Eagles 2026 NFL free agency grades for every signing including Riq Woolen

Though free agency has been open for the better part of two weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles continue to find value on the margins once all of the big-money players have come off the board.

After sitting out the legal tampering period’s opening hours, the Eagles made their first big splash by signing Riq Woolen, the incredibly athletic outside cornerback who just won a Super Bowl the month before with the Seattle Seahawks. The Eagles then attacked the tight end position, handing out contracts to Johnny Mundt, Grant Calcaterra, Dallas Goedert, and eventually Stone Smartt while adding two more one-year defenders in long-time Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones and ex-Falcons edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie, who played his college ball at Temple and Penn State.

Factor in the returns of Braden Mann and Marcus Epps, plus free agent additions like running back runnign back Dameon Pierce, speedy wide receiver Hollywood Brown, and safety/special teams ace JT Gray, and the Eagles will have more than a dozen new players on their roster as they look to turn their attention to the 2026 NFL Draft, where they now have even better amunition after agreeing to a pair of pick swaps with the Atlanta Falcons in the Sydney Brown trade.

Will the Eagles inevitably sign another free agent or two before the end of the spring? Most certainly, Howie Roseman has made more moves in Week 2 of free agency than in the NFL League Year’s initial period and will continue to wheel and deal if players like Andy Dalton become available via trade. But for now, it’s worth looking at the initial crop of Eagles free agents and break things down in terms of money spent, their current cap situation, and how it all could impact the rest of Philadelphia’s team-building strategy heading into April.

Grading the Eagles’ free agent additions so far

Riq Woolen: A

On paper, it’s hard not to be excited about bringing in a player like Woolen on a one-year contract.

Widely considered one of the top outside cornerbacks on the open market, Woolen was widely expected to land a multi-year contract of some sort even after having a less-than-ideal final season in Seattle. Instead, he signed a one-year contract with the Eagles that is probably above his market value – Spotrac had his market value at $8.2 million over four years – but fits into the team’s current roster-building strategy.

If Woolen absolutely shines, outplaying a pair of All-Pros in Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell, the Eagles will have options to keep him. At worst, they could place the franchise tag on Woolen to lock up their core CB trio for one more year before having to worry about extending DeJean, or even hand the veteran defender a long-term contract well before he turns 30.

Alternatively, Woolen could produce at a Jaelan Phillips level, where he plays well enough to land a nine-figure contract but not well enough for Roseman to change his strategy, allowing the team to wish him well in free agency while recouping a compensatory pick in 2028 as a consolation prize.

Would it have been cheaper to sign a similar player like Cameron Taylor-Britt, who also got a one-year contract from the Indianapolis Colts, but presumably for a much lower value? Sure, but Roseman and his scouts identified their guy and got him while other teams were interested in his services as well, making this an A all day.

Hollywood Brown: B+

For a minute there, it looked like the Eagles weren’t going to add a name-brand wide receiver in free agency after missing out on Darnell Mooney, who signed with the New York Giants despite drawing interest from Philadelphia.

Now granted, over the past few seasons, the Eagles’ top-2 wide receivers haven’t been targeted to their liking, making their WR3, Jahan Dotson, a serious afterthought in weekly gameplanning. Wide receivers with hopes of parlaying a one-year, bet-on-yourself contract most certainly didn’t consider the Birds, even with Sean Mannion now in place as their offensive coordinator, leading other top options like Christian Kirk to take their talents to other NFC Contenders instead.

Fortunately, Brown is a massive fan of Jalen Hurts, and as a result, he chose to sign with Philadelphia on a one-year, $6 million deal over a return to the Baltimore Ravens, which is a major win for the Eagles’ offense.

Even if the Eagles’ WR3 remains the fifth man in the offensive pecking order, Brown brings something neither Dotson nor Johnny Wilson brought at the spot behind DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown: speed. Because Hurts throws one of the best deep balls in the NFL – at least in Hollywood’s opinion – the Eagles will be able to add that element to their offense this fall as  Smith and Brown feast on short and medium routes, forcing opposing defenses to play their safeties deeper while opening up running lanes for Saquon Barkley at the line of scrimmage.

