10 Eagles Whose Time in Philly Will End After Wild Card Loss
The Philadelphia Eagles' disappointing 2023 season is finally over. The Egales limped into the playoffs as losers of five of their last six games, a stretch that brought to light plenty of drama in the locker room and among the coaching staff.
This implosion following a 10-1 start to the year can't be forgiven. If Nick Sirianni wants to remain as head coach, he needs to make some major changes to his group of assistants.
Shakeups need to come on the player personnel side, too. Some of those will happen naturally via retirements or guys walking in free agency, but Sirianni should be eager to move on from anyone who let this squad down.
With that in mind, let's take a look at 10 members of the organization whose time in Philadelphia could now be a thing of the past.
Most Likely Eagles Not Returning After Wild Card Loss
1. Matt Patricia / 2. Brian Johnson
Coaching issues were a core part of the Eagles' problems this season. The talent on both sides of the ball failed to live up to their potential, leading to a major step back as a team.
Now it's time to Sirianni to swallow his pride and admit he made two massive mistakes in hiring Brian Johnson as offensive coordinator and promoting Matt Patricia to defensive coordinator to close the campaign.
Johnson's involvement in Jalen Hurts' development, plus his familiarity with Sirianni's scheme, were sold as the two biggest pluses of his hiring. Yet, he's failed in both aspects in a bigger role. Hurts seemingly regressed in 2023 despite posting similar if not better numbers than his MVP bid one year prior.
That's because success for the dual threat was much tougher to come by this go-around. That's on Johnson as play-caller, who immensely struggled in keeping this unit's momentum through entire games.
The defense dropping off under new defensive coordinator Sean Desai certainly didn't help take the pressure off of Johnson. Desai had more new contributors to work into the fold, a mountain of injuries, and a gauntlet of a schedule to deal with while learning on the fly, though.
That still didn't stop Sirianni from removing Desai from his post and handing responsibility of the unit to Patricia. Many questioned the move at the time considering Patricia's lack of success away from New England.
Unfortunately, that trend kept up with him at the helm. In fact, the Eagles lost three of their last four contests to end the year, all of which were with Patricia calling the defensive plays.
There is no reason for Sirianni to risk losing his job by hitching his cart to these guys. If he doesn't move on, then he deserves the same fate as them that'll be in store after next season.