Why the Eagles offense could look for Grant Calcaterra and Will Shipley to step forward

Despite the Eagles’ 14 unrestricted free agents, they return one of the strongest core group of starters in the NFL.

Will Dallas Goedert be among them?

Goedert has been one of the best at his position for the last several years, but staying healthy has been an issue.

He’s under contract for the 2025 season, but he doesn’t have any remaining guaranteed money on his contract. And he just turned 30.

Goedert also was instrumental in the Eagles’ Super Bowl run. He was great in the postseason, catching 17 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown.

But things could come to a head. Goedert could have more value on the open market than the Eagles might be willing to pay, considering their salary cap situation. He could be a salary-cap casualty.

The Eagles don’t have an obvious guy to step into the No. 1 role, as they did three years ago when they traded Zach Ertz with Goedert entering his prime.

» READ MORE: Zach Ertz on his altercation with Eagles’ Nick Sirianni: ‘I was over there acting all cordially when you beat me’

That said, Grant Calcaterra filled in ably when Goedert missed time. He caught 18 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown in the eight games Goedert didn’t play.

“I feel like every time I was called upon this year, I played well,” Calcaterra told The Inquirer’s unCovering the Birds podcast. “And even when Dallas is healthy, I feel like I did a good job with my role. So I feel good about it.”

Calcaterra’s role as the second tight end mostly was as a blocker or to run clear-out routes. He’s improved as a run blocker, but the Eagles’ run numbers were better when Goedert was in the lineup.

Calcaterra did have some standout moments in pass protection, however. And in the Super Bowl, he blocked Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis when Jalen Hurts tossed a game-sealing 46-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.

“I feel like just with the more reps you get, the more comfortable you get doing it, just being able to use my body to block people,” Calcaterra said. “Everybody I’m blocking is, most of the time, bigger than I am and stronger than I am. so I’m just honed in on my technique.”

Saquon Barkley had a historic season in his first year in Philly. When it comes to the 28-year-old Barkley as he enters his eighth season, the Eagles have to be mindful of his workload. He had nearly 500 touches in 20 games last season — over 100 more than he’s ever had before.

That likely means more playing time for his backup. But Kenneth Gainwell is slated for free agency. And the Eagles drafted Will Shipley in the fourth round in 2024 to add him to their offensive weapons.

Shipley flashed as a runner and a receiver on the few occasions he got an opportunity. But he knows that if he wants to be Barkley’s primary backup, he’s going to have to improve his blitz pickup skills.

“I’ll continue to work on my pass blocking just so that everybody can trust me,” Shipley said. “I feel like that’s one of the final pieces for me, and I made a lot of progress throughout this year with it.”

» READ MORE: Howie Roseman takes running it back to the extreme, signing Saquon Barkley again

The Eagles also are expected to acquire a running back with more experience in case Shipley isn’t ready. They want two options to offset the expected decrease in Barkley’s touches. But Shipley should get the first shot if Gainwell doesn’t come back.

On special teams, Shipley had a huge forced fumble on a kickoff in the NFC championship. Later in that blowout win over the Commanders, he took some handoffs and broke into the secondary, nearly scoring until he was run down from behind after a 57-yard rush.

Shipley said his inability to break away was a source of amusement during film review the next day.

“We definitely had fun with it,” Shipley said. “They threw it up [on the screen] in the team meeting with Tom Brady’s commentary and kind of went over it, and just everyone was laughing at it. But with me, I trust in my speed. It’s something that I’ve never shied away from. I think if you look at it, I’m pulling away from those guys, and then I looked up [at the scoreboard] and all I could think about was not losing that football. So I go to cover the ball, which just hurts my running gait and the ability to keep my body in a forward lean to continue to accelerate. … Next opportunity, I’ll make sure to bang my head on the goalpost.”

» READ MORE: Young Eagles Cooper DeJean, Moro Ojomo, Jalyx Hunt, and Sydney Brown could be called on to contribute more

At right guard, Mekhi Becton could be in line for a major payday elsewhere. Tyler Steen would be the clear-cut in-house heir apparent to Becton. Trevor Keegan could compete for an open spot. He’ll need to get bigger and stronger in his first full offseason.

Howie Roseman could look elsewhere, of course — free agency, the draft, by trade, the waiver wire. The Eagles GM could pull any lever and strike gold. He hit the jackpot multiple times last offseason.