Over the last few weeks, we've be taking position-by-position looks at which players will likely be back with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025, and which ones likely won't. Today we'll finish out the series with the specialists.
Regarding the polls below, they are your votes on what you think the Eagles should do, not necessarily what you think they will do. Please think of them more as approval polls for each player.
Jake Elliott
Elliott is pretty safely the best kicker in Eagles franchise history, but after three stellar seasons in 2021, 2022, and 2023, he had a down year in 2024.
| Year | FGA | FGM | FG % |
| 2021 | 33 | 30 | 90.9% |
| 2022 | 23 | 20 | 87.0% |
| 2023 | 32 | 30 | 93.8% |
| 2024 | 36 | 28 | 77.8% |
He missed 8 field goal attempts in 2024, the same number of misses the previous three years combined. Leading up to the Super Bowl, Elliott had missed 5 kicks in his previous 4 games, but he was a perfect 4/4 on field goals and 4/4 on PATs in the big game.
Turns out there was maybe a good reason why he struggled. According to Beau Allen on Chris Long's Green Light podcast, Elliott was hampered by an injury during the season. Asked if that was true, Elliott chose not to make excuses.
#Eagles K Jake Elliott on whether he played through an injury during the season: "I know [former #Eagles DT and current podcaster extraordinaire] Beau [Allen] put that out there. Everybody's dealing with soreness throughout the year, little things. I was able to play every…
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) February 13, 2025
The Eagles said repeatedly throughout Elliott's struggles that they believe in him.
#JimmyVerdict: Elliott signed a four-year contract extension last offseason worth $24 million. He's not going anywhere. Stay.
Do you want Jake Elliott back on the Eagles' 2025 roster?
Braden Mann
Mann finished 10th in net punting, at 42.1 net yards per punt, as the Eagles' punt coverage teams were good for the better part of the season. Of course, Mann also had the benefit of playing with two very good gunners in Kelee Ringo and Sydney Brown.
The below chart is a little tough to see if you have old eyes, but the folks at Puntalytics had Mann in the middle of the pack in punter EPA in 2024:
Aside from his punting duties, Mann wasn't so good at kickoffs (see: the Eagles' loss in MD to the Commanders), but he was outstanding as a holder, most notably in the snow against the Rams (video via @Eaglesfans9):
The Eagles got some really crappy punting from Arryn Siposs in 2021 and 2022, but after Mann replaced him early in 2023, he has helped stabilize the position.
#JimmyVerdict: Mann is under contract through 2025. He'll be back. Stay.
Do you want Braden Mann back on the Eagles' 2025 roster?
Rick Lovato
Lovato has thrown the ball through his legs full-time for the Eagles since 2017. He is one of just four current Eagles with two rings, along with Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson, and Jake Elliott.
#JimmyVerdict: Lovato is a free agent this offseason. I used to watch every long snap of the season, but I'm less psychotic these days, so I'd be lying if I had a strong opinion of whether Lovato had a good season or not. My guess is that he stays, but I do anecdotally recall a few bad field goal snaps, so maybe the Eagles will at least give him some training camp competition this year, like they did when Lovato beat out Jon Dorenbos for the job in 2017?
Do you want Rick Lovato back on the Eagles' 2025 roster?
#JimmyVerdict Stay or Go Results
Green = Stay
Red = Go
Blue = Will be back in camp in 2025, but a 53-man roster spot is not a given.
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| QB | Jalen Hurts | Kenny Pickett | Tanner McKee | |
| RB | Saquon Barkley | Kenny Gainwell | Will Shipley | Khari Blasingame |
| WR | A.J. Brown | DeVonta Smith | Jahan Dotson | Johnny Wilson |
| WR (cont.) | Britain Covey | Parris Campbell | Ainias Smith | |
| TE | Dallas Goedert | Grant Calcaterra | E.J. Jenkins | C.J. Uzomah |
| OT | Lane Johnson | Jordan Mailata | Fred Johnson | Darian Kinnard |
| OG | Landon Dickerson | Mekhi Becton | Tyler Steen | Trevor Keegan |
| C | Cam Jurgens | Jack Driscoll | Brett Toth | Nick Gates |
| ED | Josh Sweat | Nolan Smith | Brandon Graham | Jalyx Hunt |
| ED (cont.) | Bryce Huff | Charles Harris | ||
| iDL | Jalen Carter | Milton Williams | Jordan Davis | Moro Ojomo |
| iDL (cont.) | Thomas Booker | Byron Young | ||
| OBLB | Zack Baun | Nakobe Dean | Oren Burks | Jeremiah Trotter |
| OBLB (cont.) | Ben VanSumeren | |||
| CB | Darius Slay | Quinyon Mitchell | Cooper DeJean | Isaiah Rodgers |
| CB (cont.) | Kelee Ringo | Avonte Maddox | Eli Ricks | |
| S | C.J. Gardner-Johnson | Reed Blankenship | Sydney Brown | Tristin McCollum |
| S (cont.) | Lewis Cine | James Bradberry | ||
| K/P/LS | Jake Elliott | Braden Mann | Rick Lovato |
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
