The Philadelphia Eagles made a splash with the signing of Saquon Barkley in free agency, and head coach Nick Sirianni talked about the process of integrating him into the offense, which prompted him to compare the addition to when the team traded for AJ Brown in 2022.
Nick Sirianni said “our offensive staff's working hard” right now “on the ways we're going to use him,” according to Brooks Kubena of The Athletic. When comparing it to the Eagles' addition of AJ Brown a couple of years ago, Sirianni said “What does AJ do well? How do we use him?” were the questions that were asked back then.
“Just really excited to add a player of his caliber to our team,” Sirianni said of Barkley.
It will be interesting to see how the Eagles integrate Barkley in the offense. He was the main piece of a New York Giants offense that struggled for many years, but now he will just add to the weapons that are present in Philadelphia. Barkley is a dynamic threat out of the backfield that goes along with Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and Jalen Hurts' running ability. It will be on new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to get the most out of this unit that struggled down the stretch last season. That talent is certainly there.
Sirianni kept his job after the Eagles faltered down the stretch last season, but replaced both coordinators. As mentioned before Kellen Moore will take over the offensive coordinator role. Vic Fangio will take over as the team's defensive coordinator. A lot of pressure is on the team and coaching staff overall to not repeat what happened in 2023.
Nick Sirianni on maintaining Eagles' culture in 2024
Sirianni also spoke on the Eagles' locker room culture and why that is so important, more than the talent on the roster, specifically when it comes to maintaining the culture with the departures of Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce.
“Talent is so, so important, right? We know that talent is so important, but your culture and your leadership, those lead to special things,” Sirianni said, via Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com.
“Talent is so important…but your culture and your leadership lead to special things”
Nick Sirianni talking about the role Jalen Hurts and others players will have to play in stepping up as leaders next season with Kelce/Cox gone #Eagles pic.twitter.com/sn8OPdG0P9
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) March 26, 2024
Sirianni specifically mentioned Jalen Hurts, Landon Dickerson and Jordan Mailata as players who need to step up as leaders with the departure of Kelce. He went on to talk about his close relationship with Hurts, and emphasized that Hurts' relationship with everyone is important.
Nick Sirianni talks about his relationship with Jalen Hurts
Says all relationships were tested last year and it’s important that everyone on the team has a good relationship with each other
“Teams that do well are the teams that are the closest” #Eagles pic.twitter.com/4l4k91Tozt
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) March 26, 2024
The culture with the Eagles was questioned down the stretch last season as the team continued to lose. The organization is hoping that resetting at both coordinator spots helps the team get back to what it was for 2022 and the first half of 2023. If that does not happen, it could spell bigger changes when it comes to the coaching staff, as it would be two years in a row in which Sirianni's coordinator hires have not worked out.
Follow Us
Subscribe