EAGLES URGED TO GO 'ALL IN' ON $15 MILLION FORMER FIRST ROUND PICK

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Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jahan Dotson.

Every year, in ever sport you love, teams win championships with an unexpected boost from a player no one was counting on.

Sometimes it’s really big, crazy moments. Like when New York Giants wide receiver David Tyree’s famous “Helmet Catch” against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. That followed a regular season in which Tyree had just 4 receptions for 35 yards and no touchdowns.

Sometimes it’s not as flashy but just as meaningful. Like what Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jahan Dotson did in the team’s run to winning Super Bowl LIX.

After just 19 receptions for 216 yards and no touchdowns in the regular season, Dotson had a touchdown catch in an NFC Wild Card Round win over the Green Bay Packers, then set up the Eagles’ first touchdown with a 28-yard reception in the first quarter of a 40-22 Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs on February 9.

While Dotson may have grossly underperformed for most of the regular season, if we look at the last 5 games he played last year — 4 playoff games and the regular season finale — we can see a player who looks like a viable WR3 option for Philadelphia in 2025.

If you spread out Dotson’s averages over the last 5 games he played in over a 17-game season, it comes out to roughly 34 receptions, 500 yards and 4 touchdowns — pretty much what any team is hoping for out of a WR3.

With his postseason success and the fact they’re only on the hook for $2.7 million in 2025, it’s becoming more and more clear the Eagles plan to go all in on the former first round pick as their WR3 option.

Dotson Carried Burdened of First Round Expectations

The original sin with Dotson was is he was selected in the first round to begin with, with the Washington Commanders and former head coach Ron Rivera taking him No. 16 overall in the 2022 NFL draft.

Playing on a 4-year, $15 million rookie contract, Dotson struggled through his first 2 seasons — in relative terms — with 84 receptions, 1,044 and 11 touchdowns in 2022 and 2023 combined. That’s bad production for a first round pick but pretty solid production for a WR3.

Fortunately for Dotson, the Eagles were looking for a WR3 behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith when they traded for him in August 2024. That deal included a 2025 third round pick, 2025 fifth round pick and 2025 seventh round pick to the Commanders in exchange for Dotson and a 2025 fifth round pick.

After having his fifth year option declined by the Eagles on April 23 — one full week before the deadline — if Dotson can show he is a competent WR3 he could be looking a pretty solid payday in 2026 free agency. That might mean something along the lines of the 1-year, $10 million contract wide receiver and Dotson’s former Commanders teammate Dyami Brown signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2025 free agency cycle.

If the 2025 NFL draft is any indication, the Eagles are full speed ahead with Dotson as WR3 in 2025. Philadelphia didn’t use a single one of its 10 picks on a wide receiver or tight end — great news for the skill position players at those spots already on the roster.

- Tony Adame

 

SAQUON BARKLEY'S REVERSE HURDLE LEAVES EAGLES 'SPEECHLESS'

PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is a man of many words, but even he was left "speechless" after running back Saquon Barkley's reverse hurdle over a defender Sunday in a 28-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

"It was the best play I've ever seen," Sirianni said. "What I think is so cool, there's going to be kids all over the country and all over Philadelphia trying to make that play and talking about that play and simulating that play as they play backyard football or peewee football. They ain't going to be able to make it -- I believe he's the only one in the world that can do that. I'm speechless. It was unbelievable."

With the Eagles facing a third-and-6 early in the second quarter, Barkley took a pass from Jalen Hurts in the flat, broke a tackle and then put a spin move on Devin Lloyd that had Lloyd grasping at air as he fell to the ground. Barkley was just getting warmed up. He then stepped so his back was to cornerback Jarrian Jones, elevated and blindly leapfrogged Jones for an extra 5 yards on what turned out to be a 14-yard gain.

The fans in attendance rose to their feet and began looking at one another in a state of shock.

"I've got to give credit to God, man. I'm not going to lie ... I feel like God gave me the ability to play this position and gave me some instincts. Sometimes you've got to let go and let God and your instincts take over," Barkley said.

This wasn't the first time Barkley has pulled off this move: He jumped backward over an Iowa defender his sophomore year at Penn State but said that one "wasn't as cool." This one was off the charts.

"Crazy," receiver DeVonta Smith said. "I ain't never seen nothing like it."

Barkley ended the day with 199 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns. He is just the second player in Eagles history to record 1,000-plus scrimmage yards and eight-plus touchdowns through eight games, joining LeSean McCoy, who was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame Sunday.

Barkley wasn't the only Eagle who dazzled against Jacksonville. With A.J. Brown sidelined with a knee injury he suffered at the end of the first half, Smith rose to the occasion and made an incredible one-handed catch in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter that ended up being the difference in the game.

Sirianni had no update on the status of Brown, who did not play in the second half.

"It's always tough when he goes down because he's such a dynamic player, such a big part of this team and this offense," Smith said. "If he goes down, I kind of get the feeling like I have to step up. For me, I'm always ready for the challenge."

Fellow receiver Jahan Dotson had a circus catch of his own, skying over a defender and tipping the ball to himself early in the third quarter for a 36-yard gain down the left sideline.

"I feel like there were three plays in that game: Dotson, Smitty and Saquon, plays that just make you go, 'Wow, this is why I love watching football,'" right tackle Lane Johnson said.

- Tim McManus, ESPN Staff Writer