ClutchPoints
After an incredible run through the NFC East to win their second Super Bowl Championship since February of 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles are set to undertake the most challenging task in professional football: a Lombardi Trophy defense.
That’s right, while winning the Super Bowl is certainly hard, as there are 12 teams that have never accomplished the feat to this day, actually defending the title is tricky business, as over the last 59 seasons, only nine teams have repeated as Champs.
15.2 percent? Goodness, those are some harrowing odds.
Fortunately, in 2024, the Eagles didn’t win the Super Bowl by making high-leverage trades, sabotaging their cap with insane dead money, or shipping out all of their draft picks, but instead through a complex series of moves that largely just seemed to click. From signing Saquon Barkley for WR2 money to getting All-Pro play from Zack Baun at a brand new position and securing the top-2 cornerbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Eagles were able to land far more hits than misses, with Bryce Huff’s contract the lone negative mark on the offseason.
Will the Eagles lose some of their core from Super Bowl 59 next month when free agency opens up? Yes, they have four top starters who are set to hit the open market – Baun, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, and Mekhi Becton – and general consensus states that at least two of those players are going to be playing elsewhere come September. Fortunately, when one door closes, another opens, and if the Eagles do lose an outside linebacker, a defensive end, a guard, or even a starting linebacker heading into the spring, they can hope to find the next Baun-style score in free agency. As arguably the hottest free-agent destinations this offseason for veterans looking to win now and developmental players who want to grow in one of the NFL’s best systems, the Eagles have a chance to do it all again if they play their cards right.
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when Josh Uche was one of the hottest young pass rushers in the NFL.
A second-round pick out of Michigan by the New England Patriots in 2020, Uche flourished as an outside linebacker/edge rusher under Bill Belichick, recording 63 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and 18.5 sacks despite never playing more than 38 percent of the team’s snaps.
Despite having interest outside of the team when he first hit free agency last spring, Uche opted to stick around in New England, noting to reporters last year that he really believed in the Patriots’ vision under Jerod Mayo.
“The Patriots were the organization that gave me a chance in the NFL,” Uche said via NFL.com. “It’s like family. It feels like home, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than home. So I think that was my main reason — loyalty, family, and love.
“Coach (Jerod) Mayo is developing a lot of tough young men, and I feel...
