Eagles Stay or Go 2025: Did Jake Elliott earn another year?

Eagles Stay or Go 2025: Did Jake Elliott earn another year? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Reuben Frank and Dave Zangaro bring back Stay or Go in 2025, trying to figure out the futures of every Eagles player on the roster.

We already took a look at quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end, interior offensive line and offensive tackle.

Up today: Specialists

Jake Elliott

Roob: If I had to make a call on Jake Elliott before the postseason began, I would have heavily considered “Goes.” After his miserable regular season? I really thought it was time to move on from the greatest kicker in Eagles history. If you can’t consistently make field goals in that 50-to-54 range these days – a 76 percent kick this year – you can’t kick in the NFL. Then came the playoffs and all of a sudden this was the Jake Elliott we’re used to. He made 10 of 11 field goal attempts during the Super Bowl run and became the first kicker in history to make three field goals of at least 48 yards in a Super Bowl. If you can kick like that in a Super Bowl, I don’t care what else happened. You’re my kicker.

Verdict: Stays

Dave: One of the coolest moments of the postgame locker room celebration after Super Bowl LIX was seeing Jake Elliott celebrate. He earned it. Elliott was perfect in the biggest game of the year. That matters. Now, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still questions about Elliott as he enters the 2025 season but any thoughts you might have had about getting rid of him had to go out the window in the Super Bowl. Elliott is already the best kicker in franchise history and he earned the right to come back and forget what happened in the 2024 regular season.

Verdict: Stays

Rick Lovato

Roob: He’s been around since the middle of 2016, so he’s doing something right. Lovato has long snapped in 135 consecutive games, the 8th-longest consecutive games streak in Eagles history. The Eagles have quite a lineage of long snappers, with Mike Bartrum, Jon Dorenbos and Lovato going back 25 years. When you’re sitting around with your friends throwing Eagles trivia questions around and you ask the four players in franchise history to win two Super Bowls, Lovato is the guy nobody can think of after Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson and Jake Elliott.

Verdict: Stays

Dave: Having arrived during the 2016 season, Lovato is now one of the longest-tenured players on the Eagles roster. He’s a free agent this offseason, so the Eagles will need to re-sign him and there’s no reason not to. Lovato is still performing at a high level and he seems to have a strong rapport with both Elliott and punter Braden Mann. It’s worth keeping Lovato around for the consistency of the operation.

Verdict: Stays

Braden Mann

Roob: Mann wasn’t quite as good this year as last year – seven touchbacks is a little high – but he was still very good, and you need a certain type of punter to be able to perform at a high level playing for an outdoor team in the Northeast, and Mann’s ability to deal with poor weather conditions really makes him the perfect punter for the Eagles. Statistically, he’s the best punter in Eagles history with a 49.2 average and 42.7 net, and he was terrific this year in the playoffs as well. The Eagles have a good thing going in the kicking game with Elliott, Lovato and Mann, and there’s no reason to change any of it.

Verdict: Stays

Dave: The Eagles have had Mann since early in the 2023 season when they decided to move on from Arryn Siposs. That has proven to be a wise decision. Mann in two years with the Eagles has an average of 49.2 yards per punt and 42.7 net yards per punt. He has also downed punts inside the 20 on 35.7% of his punts. Mann might not be one of the very best punters in the league but he’s definitely above average. Aside from his ability as a punter, Mann also did a great job of handling snaps and getting down holds during the playoff run, especially in the snow game against the Rams. Mann is entering the final year of his contract in 2025 and after another good year, he’s not going anywhere.

Verdict: Stays

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Tags: NFL