Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni sat in the visitors interview room at Northwest Stadium late Sunday night, his arms leaning on the table and eyes looking heavy following a 27-10 Week 8 loss to the Washington Commanders that extended his team's losing streak to six games. At 2-6, the season has gotten away from the Eagles. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is on injured reserve with blood clots in his lungs, right tackle Lane Johnson suddenly retired in early October, and a host of injuries on both sides of the ball have left hope for a turnaround in short supply.
There are nine games remaining, starting Sunday against the division-leading New York Giants (1 p.m. ET, Fox), in what feels like a slow march toward an offseason that could usher in significant change. The debate is well underway as to whether Sirianni will be swept up in that change or the one overseeing it. Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie has much to consider.
Every day he walks into the front entrance of the Jefferson Health Training Complex, he sees the two Vince Lombardi Trophies displayed in glass and knows his current head coach delivered one of them. The Eagles made the playoffs in each of Sirianni's first five seasons, went to the Super Bowl twice and became champions during the 2024 season. Lurie is also financially incentivized to keep Sirianni around.
He signed Sirianni to a multiyear contract extension in May 2025 that industry sources believe to be around $15 million annually. Sirianni has shown malleability. His decision to hand over playcalling duties to Shane Steichen in 2021 helped spark a turnaround, as the 2-5 Eagles rallied to a 9-8 record and made the playoffs.
When the offense sagged in the beginning of 2024, he leaned into Saquon Barkley and the ground game and rode it all the way to a world title. Barkley said, "Nick is that to a 'T.' Has he ramped it up a little bit more? Is there a little bit more of a sense of urgency? Of course, yes, because that's needed. But I really take my hat off to him because I know it can go the other way." There have been instances, though, of the team spiraling under Sirianni's stewardship.
The 2023 campaign is the most obvious. The cracks in the foundation began showing themselves in the latter stages of the season and a 10-1 team dropped six of their last seven, including a 32-9 shellacking at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Source: ESPN NFL · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing