The Philadelphia Eagles had a strange year in 2025. While the Eagles couldn't take home a second straight Lombardi Trophy, their defense remained a strength with the addition of first-round pick Jihaad Campbell.
Campbell’s rookie season went well overall as he finished with 80 total tackles including two for loss with an interception, three pass defenses, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Although the Eagles will take that from a rookie, his role became complicated when Nakobe Dean came back from a torn patellar tendon in October.
With inconsistent playing time, it would be easy for Campbell to hold a grudge. But with Dean set to leave in free agency, both sides could be willing to turn the page ahead of a bigger performance in 2026.
Eagles LB Jihaad Campbell in Line for Bigger Role if Nakobe Dean Leaves
Campbell’s selection as the 31st overall pick in last year’s draft was made with Dean in mind. With Dean recovering from a major injury, Campbell could fill in during the early part of the 2025 season and become his replacement in 2026.
The Alabama product lived up to the billing early, making 40 total tackles including a tackle for loss, two pass defenses and an interception in his first six games. Perhaps it was the lack of plays in the backfield that played a role, but Vic Fangio clearly trusted Dean more upon his return.
Campbell averaged just 17 snaps between Weeks 8 through 15 with Dean back, including single-digit snaps in Weeks 14 and 15, according to Pro Football Focus.
Campbell got a spike in playing time when Dean suffered a hamstring strain in a Week 16 victory over the Washington Commanders. Although he performed well with 23 tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass defense and a fumble recovery over the past three games, he went back on the bench, playing just one snap, when Dean returned in a playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Eagles routinely play two linebackers in nickel defense, so it makes sense that only one of Dean or Campbell could earn consistent playing time next to former All-Pro Zack Baun. But while Fangio saw Dean as a more polished player, he will have to lean on Campbell more if Dean leaves in free agency.
Dean is projected to command a $7.9 million annual market value according to Spotrac. While the Eagles may want to have him back, that could get difficult if the Eagles want to use some of their $20.5 million in cap space to bring back Dallas Goedert and trade A.J. Brown in two moves that could take a large chunk of money.
Restructuring current players is another way to bring Dean back, but it could be overkill when the Eagles invested a first-round pick in Campbell.
This brings a likely best case scenario for Campbell. If Dean is gone, Campbell will get more opportunities to refine the weak areas of his game. Even he agreed that he has things to improve upon as he told The Athletic’s Zach Berman that his rookie season was “all about learning and growing” last December.
For a player that registered eight sacks during his final year at Alabama, the improvement should be on the way. An increased role and better performance could be enough to have both sides turn the page and give the Eagles another impact defender in 2026.