Albert Breer says the Eagles can’t just run it back and will ‘have to win a different way’

Eagles making significant defensive changes in 2025

The Philadelphia Eagles were forced into significant turnover on the defensive side of the ball, continuing a trend that started last offseason when they turned the No. 30 ranked defense in 2023 to the No. 2 ranked defense in 2024.

Breer laid out exactly how much they lost for MMQB on Monday.

“Josh Sweat is gone. Milton Williams is gone. Brandon Graham is gone. Darius Slay is gone. C.J. Gardner-Johnson is gone,” Breer reminded. “I mean, even at linebacker, you’ve got Nakobe Dean who’s coming back from a really bad knee injury…

“I looked at it and they’re replacing a lot on defense — and they were really good defensively last year.”

Philadelphia replenished that lost depth during the 2025 NFL Draft, where they landed linebacker Jihaad Campbell, safety Andrew Mukuba, defensive tackle Ty Robinson, and cornerback Mac McWilliams with its first four selections.

Howie Roseman has made a career off draft victories, so what’s a couple more?

Albert Breer has shocking record prediction for Eagles

Breer acknowledged those changes when making his shocking record prediction for the defending champions.

“I had them going 10-7 this year… because this is a different group, and it’s going to take them time to figure out what makes this version of them a little bit better,” Breer said.

“You’re going to have to win a different way… maybe this year that means they have to outscore teams early on, right? Because they are breaking in so many new starters and so many new key contributors on defense.”

It’ll remain to be seen whether or not the defensive turnover will have a significant impact on the unit’s overall effectiveness, though you’d have to imagine it will. Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and A.J. Brown might be able to help minimize the impact, though.