The Philadelphia Eagles have every reason to panic when it comes to the reliability of veteran kicker Jake Elliott. This was on full display on Saturday's 29-18 win over the Washington Commanders when Elliott missed two field goals and a third missed attempt that was negated by a penalty. This led to Philadelphia's decision to go for two at the end of the game, which even Commanders' pundit Chris Russell pointed out was likely due to a lack of trust in the veteran to convert the extra point.
Still, the Eagles appear content to sit back and simply hope that things improve, as 94 WIP's Eliot Shorr-Parks is reporting that head coach Nick Sirianni has made it clear the franchise is sticking with the veteran. This is a truly shocking decision when Sirianni was unable to trust Elliott to get a meaningless last extra point, but has full faith in the kicker moving forward.
This isn't just a byproduct of one bad game, but rather consistent regression dating back to 2023 when Elliott converted on an incredible 93.8% of his attempted field goals. However, this dipped notably last season, going down to 77.8% before reaching a current career low this year at 70.8%. This helps illustrate just how frustrating the situation has become and how odd it is for Sirianni to take this approach.
Eagles Have Nothing to Lose by Providing Competition for Struggling Veteran Jake Elliott
It is impossible to find an argument against the Eagles at least bringing in competition for Elliott in hopes of bringing out the best version of the struggling kicker. Philly opting not to cut the previously proven player ahead of a playoff run makes a level of sense, what doesn't is a refusal to bring in a wildcard option in case things continue to go sideways.
Signing a kicker to the practice squad and allowing Elliott to feel the heat after his consistent 2025 failures is a winning move. It is a decision that signals the current kicker is not meeting the expectations of a team that is hopeful of defending its 2024 Super Bowl run.
With this in mind, Sirianni's stance doesn't make sense and isn't giving the Eagles their best chance to win. If Elliott is unable to handle the competition of what is left on the kicker market at this point in the season, you obviously have your answer as to whether or not he should retain his job.
Regardless, the point remains that Sirianni's logic of refusing to put Elliott on the field late in Saturday's game, but being uninterested in potential competition, is contradictory. It is a glaring red flag for a team already dealing with offensive inconsistencies and questions as to how the secondary will hold up in a potential playoff run. Questions that appear dim in comparison to having a kicker you clearly can't rely on, and leadership uninterested in competition.