Eagles Stung By Lack Of Succession Plan At Tight End

Succession plans were in place when the Eagles knew they’d be losing pieces of their foundation in Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, and Brandon Graham. The expectation is they will continue with that succession plan at right tackle in the draft this spring, with Lane Johnson close to capping what looks like a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.

The Eagles dropped the ball on Dallas Goedert, though, which ia bit surprising from general manager Howie Roseman, who had Brent Celek then had Zach Ertz ready to go when Celek retired and then Goedert set to take over when they traded Ertz.

This time, there is nobody waiting in the wings waiting to take over for the tight end like Cam Jurgens learned and waited for Kelce to retire, the way Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter were in the building learning and waiting for Cox to step away, and you can even say the same about Nolan Smith, taken a year before Graham retired before unretiring.

They thought last year would be Goedert’s final season. Instead, he returned on a team-friendly deal for about $10 million. Goedert, who has been with the Eagles for eight years, was seeking closer to $15 million, a salary nobody seemingly wanted to pay him.

They had to know he wouldn’t be back this year, and he won’t be, based on a report from NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry. There were reports last year that Goedert wouldn’t be back, too, so we’ll see if there is validity to this once free-agent tampering begins on Monday and the new league year starts 48 hours later.

Zach Ertz Was Once Part Of Tight End Succession Plan

If the Eagles didn’t want to give Goedert what he wanted last year, when he was 30, what chance does he have of getting what he wants now from them, when he’s 31? So, the report seems fair enough. Besides, Goedert’s blocking in the run game took a step back last year.

Will there be a team willing to give him what he wants after posting a franchise-record 13 touchdown catches and a career-high 60 catches? On NFL analyst Gregg Rosenthal’s list of the top 101 free agents, Goedert is at 81 behind the Bucs’ Cade Otten (No. 18), The Falcons’ Kyle Pitts (19, but who was franchise tagged), the Ravens’ Isaiah Likely (20), the Titan’s Chigoziem Okonkwo (36), and the Chiefs' Travis Kelce (53).

It’s not the end of the world losing him; it just means head coach Nick Sirianni can no longer say the offense runs through A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Goedert, as he has repeatedly said over the years.

The Eagles have a few guys who can step in as reserves, such as Cam Latu and E.J. Jenkins, but no blueblood ready to take the reins, and that puts the Eagles in a bit of a bind, and that could lead them to take the consensus first-round pick, Kenyon Sadig in the draft or even Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers in the first round. There is also the trade route the Eagles could take.

Still, it was an oversight not to have anybody in-house ready to go.

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