The young Eagles who benefit most from early free agency exodus

The Eagles knew they were going to lose players this offseason.

With just around $22 million in cap room and with some high-priced pending free agents, the Eagles had been preparing to lose talent and that happened on Monday when free agency kicked off.

After the negotiating window opened on Monday, the Eagles lost Milton Williams to the Patriots, Josh Sweat to the Cardinals, Isaiah Rodgers to the Vikings and Oren Burks to the Bengals.

The next step in 2025? Young players filling in their roles. General manager Howie Roseman said as much at the Combine last month.

“We talked about it last year, the fact that younger players as a part of that process,” Roseman said, "they’re going to play. And our coaching staff has done an unbelievable job with our younger players and getting them ready to play this year. I think going forward, that’s going to be more the norm. Every player that we sign, it’s going to have to come from somewhere and so that means that it’s going to open up an opportunity for a younger player.”

The Eagles are projected to get back third-, fourth- and sixth-round compensatory picks for Williams, Sweat and Rodgers in 2026. So they’ll eventually be able to add even more young players.

But for now, here’s a look at the Eagles’ early losses and the young players who might see a boost in playing time after their departures:

Milton Williams ———> Moro Ojomo

After a monster Super Bowl performance, Williams reportedly agreed to terms of a four-year, $104 million deal with the Patriots.

Ojomo, 23, was a seventh-round pick out of Texas back in 2023. In his rookie season in 2023, Ojomo played in just eight games but showed a ton of improvement in 2024. He played in all 17 games (1 start) and played 388 snaps. Ojomo had 20 tackles and 5 quarterback hits in the regular season. In the playoffs, Ojomo had his first-career sack (in the fourth quarter against the Rams) and also had 2 tackles for loss. During the regular season, Ojomo had 23 pressures on 252 pass rush reps (9.1%) and was even better in the playoffs with 7 pressures on 64 pass rush reps (10.9%).

Josh Sweat ———> Jalyx Hunt

Like Williams, Sweat also had a great Super Bowl LIX with 2 1/2 sacks and cashed in on a four-year deal with the Cardinals that is reportedly worth $76.4 million.

Hunt, 23, was a third-round pick last season out of Houston Christian. Because he was considered to be a raw talent, many thought Hunt would have a redshirt season; he was even a healthy scratch in Week 1. But Hunt eventually began to carve out a role on defense and played in 16 games (1 start) and played 241 defensive snaps. Hunt had 1 1/2 sacks in the regular season and then had another 1 1/2 in the playoffs, including half a sack in the Super Bowl. After having a pressure rate of 7.4% in the regular season, Hunt’s pressure rate jumped to 12.9% in the playoffs. After having 9 pressures in 16 games in the regular season, Hunt had 8 pressures in 4 playoff games.

Oren Burks ———> Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

The Eagles took care of Zack Baun, their top offseason priority, last week and then this week Burks went to Cincinnati on a two-year deal that’s reportedly worth $5 million.

The Eagles will obviously start Baun in 2025 but fellow starter Nakobe Dean is recovering from a torn patellar tendon and his availability for Week 1 is very much in question. Burks was the starter for the last three playoff games and played well but now that job could belong to Trotter as he enters Year 2 of his career. Trotter, 22, was a fifth-round pick out of Clemson last year and played in 17 games (1 start) but was mostly a key special teams player. On defense, Trotter played just 104 defensive snaps and had 25 tackles, half a sack and a QB hit. DC Vic Fangio’s plan after Dean’s injury was to play both Burks and Trotter but when Burks played well, Fangio didn’t want to disrupt the defense by splitting reps.

Isaiah Rodgers ———> Kelee Ringo

The Eagles were already preparing to move on from Darius Slay, who was informed of his release last week, and then Rodgers left on a two-year deal that’s reportedly worth $15 million with the Vikings.

Rodgers had to play quite a bit for the Eagles last season in place of Slay, who was in and out of the lineup with various injuries. Rodgers beat out Ringo last training camp for that top backup job but that doesn’t mean the Eagles aren’t still high on Ringo. The Eagles drafted him in the fourth round out of Georgia in 2023 and they traded up in the beginning of Day 3 to do it. Ringo actually played more as a rookie and even started four games but then the Eagles drafted Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean and got Rodgers back from suspension so Ringo slid down the depth chart. Ringo is still just 22 and was considered a steal in the draft a couple years ago.

Kenny Pickett ———> Tanner McKee

The Eagles traded to bring in Pickett last offseason and he served as their primary backup in 2024. On Monday, the Eagles traded Pickett to the Browns for a fifth-round pick and Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

While Pickett played fine in 2024, McKee really stood out in his limited action and might have deserved the backup job in 2025 even if Pickett was back. McKee, 24, was a sixth-round pick out of Stanford in 2023. He didn’t see his first game action until Week 17 and then he got his first career start in Week 18 against the Giants. In those two games, McKee completed 66.7% of his passes for 323 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. McKee is 6-foot-6 with a live arm and should be the backup in 2025.

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