The 2025 NFL Draft is officially in the rearview mirror. Onto wave two of free agency and the commencement of teams' off-season programs.
Howie Roseman and the Eagles were extremely busy over draft weekend, making four trades and drafting ten players. Of the ten players picked, only four were on the offensive side of the ball: three offensive linemen and one quarterback. Six total coming on the defensive side of the ball, including: two linebackers, an edge rusher, an interior defensive lineman, a safety, and a cornerback.
With all these picks, it is time to dive into the losers of this draft who are currently on the Eagles roster.
Sydney Brown
The biggest loser of the draft for the existing Eagles has to be Brown. The Eagles moved on from Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in one of the most shocking moves of the Eagles' offseason. They then didn't add any safeties through the first wave of free agency. It looked like it was going to be Brown's time. Howie and the coaching staff noted multiple times this offseason wanting to give some of their young talent a shot and to see what they have in them. Brown had the biggest roadblock cleared with the CJGJ deal.
Then, day two of the draft happened.
The Eagles ended up landing well-regarded Texas safety Andrew Mukuba with pick 64 of the draft. Undoubtedly, they will go into camp and compete for the starting job beside Reed Blankenship. However, I believe that Mukuba will easily win this competition. Despite being undersized, his instincts, energy, and versatility are going to help him find success in the NFL early. Especially in a Vic Fangio defense.
Brown didn't get many opportunities in his rookie season. And then a torn ACL in week 18 of his rookie season led him to start this past season on the PUP list. The Eagles then added Gardner-Johnson, leaving Brown off the field on defense for the most part. It has been an unfortunate string of events over the last 18 months for Brown.
Nakobe Dean
I know the first thought will be, how can Dean be a draft loser after a career breakout season? Dean is in the last year of his rookie contract, and he could start the season on the PUP list coming off surgery for a torn patellar tendon.
With Jihaad Campbell now in the fold, what could happen in the early part of the season? Will Campbell stay healthy through his injury red flags and get to start ,and perhaps take some playing time permanently away from Dean? Will the Eagles be open to paying another linebacker high-end money after Baun this past season, plus the first-round draft investment in Campbell?
So many questions and many will begin to be answered through camp, Dean's rehab, the start of the season, and where Campbell lands on the depth chart. I think Dean is a great linebacker, but has struggled at times in staying on the field, and we have watched the Eagles play the compensatory picks system in the past. If Dean is healthy most of this season and repeats last season's production, we could see the Eagles let him walk.
Ultimately, the top linebacker in the draft falling to and being taken by the Eagles will put all linebackers on notice and losers of the draft. Considering that in Fangio's scheme we largely only see two true linebackers on the field most of the time, there will only be so many snaps.
Backup Offensive Linemen
One of the most exciting things to watch at every Eagles minicamp and training camp is the positional battles between the depth pieces along the offensive line. Fans and media often wonder how any can be cut! Adding two offensive tackles, Myles Hinton and Cameron Williams, plus a center, Drew Kendall, through the draft, then dropping a significant sum of guaranteed money on tackle Hollin Pierce as an undrafted free agent, sets up for some interesting offseason battles.
This certainly puts some of the existing players on the roster as backup offensive linemen as losers in the draft. The names that come to mind include: Darian Kinnard, Brett Toth, Trevor Keegan, Matt Pryor, and Kendall Lamm. A couple of the names were roster bodies and bound for the practice squad by the end of the preseason. They will have an even larger hill to climb now as Howie brings in some young talent for Stoutland to develop.
This is especially true with Lamm. The likes of Hinton, Pierce, and Williams create an extra aggressive landscape considering their eyes will be on at least one of them to hopefully develop into Lane Johnson's successor.
Bryce Huff
Huff will go down as one of the worst free agent signings in the last decade, if not history, for the Eagles. Perhaps landing on the top ten worst free agent signings across the NFL in the last decade or more. Naturally, as the Eagles added Joshua Uche and Azeez Ojulari in free agency, any further additions through the draft would make him a loser of the draft.
The Eagles proceeded to add Antwaun Powell-Ryland in round six, and Jihaad Campbell, picked in round one, has been talked about as a potential situational pass rusher. Add that to current starters Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt, and the room is getting crowded for Huff to find snaps.
Huff struggled to start the season and fell out of favor with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. He had dropped all the way down to a 20% snap count per game or less. Then, a wrist injury ended up being the nail in the coffin for Huff. He played in 87% of snaps Week 18, when the majority of starters sat, before being sat out for the entire playoffs.
There are unlikely to be any trade partners, and cutting him, even after June 1, would create a large negative on the Eagles salary cap. Barring a huge offseason resurgence, he will likely play minimal to no snaps in 2025. The Eagles will have to wait for next offseason to cut ties.