Six Candidates To Replace Jason Kelce And Fletcher Cox As Eagles Captains

Two powerful voices were lost to retirement in the offseason, and now the Eagles players will need to identify replacements for Kelce and Cox, who were team captains for the last six years. Here are three players each on both sides of the ball who make sense.

Eagles RB Saquon Barkley / John McMullen/Eagles SI

PHILADELPHIA – The retirements of Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox have left the Eagles with two captain vacancies. The center and defensive tackle had each been team captains for the last six years.

They were two of the nine team captains elected last summer by their teammates The others were quarterback Jalen Hurts (third season), cornerback Darius Slay (second), receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith (first season each), Jake Elliott (second), Lane Johnson (second), and Brandon Graham (fifth).

Philadelphia began naming captains during the 2017 Super Bowl season and the tradition has bridged from Doug Pederson to Nick Sirianni.

Slay was emotional when he was elected a team captain for the first time in his career two years ago.

“That’s probably one of the biggest achievements of my career," he said at the time. "Never been a captain before. So I’m like, ‘yeah, man, had me a little teary-eyed for a minute.’ I ain’t gonna lie. I was in the huddle like, ‘Oh snap.’ It’s a blessing, man, to be honored like that. I appreciate that from my teammates.”

If the Eagles continue to elect nine captains, and assuming the other seven will earn the players’ vote once again, the Eagles will need to add two more. Perhaps they would even want one on each side of the ball to replace Kelce on offense and Cox on defense.

Here are some candidates:

Eagles LT Jordan Mailata / John McMullen/Eagles SI

OFFENSE

Saquon Barkley. He may make the most sense given his leadership ability, something he said he won’t shy away from after joining the Eagles as a free agent in the offseason after six years with the New York Giants.

“Me being new here doesn’t bother me,” he said. “I believe I’m a leader. It’s my seventh year going into the NFL, and there are already a bunch of leaders here, which is great, when you have that many leaders in the room. I feel like I can add to that.”

Jordan Mailata. He has become one of the game’s better left tackles, and losing a voice on the offensive line in Kelce, it might make sense to find another voice up front.

“I’d like to think I’ve always been kind of like a natural leader and when we talk about that we have to talk about the standard that was set before,” he said. “Kelce leaving was a big part of always maintaining that standard. That was his go-to, maintain the standard at practice, walkthrough, to game day.

"That’s all I’m trying to do now because I learned from the past six years under Kelce and Lane. I learned under Fletch, under BG. Our captains."

Dallas Goedert. The tight end is a lifelong Eagle and will enter his seventh season. The tight end doesn’t care about his stats, only winning. That kind of attitude could lead to a captainship.

DEFENSE

Reed Blankenship. The safety position is crucial in a Vic Fangio-style defense, especially with communication. He led the team in tackles with 108 last year and could now be ready to lead them as a captain.

Jordan Davis. The defensive tackle group is young and he is entering just his third season needing to take another step forward in his development. He spent his first two years in the league learning from Cox on and off the field, so maybe he’s ready to take on more of a leadership role.

Jalen Carter. It may be too soon to hand him this kind of responsibility, but it’s a players' vote, and Carter is the best player on this defense - top three at minimum. Maturity was an issue when the defensive tackle entered the league last year, but, so far, he has done all the right things.

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