Eagles facing tough calls on their free agents: Who’s likely to stay and who’ll move on?

Now that the Eagles’ second Lombardi Trophy has been paraded around Broad Street and carried up the Art Museum steps, Howie Roseman’s pursuit of the third will begin in earnest.

The Eagles general manager notably won’t have as many difficult decisions as he faced two years ago trying to get the team back to the Super Bowl, but will still need to make a few tough calls. The Eagles have 19 upcoming free agents set to test the market in a few weeks and less than $20 million in projected salary-cap space according to overthecap.com.

Let’s rank those unrestricted free agents to explore how the team may prioritize them.

The most difficult ranking among the Eagles’ upcoming free agents is the one at the very top.

The margin between Eagles linebacker Zack Baun and defensive tackle Milton Williams is razor thin, hence the “1a and 1b” designation. The Eagles' positional value favors Williams and for good reason. Fletcher Cox’s best seasons with the Eagles came when he had a worthy running mate on the interior defensive line to capitalize on the attention he drew, and the pairing of Jalen Carter and Williams this season shows exactly why.

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Baun’s case may be strong enough to defy the conventional positional value wisdom, though. The All-Pro linebacker became integral to the Eagles defense for myriad reasons. His range and instincts in coverage, versatility to play from multiple alignments, physicality at the point of attack, and general feel for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme were transformative for the Eagles all year. Simply put: It’s hard to envision what this Eagles defense would look like without him.

The final determining factor in Baun’s favor over Williams comes when evaluating the market for each player and the Eagles’ ability to compensate for each’s potential departure.

Focusing on Baun for now, Roseman’s track record identifying linebackers in free agency or the draft is spotty, and Baun will likely command a slightly less competitive market than Williams. He’s 28 years old and has just one year of elite production in a specific system, which might muddy the projection for teams looking for a top-market linebacker. For reference, Pro Football Focus ranks Baun as the fifth linebacker in this free-agent class with a projected annual salary around $13 million. The top earners at his position will likely sign for north of $18 million a year, meaning Baun should be significantly cheaper than Williams.

Paying Baun long-term would break the Eagles’ tendency of divesting resources at linebacker in favor of building a deep, talented rotation along the defensive line, but at some point Baun’s value to the Eagles defense should exceed the price of his extension. That was the rationale for signing Saquon Barkley one offseason ago, and perhaps the same could apply to Baun.

Whether it was unintentional irony or a subliminal message, Williams wearing a Klutch Sports Group hoodie to the Eagles’ locker room clean-out day last week was a fitting piece of foreshadowing for the 25-year-old defensive tackle.

After putting together a career year, Williams and his agency are poised to cash in on his status as an ascending pass rusher who would benefit from more opportunity. The case for that opportunity remaining with the Eagles lies in the front office’s principles. Williams plays a premium position, has improved each year, and is the type of homegrown talent Roseman seldom lets other teams value more than him. Williams was an essential complement to Carter this season, consistently winning his one-on-one matchups when offensive lines slid protection Carter’s way.

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Williams’ market could price the Eagles out, though. Pro Football Focus projects he’ll make around $21 million per year as the No. 2-ranked defensive tackle and the No. 32 free agent overall. The Eagles have depth behind Carter and Williams as well, with Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo each showing some pass-rush juice during the postseason. It’s also worth mentioning that this year’s draft class is considered to be defensive tackle-heavy.

Replacing Williams wouldn’t be an easy task, but it just might be doable considering Roseman’s hit rate on interior rushers and the depth already on the Eagles roster.

The Eagles momentarily shopped Sweat last offseason before signing him to a reworked contract, but he responded well with eight sacks in the regular season and an MVP-caliber performance in Super Bowl LIX.

Perhaps that’s enough to justify signing him long-term, but the Eagles’ skepticism surrounding him last year and the potential for him to cash in on his two sacks on the NFL’s biggest stage could make that a daunting proposition. Especially with young edge rushers Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt each growing into bigger roles late in the season, it would make sense for the Eagles to have a walk-away price for Sweat that other teams could outbid.

