Philadelphia Eagles running back AJ Dillon has not taken a snap in over a month, and throughout the 2025 season, he's been given less than one full game's load of snaps in Philly's backfield. He's lucky he's even still on the roster.
He's likely only on the roster because of right tackle Lane Johnson's Lisfranc injury, which will keep him out of action and on the IR for at least the next month. Otherwise, Dillon would be an easy contract to cut with just $167,500 guaranteed, especially with OG Willie Lampkin's impending return.
Dillon has fallen behind Tank Bigsby in production, and even Will Shipley is getting more playing time. Dillon's longest rush of the season is 11 yards. He's been more of a weapon in the passing game, if two catches for 18 yards make one a "weapon."
Dillon continues catching breaks. Last week, it was Jaire Alexander's surprising announcement that he was stepping away from the team that preserved his career in Philly another week. This week, it's Johnson's injury.
Is Dillon going to eventually face the inevitable, a release from the team?
Maybe not.
Jalen Hurts and Kevin Patullo's Offense May Keep AJ Dillon Employed
Jalen Hurts has made it clear this season with his play that he is not leading a pass-first offense. A.J. Brown has solidified that by telling fantasy football owners not to rely on him this season. Saquon Barkley has become such a focal point that Philadelphia is starting to closely resemble a service academy offense, with a healthy dose of Saquon flat routes and DeVonta Smith bubble screens.
Dillon is a nice change of pace from Barkley as a runner. His usage is similar to Bigsby's as a part of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo's scheme. As a depth piece, he's important to have if someone goes down in front of him. Particularly, Saquon or Tank.
Given the Eagles' reliance on the run, their only chance of surviving an injury in the room is having someone ready-made who has been there all season and is above a practice-squad-level player. Dillon is exactly that, so there's no need to shake things up just yet.
As fate has it, someone always steps up to go down with an injury and justify Howie Roseman sticking by his small-scale Dillon gamble. If that luck continues, and it's NFL football, so it might, the front office might as well stash him for an emergency come playoff time if the team needs to rely heavily on a Hurts RPO attack.