8 divisions in 8 days: NFC East

My AFC East ratings are right here.

Dallas Cowboys: 7-9-1

An immediate improvement for the ‘26 Cowboys is the fact that they replaced Matt Eberflus as the Defensive Coordinator with Christian Parker. Not sure how he will be but he can’t be any worse than Eberflus was. The Cowboys used the franchise tag on George Pickens and the rumor going around is that they aren’t going to re-sign him after the season. Which means that at some point the Cowboys will have to address the WR room. They re-signed Javonte Williams for the backfield in the hopes that he can continue on his 1201 yard, 11 TD season. A couple of their free agency moves will help one of the worst defenses in the league last year. The Cowboys gave up a league worst 511 points last year. They traded for Rashan Gary and Dee Winters in separate trades. And then they signed Jonathan Bullard and Cobie Durant, which should help the pass rush and secondary respectively.

The Cowboys had two first round picks in the draft and they did amazing. Pick #11 they took Safety Caleb Downs and then at #23 they took Malachi Lawrence the Edge from UCF. They shored up the secondary with Downs and then a great rotational piece on the Edge. I wasn’t a fan of the rest of their draft. They picked up two more Edge rushers. But I feel like they could have used at least one of those picks on a WR or TE. I do like the pick of OT Drew Shelton in the fourth.

I do give the Cowboys a decent grade. Even though I feel like they could have done a bit more. But as was the theme for the AFC East, sometimes it’s addition by subtraction. Firing Matt Eberflus was such a great move combined with the moves on defense that they made.

Grade: B

New York Giants: 4-13

The Giants made a clean sweep in coaching changes even before the end of the ‘25 season. Brian DaBoll was fired as the Head Coach and replaced with John Harbaugh. The new OC is Matt Nagy and the new DC is Dennard Wilson. I’m not sure how the new DC will work out but I can tell you that the hiring of Nagy as the OC is not a great move. But who knows, maybe he learned from his time in Chicago.

I thought going into last season that the Giants would have a top 10 defense. Holy cow was I wrong. They were 26th in points against. And then they traded away one of their best defensive players in Dexter Lawrence. But this was a team that knew that it needed to fill a lot of holes if it wanted to be more competitive in ‘26. They signed a bunch of offensive skill players because when Malik Nabers went down to injury last year; that offense really struggled. The Giants signed four receivers including taking a flyer on a hopeful resurgence from Darnell Mooney. The best skill player signing was getting Isaiah Likely away from Baltimore to be the number one TE. But the defense needed the most help and they signed Tremaine Edmunds to help with Linebacking duties. And signing Greg Newsome II will help a very porous secondary.

Still needed to address more of the defense with the draft. And armed with two top ten picks, thanks in part to the Dexter Lawrence trade, they were able to do that with one of them. They took Edge Rusher Arvell Reese with the fifth pick and then with the tenth pick, the Giants solidified the Offensive Line by taking Francis Mauigoa. In the second, they took a corner in Colton Hood who should be a day one starter. They they took Malachi Fields in the third to help the receiver room. I liked the Giants draft but they absolutely could have benefitted from more picks. This defense has a chance to be really, really good. Jaxson Dart just needs to take another step.

Grade: B

Philadelphia Eagles: 11-6

More than a few people were calling for the firing of Nick Sirianni after this past season. He was kept on but the Eagles brought in a new OC in Sean Mannion. The Eagles have one of, if not the best front offices in the business. They seemingly plug holes before anyone notices that they have holes. The one issue that they do have are the persistent rumors that surround Jalen Hurts future with the club.

Well, the Eagles signed or traded for three wide receivers. Four TE’s including the re-signing of Dallas Goedert. They signed DT Jordan Davis to a pretty big contract extension. They traded for ILB Jonathan Greenard to be a rotational piece on this defense.

The other rumor surrounding this team is the potential trade of AJ Brown. Which makes sense why they would sign “Hollywood” Brown and trade for Dontayvion Wicks. Makes even more sense why they would use their first round pick on Makai Lemon. They took Eli Stowers a TE with the second round pick. This is a team that doesn’t have a lot of holes. And even though they signed four TE’s in the off season, the Eagles saw an opportunity to improve in that area and took it.

Again, the Eagles just don’t have a lot of holes. They even drafted another offensive lineman incase of an injury. They just need to play better than they did last year. This is a team that feels like they are better than an 11 win team and wild card exit.

Grade: B

Washinton Commanders: 5-12

What a difference a year makes. Jayden Daniels and the Commanders were the talk of the NFL world in ‘24. Daniels was the Offensive Rookie of the Year. And the Commanders made a pretty improbable run to the NFC Conference Championship. They got smoked by the Eagles in that game. It was still a great season. Then last year happened. So, they decided to clean house. They kept the Head Coach, but they now have a new OC and DC respectively.

They newly signed or re-signed a bunch of guys. Three new RB’s and three new WR’s were brought in. The Commanders got an upgrade at TE with the signing of Chigoziem Okonkwo. Six offensive linemen including the re-signings of Laremy Tunsil and Nick Allegretti. Four Edge rushers were brought in including Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson. This is a team that really swung for the fences in free agency.

Then the draft happened and the player that made the most noise in the combine fell to the Commanders at seven. Sonny Styles should have been a top five and even a top three pick. Many analysists had him penciled into the Cardinals at three. And the Commanders who gave up the 27th most points in the league last year, have suddenly found themselves with a group that should be a top ten unit. The rest of their draft was pretty meh. And they will need to hope that their corners can play better than they did last year. But they are so much stronger up front than they were last year; secondary play may well be secondary for this teams success.

Grade: A