Dameon Pierce: B

There was a time when Dameon Pierce looked like a long-term franchise-caliber player for the Houston Texans.

A former fourth-round pick out of Roseman’s alma mater, Florida, Pierce ran for nearly 1,000 yards during his rookie season but wasn’t able to match that total in his final two seasons in Houston combined, resulting in his release and eventual move to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad after failing to be claimed off of waivers.

While Pierce isn’t a guarantee to make the Eagles roster by any means, especially if they add a player or two at the position in the 2026 NFL Draft, he is a powerful body between the tackles who could serve as the thunder to Barkley’s lightning if he recaptures his rookie form.

Arnold Ebiketie: B

After losing Phillips in free agency, many a fan hoped the Eagles would land a Woolen-level player on a one-year contract in order to fill a short-term hole with a win-now rusher. Instead, they brought in Arnold Ebiketie, who had his worst season since his rookie campaign for the Falcons last fall.

And yet, Ebiketie is an outside linebacker who has multiple eight-sack seasons on his resume and played multiple seasons in Raheem Morris’ Los Angeles Rams-adjacent defense, where edge rushers are tasked with doing more than simply taking down opposing quarterbacks. With Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt locked in as the Birds’ starting edges and Brandon Graham returning as an inside-out option off the bench, Ebiketie should still get plenty of run in Vic Fangio’s defense unless the team snags an elite edge option in the NFL Draft who completely changes their snap count calculus.

Dallas Goedert/Johnny Mundt/Grant Calcaterra/Stone Smartt: B-

From a math perspective, bringing back Dallas Goedert was a borderline must-do for the Eagles. If they didn’t hand him a new contract, they would have added over $20 million to their books in dead money for a player who wasn’t even on the team, a proposition that can now be split over multiple years.

The idea of bringing back Goedert and signing three more tight ends is rather strange, however, especially considering the team really needs to find their next guy to build around long-term, just like they did in 2018 when they selected the South Dakota prospect in the first place. Maybe the Eagles know that Kenyon Saddiq won’t be around at pick No. 23 and aren’t in love with the Day 2 options at tight end this year, but adding that many bodies at the position with no real future feels like punting on the situation once more, instead of having a clear plan.

Marcus Epps/JT Gray: A

When news broke that the Eagles were trading away Sydney Brown for a pair of pick swaps, it turned one of Philadelphia’s biggest needs from a concern to a downright dire priority for Roseman and company.

Fortunately, the Eagles quickly restocked the cupboard with not one but two veterans in Marcus Epps and JT Gray, a three-time Pro Bowl special teamer who bounced around the NFL in 2025 after a lengthy tenure with the New Orleans Saints.

In 2025, Epps was a calming presence at free safety once Mukuba went down, sending Brown to the bench and ultimately out of town a few months later. While his contract number hasn’t come out yet, Epps likely won’t be playing for more than a few million dollars, which is great money for most but a small fraction of what Reed Blankenship received from the Texans. Factor in the addition of Gray, who can take Brown’s spot on special teams while providing depth at the position heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, and the Eagles are better off at safety than before they answered the trade call from Atlanta.

Jonathan Jones: B

And last but not least, the Eagles added another cornerback shortly after bringing aboard Woolen in Jonathan Jones, the long-time New England Patriots cornerback who played for the Washington Commanders last fall.

One of the oldest cornerbacks in the NFL at 32, Jones won two Super Bowls during his time in Foxboro and likely wants to go out with a third ring if he can. After starting seven of the 12 games he appeared in for the Commanders last year, Jones should provide solid depth if Woolen can’t hang or injuries stack up, which, considering he signed a one-year contract, is good low-risk, medium-reward value for this year’s version of Adoree’ Jackson.

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