Becton is the type of “unusual” player Jeff Stoutland covets and is coming off a rock-solid season at a new position.

There are two questions that will likely determine whether he re-signs with the Eagles or goes elsewhere. Are there any teams that view him as a starting-level tackle? And do the Eagles value him as enough of an upgrade over Tyler Steen at right guard to pay him what he’s worth on the open market?

PFF projects he’ll make $9 million annually, which is starting guard money in today’s NFL. Whether the Eagles think they can get by with Steen and his rookie contract may make the difference.

If Graham decides to play another season, the Eagles should be able to sign the 36-year-old defensive end to an affordable extension with void years softening the cap hit for next year.

There’s no reason to mess with the Eagles’ field goal operation. Lovato, 32, last signed an extension in 2019 and should be easy enough to bring back.

The Eagles have a few decisions looming that will shape their cornerback corps for next season. Veteran corner Darius Slay, if he ultimately decides against retirement, has no guaranteed money left on his contract and could be released to clear cap space as a result. If the Eagles bring him back, it would make sense for them to rework the deal to lower his cap number in 2025 anyway.

Either way, Rodgers will be the second shoe to drop in the secondary. The 27-year-old played an important role as the Eagles’ first outside cornerback off the bench, an oft-used position with Slay missing parts of several games with minor injuries. Rodgers played 36% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps this season and started three games.

His steady play in those instances — along with a decent showing in the divisional round against the Los Angeles Rams when Quinyon Mitchell left with a shoulder injury — makes him an interesting proposition as a fringe starter either with the Eagles or elsewhere. Whether Slay comes back may determine whether Rodgers stays.

Of the players on this list, Johnson feels the most on the fringe of earning a starting spot somewhere else. My guess is he hasn’t played quite enough games to convince another team he can be a Week 1 starter, but he has plenty of value to the Eagles as a backup swing tackle who has progressively improved under Jeff Stoutland.

With Barkley on a relatively lucrative deal, it’s hard to imagine the Eagles spending much more at running back this offseason. The team already future-proofed the depth behind Barkley as well by drafting Will Shipley last offseason.

That said, Gainwell’s limited production the last few seasons might give the Eagles the chance to re-sign him to a low-cost deal. If he doesn’t draw a competitive market, there’s a chance the Eagles justify bringing him back as a special-teams ace and change-of-pace back.

Burks was a quality special-teams contributor for most of the season and was steady enough filling in for Nakobe Dean at linebacker down the stretch of the playoffs as well. There’s an outside chance his postseason play earns him an opportunity elsewhere or that the Eagles view Jeremiah Trotter Jr. — and eventually, Ben VanSumeren — as worthy successors for his spot on the depth chart. Otherwise, a return would make sense.

Covey has enough production as a return specialist to go with some possible upside as a slot receiver to justify bringing him back on a low-cost deal.

VanSumeren will likely start the year on the physically unable to perform list after suffering a season-ending knee injury in late November. When he does return, he has value as a special-teams ace and developmental linebacker.

The Eagles released Maddox last offseason before bringing back the cornerback on a one-year deal for less money. The 28-year-old didn’t show much in that time and progressively dropped further down the depth chart. Perhaps he can revive his career, but he’ll likely get that chance somewhere else.

Depending on what the Eagles do at the top of the tight end depth chart, Uzomah might present some value going into training camp, but the 32-year-old was only called upon this season because of injuries ahead of him.

The Eagles probably should continue going younger at the receiver spots behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, making Campbell, 27, expendable this offseason.

Depending on what the Eagles do at backup center this offseason, it may make sense to bring back Gates for training camp next summer.

After rejoining the team that drafted him midway through the season, Driscoll never really regained the spot he previously held on the Eagles’ depth chart. He knows Stoutland well, but it’s hard to envision him being a priority.

Clark spent 2024 on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, so it’s hard to know what the tackle will look like next summer and whether that will be with the Eagles or not.

Book is another familiar face who joined the team late in the season. A decision on the quarterback will likely be left until later in the offseason.