Eagles lead revitalized Commanders, mystery-box Giants, Parson-less Cowboys in high-stakes NFC East

The ever-competitive NFC East is never boring. With the NFL season kicking off on Thursday, this year promises to be no different. 

The division features the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, the NFC runner-up Washington Commanders, a Dallas Cowboys squad that traded three-time All-Pro Micah Parsons last week and a New York Giants team that overhauled its quarterback room this offseason. 

The division hasn’t had a repeat champion since 2005, when the Eagles secured a pair of NFC East titles. Philadelphia will look to buck that trend this year.

The betting odds are in their favor. Sportsbooks have pegged Philadelphia as the favorite to win the division, with Washington not far behind. New York and Dallas are considered long shots after disappointing 2024 campaigns. 

Encore

The Eagles have had seven months to celebrate their Super Bowl triumph — a blowout win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The offseason strategy? Get the band back together. 

Philadelphia lost a few players in free agency — defensive linemen Milton Williams and Josh Sweat, along with guard Mekhi Becton, will need to be replaced. Second-year cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell will anchor a group that lost veterans C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Darius Slay and James Bradberry.

But most of the skill players on offense, including quarterback Jalen Hurts and “Madden” cover star Saquon Barkley, are back to defend their crown. On defense, rising stars like defensive tackle Jalen Carter and linebacker Zach Baun — who signed a hefty contract extension this offseason — will look to take another step forward.

“Everything that’s been accomplished to this point, it’s great,” Hurts told reporters this offseason. “But there’s a desire to achieve more and it’s only intensified.”

Reloaded

The Eagles dominated the Commanders 55-23 in last year’s NFC championship game — a fact that Philadelphia fans constantly reiterate on Washington’s official social media posts. 

This offseason, those Eagles supporters have had plenty to comment on. The Commanders spent the eight months since the postseason run loading up for the NFC East arms race. General manager Adam Peters traded for former All-Pro receiver Deebo Samuel from the San Francisco 49ers to give dual-threat quarterback Jayden Daniels another weapon. 

Peters then sent draft capital to the Houston Texans for left tackle Laremy Tunsil, a perennial Pro Bowler who will protect Daniels’ blindside. Edge rusher Von Miller, the NFL’s active sacks leader, signed with the Commanders in July. 

The Commanders have acted like a team entering its championship window. 

“You always want to build your roster to win now and then win in the future. The moves that we made, those allow us to do both,” Peters said at the start of training camp. “We’re always looking to field as good of a team as we can every year. However we can do that, we’ll do that — without mortgaging the future.”

Daniels, the newly crowned face of the Commanders franchise, is only 24 years old. The rest of the roster — from the 36-year-old Miller to 35-year-old linebacker Bobby Wagner and 34-year-old tight end Zach Ertz — boosts the average. Washington is the oldest team in the league with an average age of 28.1. 

Peters and company are hoping that the proven experience will translate into playoff success. 

Revising

The Cowboys made one of the offseason’s most shocking moves last week by trading three-time All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for a pair of first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. 

Despite the positive spin by owner and general manager Jerry Jones, the deal failed to inspire confidence in fans, analysts or the sportsbooks. Dallas’ title odds plummeted after the move, from an already steep 50-1 to an even more unlikely 60-1.

“They were already a long shot this year, but this certainly has not helped their odds,” Christian Cipollini, BetMGM senior trading manager, told the Associated Press.

Adding a pair of draft picks can help in the future, but the 26-year-old Parsons was in the prime of his career. The Cowboys already lost defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency, leading to unanswered questions about who will rush the passer for new coach Brian Schottenheimer. 

“[Parsons is] a great player, but this is the ultimate team game. It’s the ultimate team game, and we’re not going to win a championship with just one person,” Schottenheimer said last week, citing his Super Bowl aspirations. “You have to have pieces in place. I think we have a lot of really good players in place.”

Quarterback Dak Prescott will return to the field after missing most of last season with a hamstring injury. He’ll look to build on his connection with Pro Bowl wide receiver Ceedee Lamb and the newly acquired George Pickens, who Dallas added through a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

In New York, Giants coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen open the year already on the hot seat. Last season, their third with the franchise, was a disaster. Many analysts around the league were surprised that the duo kept their jobs following a 3-14 record.

The team struggled on the field, eventually cutting quarterback Daniel Jones less than two years after giving him a four-year, $160 million contract in 2023. 

New York started Tommy DeVito and Drew Lock under center after releasing Jones, finishing as one of the worst teams in the league. They overhauled the quarterback room this offseason, signing veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston and drafting Ole Miss passer Jaxson Dart in the first round. 

Wilson, 36, opens the season as the starter with his fourth team in the last five seasons. It’s unclear how long of a leash he’ll have with Dart waiting in the wings.

“[Dart] will be practicing and doing the things he needs to do to keep improving,” Daboll said last month. “Backup quarterback, we’ll have a number of them. We’ll continue to work with all those guys.”

The season begins with a pair of NFC East matchups. The Eagles will unveil a championship banner before Thursday’s game in Philadelphia — the NFL’s annual kickoff game. The Commanders will then host the Giants on Sunday afternoon.