5 Burning Questions Facing the NFC East
The Eagles boast one of the most talented rosters in football, but the NFC East suddenly looks loaded with contenders
This is shaping up to be one of the most competitive divisions in football.
Beyond the defending champions, the front offices in Washington and Dallas seem to be following Eagles general manager Howie Roseman’s blueprint to take their best shot at taking down the defending champions, and even early returns from Giants camp offer reason to be optimistic that a young roster could throw its weight around this season, as well.
Here’s a look at five burning questions facing the NFC East, kicking off our series breaking down where things stand within each division, ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
1) Have the Eagles Done Enough at Safety?
A few tenets of Eagles general manager Howie Roseman’s core beliefs of roster building have become evident.
Dominance along both lines of scrimmage is paramount above all else. Meanwhile, his is an organization that isn’t afraid to spend at the top of the market for a player they believe will put them over the top, and taking care of young homegrown talent, in a best-case scenario, early, is critical to sustained success.
It’s that last bullet point that seems to be playing out for the Eagles this offseason, as Philadelphia largely sat out the top of the free agent market while stashing capital and cap space away for future deals allocated for the likes of Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and perhaps even Jordan Davis and eventually three years down the road, Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell.
Part of the Eagles’ cost-saving efforts was a trade that sent safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans in exchange for former No. 15 overall pick, offensive guard Kenyon Green, which allowed the Eagles to let guard Mekhi Becton walk in free agency off the most productive season of his career.
As a result, the Eagles will likely start some combination of Reed Blankenship, Cooper DeJean, Sidney Brown, or Lewis Cine at safety, in a division that houses the likes of Malik Nabers, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Terry McLaurin, and now Deebo Samuel.
Roseman has built a roster with few, if any, legitimate holes. Safety, though, may be the biggest.
If Mukuba, the Eagles’ second-round pick out of Texas, proves he’s ready and capable of holding down quality snaps and containing some of the NFL’s elite receivers, Philadelphia’s bet is going to pay big dividends.
However, with a defense that finished tops in the league last season and a roster built to win multiple Super Bowls over the next few seasons, it is fair to wonder if inexperience and unknowns at safety could be an Achilles heel for a team equally loaded with talent and justified optimism.
2) How Much Better Can Jayden Daniels Be?
There’s little about Jayden Daniels, his rookie season, his temperament, or what the Commanders have built around him this offseason, to suggest the wunderkind former No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft is going to experience any sort of sophomore slump.
However, perhaps the season-defining question for the Commanders—and by extension every other NFC contender— becomes just how much better can Daniels become with the additions of Deebo Samuel, Laremy Tunsil, and the return of Zach Ertz to his supporting cast?
As a rookie, Daniels became a sensation in the shadow of the nation’s capital, passing for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, with nine interceptions, while setting the NFL record for rushing yards by a rookie, with 896 and six touchdowns, while guiding Washington back to the postseason.
“I think it’s onward and upward,” Washington legend Brian Mitchell told me this spring, of what he expects from Daniels, with another year of familiarity in offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s scheme. “Let’s be real. Early on, when you have a quarterback who can run the ball, you want to utilize that. Jayden had to learn that this is not college. He learned that quickly.
“The guy that you saw in the first game against Tampa, was not the guy you saw in the last game in Philadelphia … He learned what it takes to go forward.”
For as much scrutiny as general manager Adam Peters and the front office has faced for Von Miller being the marquee addition for a mediocre pass rush, everything about the Commanders’ trajectory and chances of making the leap into the Super Bowl hinges on Daniels. Washington has set their rookie quarterback up for success, made the kind of additions that more than maximize the window of his rookie contract, and now it is up to Daniels to lead the breakthrough.
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3) Will New Weapons Bring Out the Best of Dak Prescott?
There’s a chance that the 2025 NFL season becomes the season of Dak Prescott.
Jerry Jones and the Cowboys saw the value of the Eagles pairing A.J. Brown with DeVonta Smith, ultimately paving the road to a Super Bowl, and the explosive offenses built around Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and others across the NFL.
