Eagles Chalk Talk is BACK! Let's give some grades and commentary on the offseason's biggest stories:

Offensive staff turnover: B-. As we know, Kellen Moore jumped at the chance to take over a thoroughly mediocre roster and coach Derek Carr (which won't even happen now, unfortunately for Carr). No shame to Moore for this, as he's eyed the opportunity to be a head coach for some time. His replacement, Kevin Patullo, has never called plays on the NFL level but has a long track record of developing QBs and offenses and has worked with Nick and Jalen for a long time. The hope would be that both he and the organization learned from the failed Brian Johnson experiment. Philly also replaced QB coach Doug Nussmeier with Scot Loeffler, who has a similar record of improving any program he's placed into. Former head coaches tend to do well in position coaching roles, and Loeffler's work at Bowling Green was top shelf. On the whole I am cautiously optimistic that Philly did the best they reasonably could have to fill these spots, but time will tell and this is naturally a question mark.

Defensive staff returns intact: A+. Probably the league's premier defensive coaching staff returns; not just Fangio but all of the assistants as well. With the talent drain (more to come on that), it likely isn't reasonable to expect the Birds to be the top defense in the league for the second straight year, but coaching continuity should keep the unit strong.

Lost nearly half of the league's best defense: D+. In terms of total defensive snaps played, the Birds lost their third (CJGJ), fourth (Nakobe Dean), seventh (Slay), ninth (Sweat), 11th (Milton Williams), 14th, 15th, 16th (Maddox, Rodgers, Graham) and 21st (Burks) players to trades, free agency, injuries or retirement. That's nearly half of the two deep, and those players collectively represent the loss of:

• 41% of all defensive snaps played last year.

• 54% of the interceptions.

• 48% of the sacks.

• 40% of the tackles.

Normally this degree of loss would spell certain doom for a defense (see what happened to the 2023 defense), but the Birds have succession plans in place for most of these guys, should get Dean back at some point and, as mentioned above, have enviable coaching continuity. We'll stay tuned to this one throughout the year.

Locked up some franchise cornerstones with extensions or new deals: B. Zach Baun was likely the one free agent Philly could not afford to lose, thanks to Dean's injury, and they locked him up for an AAV of $17 million. Cam Jurgens reupped for the same AAV, and OPOY Saquon Barkley got a $20 million AAV extension. All three deals are likely overpays, but you need to keep players like this happy and in the organization, so good job to Howie for just getting it done.

Classic annual roster churn: C-.

Role players lost:

Mekhi Becton (more than a role player, I know)

Oren Burks

Parris Campbell

Le'Raven Clark

Britain Covey

Jack Driscoll

Kenny Gainwell

Fred Johnson

Avonte Maddox

Isaiah Rodgers

CJ Uzomah

Role players gained:

Harrison Bryant

AJ Dillon

Kylen Granson

Charley Hughlett

Adoree Jackson

Patrick Johnson

Kendall Lamm

Terrace Marshall

Azeez Ojulari

Matt Pryor

Josh Uche

Avery Williams

I know it's way too early to say this with any certainty, but I can't shake the impression that the guys on the top list meant more to us than the guys on the bottom list will. Becton, Burks, Covey, Gainwell, Johnson, Maddox and Rodgers all gave the Birds pretty good moments over the last couple seasons. Big shoes to fill on the second rung of the depth chart. Still, history says that one or two of these new guys will show out (last year's list included Zach Baun and Oren Burks), and all of this cost the Birds a little less than $20 million overall and didn't impact the compensatory pick formula at all.

All told, I grade the free agency portion of the offseason to be a B-. It's hard to get too excited about the offseason as a whole, considering the defensive losses, but this is still a darn good roster with opportunities to get better yet. Speaking of which:

Eagles only seven round mock draft:

32nd overall: Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon. The buzzy pick (Walter Nolan) is almost certainly going to be long gone, so I'll take a player that's bigger and just as athletic. Harmon can come off the bench for both Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter, or line up next to them.

64th overall: Jonah Savaiinaea, OL, Arizona. Played OT in college and may get back there in the NFL, but projects to guard. Has good size and really good athleticism for that position.

96th overall: Ashton Gillette, DE, Louisville. Gillette boasts solid size (somewhere between 265 and 285 pounds, depending on who you talk to) and elite athleticism (9.75 RAS). The Eagles crave the athleticism and really need the size at the DE spot; they fix both with this pick.

161st overall: Malachi Moore, S, Alabama. Versatile kid who will be one of the last players drafted who won a championship playing for Nick Saban. I think I mocked this kid to the Birds three years ago, he's been around so long. Moore's floor is high and he could float between post safety and slot corner, as needed.

164th overall: Mitchell Evans, TE, Notre Dame. Big (6-4, 258) blocking TE who moonlit as a FB at a program known for producing NFL tight ends. He had a sneaky good career YPC (11.7, Tyler Warren's career number was just 12.0), which may hint that he can develop into more than just a blocker.

165th overall: Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oregon. Philly needs a QB to put in the factory. Gabriel has a lot of talent and the Birds don't care about atypical size profiles at quarterback. Philly has a history of this kind of player having a random monster game (or games) off the bench and being traded for much more than what was paid.

168th overall: Isaac TeSlaa, WR, Arkansas. Philly wraps things up with a kid no one has ever heard of. TeSlaa is big (6-4, 214), very athletic and productive (between D2 and Arkansas, he averaged 16.7 YPC throughout his career). Late in the draft is a great spot to take lottery picks and this guy fits that bill.

Going back to the first round for a minute, there's about 25 guys that I'd be happy for Philly to take at 32 overall. Contrary to popular opinion, I think the Birds are in an ideal spot. Of course, most of those guys are going to be gone by the time Philly is up to pick, but not all will be. Howie may well have his pick of 3-4 guys at the back of the round and could be in a spot to move back, if someone wants to come up.

WELCOME BACK FOOTBALL!