6 Eagles Defenders on the Chopping Block After Sean Desai Firing

The Philadelphia Eagles suffered a tremendous collapse late in the 2023 season, which included getting beaten badly in the first round of the playoffs by Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The loss to the Bucs after wasting a 10-1 start to the season put a lot of jobs in question for this organization, but the Eagles ultimately decided not to make a change at head coach and instead fired defensive coordinator Sean Desai.

Desai's defense was markedly worse than the Jonathan Gannon version despite featuring plenty of the same players. The Eagles did lose a couple of starters in free agency, but they brought back many key components of the group that helped win an NFC title in 2022 and they ended up ranking 30th in scoring defense.

Now that Desai has been dismissed, it stands to reason that some players could end up following him out the door. Let's take a look at a handful of players who could be gone soon.

1. Fletcher Cox, DL

A pending free agent, we might have seen the last of Fletcher Cox in an Eagles uniform. The Eagles have placed a heavy emphasis in the last two NFL Draft classes on the defensive line (and the defensive front in general) and it might be time to dive head first into the youth movement.

Cox has been such a staple for this Eagles defense, so moving on would be tough, but this might be the offseason to do it if you're Philadelphia.

Cox is playing at a high enough level at this point that I think he'll get a decent deal in free agency, but it would be better for the Eagles to move on a year too early than a year too late.