Two Questions Remain For Eagles First-Round Pick After Signing His Contract

The Philadelphia Eagles have only one draft pick left to sign and there are still four NFL first-rounders still unsigned after Jihaad Campbell inks rookie deal.

Eagles linebackers Jihaad Campbell and Nakobe Dean work their way through the rain as the Eagles' OTA practice began. The two injured players were on their way to likely receive rehab, returning after the OTA practice was about half over on May 28, 2025. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – And then there was one. Drew Mukuba is the last of 10 Eagles draft picks who remain unsigned after the Eagles wrapped up the contract for first-round pick Jihaad Campbell one day after wrapping up their spring workouts.

Four NFL first-rounders still have not signed their contracts, and in Cincinnati, it’s getting ugly as the Bengals and Shemar Stewart haggle over contract language. Funny how that isn’t an issue with the Eagles, and that sort of attention to detail in business matters is what has probably helped them make three Super Bowls in the last eight years, and going 2-1 in them.

That didn’t happen with Campbell, and it will probably be only a matter of time before second-rounder Mukuba is under contract, though there isn’t any rush with players off until July 22 when they report to training camp.

The other unsigned first-rounders are Jacksonville’s Travis Hunter, Denver’s Jahdae Barron, and Buffalo’s Maxwell Hairston.

So now that Campbell is in the fold, two question remain.

First, when will he be healthy? He had shoulder surgery in March, so the timetable is cloudy at best.

“Some guys get through things quicker than others and vice versa,” said the coach. “So, no timetable on that as far as when he'll be ready. I know he's doing everything he can to get himself ready.”

Sirianni added that the team is “looking forward to getting our hands on him. ...he's a good football player. We drafted him because he is a really, really good football player and excited to have him in whatever role that he's going to execute, and we know that he's versatile and is able to do multiple things.”

Those multiple things is the next question. Where will he play?

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said that Campbell will start out at inside linebacker rather than on the edge because there is more to learn at the ILB spot.

Fangio started Cooper DeJean at the slot last year even though DeJean had versatility to play outside and safety. DeJean stayed in the slot all season and is now being given more reps at both outside corner and safety.

The same could happen with Campbell. Zack Baun thought he would be a pass rusher after playing on the outside in New Orleans, but that never materialized even though he asked Fangio when he would get a chance.

Another correlation with DeJean is that the Eagles sat him out for the first month of the season to be certain the hamstring injury that cost him most of training camp was fully healed, and he was up to speed on his position.

Fangio said that Campbell will be back in August, but there are 31 days in the month, and he didn’t specify if that is early August or late August or somewhere in the middle.

The DC was asked on June 3 if he sees pass-rush upside to Campbell.

“Potentially,” was his response.

As for what it would take for him to realize if he did or not, Fangio said: “Getting him out there.”

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