The voluntary portion of the Eagles’ offseason is over.
After six OTA practices over the last couple of weeks, the Eagles will hold a two-day mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and Wednesday before they break for the summer.
After this week, the Eagles will be apart until late July when they report for training camp. That’s when the long haul begins.
But first, here are some key storylines going into this week’s mandatory camp:
Drama in the rearview?
The storyline that has dominated the Eagles news cycle all offseason might finally be fading for a while. The Eagles last week traded A.J. Brown to the Patriots after months of drama and speculation. While it never seemed like this story hovering over the team was a huge distraction for current Eagles players, they are probably at least happy they don’t have to wonder what’s going to happen anymore.
In the week since the trade, the speculation about why Brown wanted out has not died down but it will eventually. And life goes on without him. The Eagles still have a very talented offense and they had been preparing all offseason with the pending trade in mind. They added a bunch of receivers and still have DeVonta Smith, who is now the unquestioned WR1 in this offense. The drama with Brown should be over for now; but the Eagles do head to New England for joint practices in August. That will be fun.
The final look at injuries
Last year, the Eagles had just one day of mandatory minicamp and have some years not had one at all. This year, they’ll have a two-day camp, still shy of the three-day maximum. It’ll be our final chance to see the team on the field this spring. Will Makai Lemon be back from his hamstring injury? Will Jihaad Campbell be able to participate? We’ll get answers to those questions soon enough.
After this week, the Eagles will break for summer until they report for training camp in late July. This is by far the longest dead period on the NFL calendar.
It’s mandatory now
The Eagles have had pretty strong attendance for the two days of OTAs open to reporters but a couple players have been missing. Notably, Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter haven’t been there on days reporters have been in attendance. That’s obviously not a big deal; those are two great players and this has all been voluntary.
These two days of minicamp are the only mandatory days of the spring schedule. If a player chooses to skip a mandatory day, he can be fined. It’s all laid out in the CBA. The fine for the first skipped day can be a maximum of $17,986 and if a player misses the second day too, he can be fined $35,973. This doesn’t seem likely for the Eagles this year.
But around the league, if any player decides to skip a three-day mandatory minicamp, the maximum he can be fined is $107,911.
The new offense
Now that the Brown trade has already happened, the biggest storyline around the Eagles is about their new-look offense in 2026. This offseason, the Eagles hired first-time OC Sean Mannion, who is expected to bring some version of the Shanahan offense to Philadelphia. While there are definite staples of that version of offense, there will undoubtedly be wrinkles as the Eagles blend it with their roster.
Even in just two OTA practices, things looked different. The Eagles were under center more often, they were using more motion and seemed to be using bigger personnel groupings. It’s a little tough to glean too much from non-padded practices in May and June, but we’ll learn a lot more about this offense when training camp arrives.
Peeking at the depth chart
The last couple weeks gave us a chance to take a peek at the depth chart and we’ll get a couple more chances this week. A few things to keep in mind:
• The Eagles have been rotating at QB2 but Andy Dalton has gotten the nod over Tanner McKee in both days open to reporters so far.
• Without Lane Johnson, rookie Markel Bell has been the first-team right tackle. With Johnson at mandatory camp, we’ll see how that shakes up all three offensive line units.
• At safety, Drew Mukuba and Cooper DeJean have been the starters in the Eagles’ base package. When they go to their sub packages, DeJean still slides to nickel corner and Marcus Epps takes over at safety. While Vic Fangio said that safety job is open, it sure seems like it’s Epps’ to lose at this point.
• Jihaad Campbell (shoulder) hasn’t practiced this spring, so the Eagles have been rotating at the linebacker spot next to Zack Baun. But it has mostly been Jeremiah Trotter Jr. next to Baun. This is the second straight spring that Trotter is getting valuable first-team reps.
Any weak spots?
The Eagles seem to have a very strong roster. Howie Roseman has done a nice job building this team, but he’s always looking to add. One spot that might be a weakness is safety, but it really depends on what the Eagles think of Epps in that role. There’s a chance they just stick with him this season but if they feel like there’s a chance to upgrade, Roseman will never hesitate.