The Philadelphia Eagles' season frustratingly ended with Sunday's 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. It was yet another example of the dysfunction that has haunted the Eagles throughout the entire 2025 season, and few players encapsulated that feeling like kicker Jake Elliott. After the team's early first-quarter touchdown, Elliott shanked an extra point (h/t @AryePulliNFL) that would become huge later in the game.
If Elliott had done his job, the Eagles could've attempted a field goal in the fourth quarter and sent the game to overtime. Instead, Philly will now watch the rest of the playoffs from home and must begin to confront the reality that it is time for a breakup with their kicker. Having said that, an offseason divorce might not be easy — or cheap.
Eagles Must Weigh Costly Jake Elliott Divorce Decision
As great as Elliott might have previously been, the veteran only managed to hit 74.1%of his kicks in the 2025 season, which simply doesn't meet Philadelphia's high standard.
This leads us to confront the potential cost for Philadelphia, with an offseason cut of Elliott costing Philly a dead cap hit of $6.5 million next season, according to Spotrac. While this is a hefty price to pay at the position with Elliott's past reliability, you simply cannot continue to sit content with mediocrity; paying the price of the cut is well worth it.
Interestingly, the Eagles can spread out that dead cap penalty across multiple years if they have a little patience. A post-June 1 cut or trade would create over $2.2 million cap hits while adding $2.6 million and $3.8 million dead cap penalties to 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Elliott cannot be relied on to hit the layups anymore when the game matters most. Sunday's playoff matchup was an extremely winnable game, with every point having an incredible meaning. Losing the extra point forced the Eagles behind the eight-ball, putting them in a hole that proved to be too deep to climb out of.
Elliott made everyone's life harder than it had to be, which is exactly the opposite of a kicker's responsibilities. Whenever he trots onto the field, fans truly have no idea what they are going to get. He cost the Eagles a chance at history on Sunday, and now he doesn't deserve any similar opportunities — at least, not in Philly — moving forward.
Even if taking on dead money isn't ideal, it's obvious that both sides need a fresh start. Elliott needs to go elsewhere to prove that his NFL career is far from over, while the Eagles need a kicker whose leg won't let them down when a season is on the line. That alone is why neither side should be in the other's orbit when the 2026 season begins — even if it costs a pretty penny to make it happen.