Nolan Smith was coming off a national championship when the Eagles drafted him in the first-round a couple years ago. As he arrived to the NovaCare Complex that spring, the Eagles were still getting over their Super Bowl LVII hangover after losing to the Chiefs in Phoenix to cap the 2022 season.

The only players on the defensive side of the football who played more than 40% of snaps in 2022 and also in 2024 were Darius Slay, Josh Sweat and C.J. Gardner-Johnson — who ironically enough left for one season with the Lions before returning for this one.