{"id":118024,"date":"2026-02-19T13:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/118024\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T13:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:16:08","slug":"special-teams-nbc-sports-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/118024\/","title":{"rendered":"Special teams \u2013 NBC Sports Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Reuben Frank and Dave Zangaro bring back Stay or Go in 2026, trying to figure out the futures of every Eagles player on the roster.<\/p>\n<p>We already took a look, at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-quarterback-jalen-hurts-tanner-mckee\/710925\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">quarterback<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-running-back\/710929\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">running back<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-receiver-aj-brown-jahan-dotson\/710931\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">receiver<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-tight-end-dallas-goedert-grant-calcaterra\/712252\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tight end<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-interior-offensive-line-landon-dickerson\/713102\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">interior offensive line<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-offensive-tackle-lane-johnson-fred-johnson\/713613\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">offensive tackle<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-edge-rusher-jaelan-phillips-brandon-graham\/713873\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">edge rusher<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-defensive-tackle-jordan-davis-jalen-carter-moro-ojomo\/713929\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">defensive tackle<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-linebacker-nakobe-dean-free-agent\/714850\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">linebacker<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-cornerback-adoree-jackson-kelee-ringo\/715107\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cornerback<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com\/nfl\/philadelphia-eagles\/eagles-stay-or-go-2026-safety-reed-blankenship-marcus-epps\/715540\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Up last: Specialists.<\/p>\n<p>Jake Elliott<\/p>\n<p>Roob: Tough one because Elliott has been so good for so long. But not the last two years. He\u2019s one of the worst kickers in the NFL since 2024 with pedestrian 76 percent accuracy and an NFL-worst 33 percent from 50 yards and out. He\u2019s 31 now and three years removed from his last elite season. In the modern NFL, it\u2019s tough to get by with a 75 percent kicker and a 33 percent kicker from 50 yards and out. Elliott is the greatest kicker in Eagles history and his Super Bowl LII performance was brilliant. But it\u2019s time. It\u2019s been two years of inconsistency. He\u2019s just not good enough anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Verdict: Goes<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It was a bad season for Elliott. He made just 20 of 27 field goals and was just 4 for 8 from 50+. Over the past two seasons, Elliott has made just 5 of his 15 attempts from 50+. That 33.3% from 50+ over the past two seasons is the worst percentage in the NFL among the 35 kickers who have attempted at least 5. Elliott, 31, is an Eagles legend, a two-time Super Bowl champion who is 9-for-9 in his three Super Bowl appearances. But it might be time to think about an exit strategy. The problem is that Elliott got a four-year contract extension in 2024 and cutting him before June 1 would make his cap hit balloon. So here\u2019s how I think the Eagles should handle this: Bring in competition and let the best man win. If that\u2019s Elliott, fine. If that\u2019s his competition, so be it. For now, I have Elliott staying but this one could go either way.<\/p>\n<p>Verdict: Stays<\/p>\n<p>Charley Hughlett<\/p>\n<p>Roob: Hughlett and Cal Adomitis split long snapping duties this year and I\u2019m not going to pretend I could tell the difference. They both seemed fine. Adomitis was released once Hughlett was healthy and he\u2019s now with the Steelers, so I guess Hughlett has a better than 50 percent chance of being back in 2026. Honestly, who knows? This is a pure guess.<\/p>\n<p>Verdict: Stays<\/p>\n<p>Dave: The Eagles cut ties with Rick Lovato after the Super Bowl season and brought in 10-year veteran Charley Hughlett. And they clearly liked Hughlett because he had core muscle surgery during the season and they still brought him back. But Hughlett is currently a free agent and if there\u2019s any fear that he won\u2019t be able to stay healthy, then the Eagles will probably move on. If they find a good, young long snapper, they can keep him for the next decade.<\/p>\n<p>Verdict: Goes<\/p>\n<p>Braden Mann<\/p>\n<p>Roob: Mann was one of the Eagles\u2019 best players this year, an absolute beast of a punter who easily could have made the Pro Bowl after averaging 49.9 yards per punt with a 43.3 net. He\u2019s by far the best Eagles punter ever and after getting released by both the Jets and Steelers he\u2019s really found a home in Philly. He\u2019s not going anywhere. Dude just keeps getting better and better.<\/p>\n<p>Verdict: Stays<\/p>\n<p>Dave: The Eagles had some ups and downs with their special teams units in 2025 but Mann was a huge bright spot. The former Jet had an average of 49.9 and a net average of 43.1. That\u2019s even more impressive when you remember that he\u2019s punting in the northeast. Mann is an unrestricted free agent but it\u2019s not like the punter is going to break the bank. He\u2019s definitely deserving of an extension and it\u2019s not like the punter is going to break the bank \u2014 at least he shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Verdict: Stays<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reuben Frank and Dave Zangaro bring back Stay or Go in 2026, trying to figure out the futures&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7353,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-118024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-eagles-analysis","9":"tag-philadelphia","10":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","11":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}