will certainly look different without Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Darius Slay, Isaiah Rodgers and Oren Burks, there’s no reason the Eagles shouldn’t still have one of the NFL’s best defenses in 2025.

They’ll be relying on some young unproven players and draft picks to help replace the 4,390 defensive snaps that Sweat, Williams, CJGJ, Slay, Rodgers and Burks played for the NFL’s No.1 defense in 2024.. But this was Howie Roseman’s plan all along. And they still have elite players at every position. Just not as many.

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And they still have Vic Fangio and an outstanding staff that guided the NFL's No. 1 defense and won a Super Bowl.

So with that said, let’s take a look at what the Eagles’ defensive depth chart looks like four days into free agency and six weeks before the draft.

EDGE

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Projected starters
Nolan Smith
Jalyx Hunt

Projected backups
Bryce Huff

Fighting for a roster spot
Gabe Hall
K.J. Henry
Ochaun Mathis
Josh Uche

Unsigned
Brandon Graham

Gone
Josh Sweat [Cards]

Analysis
Smith was the Eagles’ best pass rusher the second half of the season, and you have to feel good about Hunt after a postseason in which he had 1 ½ sacks, three pressures and 10 tackles in 103 defensive snaps. Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse was the only other rookie with 1 ½ sacks and three pressures in the 2024 postseason. Who else will be in the rotation? They’ll try again with Huff, but it’s tough to count on him. It’ll be a shock if the Eagles don’t draft an edge early in the draft, quite possibly in the first round. Newcomer Uche, a one-time Patriots 2nd-round pick, had an 11 ½-sack season back in 2022 but has just five sacks since and will be fighting for a roster spot in camp. The Eagles will miss Sweat, but if they draft the right guy they should still have a strong group.

INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINE

Projected starters
Jalen Carter
Jordan Davis

Projected backups
Moro Ojomo
Thomas Booker

Fighting for a roster spot
Byron Young

Gone
Milton Williams [Patriots]

Analysis
Williams might be the toughest guy to replace just because he does so many things well and he’s still only 25. It’s a huge loss. But when you look at the Eagles’ interior defensive line, Carter and Davis is a pretty good place to start, and Ojomo did some impressive things in Year 2 as a 7^th-round pick. He averaged 25 snaps per game from Week 4 on – only six fewer than Williams – and Pro Football Focus liked what they saw, giving him a 70.4 grade, which ranked 15^th of 88interior linemen who played at least 400 snaps (and increased to 71.9 in the postseason). The Eagles will miss Williams, but Carter, Davis and Ojomo is a formidable trio. And if Booker is your fourth inside guy, that’s not bad.

OFF-BALL LINEBACKER

Projected starters
Zack Baun
Nakobe Dean

Projected backups
Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

Fighting for a roster spot
Dallas Gant

Gone
Oren Burks [Bengals]

Analysis
Whenever Dean is cleared to return, the Eagles will have both regular-season starters back, along with a promising 22-year-old Trotter Jr. Getting Baun under contract was huge. That was priority No. 1, and having Baun and Dean together is critical. This is the best Eagles linebacker duo in a generation. Losing Burks could be big though because he played at such a high level in the postseason after the Eagles lost Dean. Burks was PFF’s highest-rated off-ball linebacker in the entire postseason. As of now, Trotter is LB3 and despite his bloodlines and potential he remains an unknown. He only played 104 defensive snaps, half of them in the meaningless year-ender vs. the Giants. There’s a chance Dean won’t be ready until well into the season, so whoever winds up as the third guy could have a significant role. The Eagles must have faith in Trotter or they wouldn’t have let Burks leave for virtually nothing. Unless Burks just didn’t want to be here. Either way, he’ll be missed just for his special teams ability but also his defense until Dean is ready.

CORNERBACK

Projected starters
Cooper DeJean
Quinyon Mitchell
Kelee Ringo

Projected backups
Eli Ricks

Fighting for a roster spot
Tariq Castro-Fields
Parry Nickerson
A.J. Woods

Unsigned
Avonte Maddox
James Bradberry

Gone
Darius Slay [Steelers]
James Bradberry
Isaiah Rodgers [Vikings]

Analysis
A couple key losses in Slay, who was still playing at a high level at 33 years old, and Rodgers, who was very good filling in for Slay whenever he got hurt. I can’t imagine the Eagles would want to move DeJean out of the slot – unless he plays outside in base and slot in nickel – which means Ringo, a 4^th-round pick in 2023, is the next man up as of now taking over for Slay at outside corner. Ringo played about 12 snaps per game as a rookie, then just 6 ½ this year with the two rookies in the fold. He’s got great length at 6-2 and 4.36 speed, so the tools are there. He needs to get lass grabby in coverage, but he's 22 and there’s a lot to like about him.

SAFETY

Projected starters
Reed Blankenship
Sydney Brown

Projected backups
Tristin McCollum

Fighting for a roster spot
Lewis Cine
Andre’ Sam

Gone
C.J. Gardner-Johnson [Texans]

Analysis
CJGJ had six interceptions in 2022 and the Eagles made the Super Bowl and then cut ties with him. CJGJ had six interceptions in 2024 and the Eagles made the Super Bowl and then cut ties with him. It’s been a wild ride with Gardner-Johnson, who was not only a big-time playmaker but brought an attitude and edge that permeated the entire team. Trading him is a risky move, and don’t believe anyone who says it was for financial reasons. His cap number was $4.9 million for 2025 and $6 million in 2026 and he’s carrying $4.7 million in dead money this year according to Over the Cap. So the Eagles clearly released him for non-cap reasons. Risky move. Reed Blankenship has established himself as a very good safety, but Sydney Brown – a 3^rd-round pick two years ago - will likely have to take CJGJ’s spot. Brown, like Ringo, did some good things as a rookie but missed the first five weeks of the season while rehabbing a knee injury from late in 2023 and never did break into the defensive rotation, even as the third safety. Now he may have to be the second safety. Brown has lots of promise – he’s fast and physical – but needs to work on not going 100 miles-per-hour all the time, which leads to missed tackles and blown assignments. Cine is an interesting one. He was a 1^st-round pick in 2022 and could get a look in camp. But sitting here in mid-March, it looks like Brown’s job to lose.