So, the Cowboys acquired electrifying deep threat George Pickens to pair opposite CeeDee Lamb, finally giving Prescott a pair of vertical threats and big-play factories who can be the catalyst for an explosive offense.
Throw in adding Miles Sanders in the backfield and drafting guard Tyler Booker early, and this offseason has been about buttressing the offense around Dallas’ $240 million quarterback.
As Prescott returns from a 2024 campaign cut short by an excruciating hamstring injury that ended his season after just nine weeks, it isn’t difficult to envision his 4,516-yard, 36-touchdown, and just nine-interception 2023 season with a lesser supporting cast being the floor for his 2025 comeback.
This has been an offseason of discontent and disillusionment surrounding Jones and the Cowboys’ handling of Micah Parsons’ contract extension, but Dallas has set the offense up for a resurgence. Whether Prescott can finally parlay all of the talent around him not just into production but postseason success will define how this season is viewed for America’s Team.
4) Can Giants’ Pass Rush Spark a Turnaround?
In a division with two legitimate Super Bowl threats and a playoff contender in its own right, the Giants’ front-seven is going to be a problem for each.
Few teams in the NFL boast a pass rusher with No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter’s explosive first step, or Brian Burns’ second gear, or Kayvon Thibodeaux’s bend off the edge.
New. York’s. Front. Seven. Is. Going. To. Be. A. Problem.
Look, there are a lot of holes littered across the Giants’ roster, and the offensive line remains a 14-year work in progress and the secondary is going to need to seamlessly meld intriguing young players with ascending veterans, quickly, if general manager Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll are going to save their jobs.
However, few things are more of a kryptonite to top quarterbacks and prolific offenses than an elite pass rush. That will be the backbone of the Giants’ defense, and their chances this season.
Carter has been as advertised through the first week of training camp, after posting 39.5 tackles for loss with 23 sacks during his career in Happy Valley. The former First-Team All-American joins Burns, and his 54.5 career sacks, alongside Thibodeaux, who continues to ascend, forming potentially one of the most feared pass rush trios in the sport.
Given that the Giants’ edge rushers can to wreak havoc while playing behind All-Pro Dexter Lawrence foreshadows that while New York’s offense may go through some growing pains, this front-seven could directly deliver two-plus wins if they are as impactful and disruptive as their potential suggests they can be.
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Will the NFC East Send Three Teams to the Playoffs?
Last season, the NFC North sent three teams to the postseason, and it doesn’t feel like too big of a stretch to think the NFC East could find itself similarly positioned come January.
Washington remains Philadelphia’s biggest threat to a repeat Super Bowl appearance, but the additions the Cowboys made around Prescott could set the stage for a Dallas resurgence.
This feels like the kind of season where the NFC East returns to its black and blue roots of the late 1980s and early 1990s when some of the most complete teams in the league beat each other into submission each Sunday but by season’s end comprised the majority of the NFC side of the bracket.
Given the high quality of quarterback play across the division and some of the premier defensive players in the sport, it doesn’t feel far fetched to believe there are three teams that could reach double-digit wins and be in the mix for a playoff spot by season’s end.
NFL Training Camp Tour!
By now, you’ve probably heard, I’m about to hit the road!
Kicking off on Thursday, July 31, I’ll be checking in on a handful of teams on a training camp tour of the Northeast.
Here’s the current itenerary, with a couple of additional stops and teams potentially joining the mix in the days ahead:
July 31 - East Rutherford, NJ, New York Giants
August 2 - Ashburn, VA, Washington Commanders
August 7 - Latrobe, PA, Pittsburgh Steelers
It will be great to get eyes on some of the more fascinating teams in the NFL, and even better to be back in facilities to deliver truly insider reporting and observations to readers, followers, and subscribers.
If you have been considering upgrading to become a paid subscriber, this is the perfect time, as your subscriptions help make my work possible, which this week means helping pay for gas, tolls, hotels, and coffee on the road. Through this week, all new paid subscriptions receive 10% OFF … Forever!
Your continued support is truly appreciated, and I couldn’t be more excited about what we’re building here at Between The Hashmarks and the content coming your week in the weeks, months, and years to come!
I guess I can live with the tariffs as long as we're building big-play factories.