NFC East Preview: Trade requests in DC and Dallas only help the Eagles

The NFC East is home to the Super Bowl champs and the team they beat in the conference championship a year ago

It's also home to a pair of teams who should be better than they were in 2024

You put it all together and you have perhaps the best division in the NFC, top to bottom

But man, there is some drama going on. We have to start with the champs who lost a number of players on defense

but should once again be favorites, not only to win the division, but to challenge for another conference title

They bring back largely the same offense from a year ago, which ranks second in the league in rushing

Here's how the division shook out in 2024. The Eagles went virtually unchallenged in the playoffs and Super Bowl

The Commanders did split with them in the regular season, but were blown out in the NFC Championship

Now let's talk about the drama in D.C., which surrounds No. 1 wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who wants a big contract extension

He reported to camp after holding out for a few days, but has yet to practice

He has also requested a trade. Dan Quinn was quick to say it's not affecting his players

Somebody asked me, is it a distraction? It is not. The players today, they're more aware of contracts and things maybe than they used to be

and they recognize that business part happens as well. So for the team, we're just rocking and going and throwing some great practices for Terry and the trade requests

Like, man, that's part of normal business. There a similar showdown in Dallas where linebacker Micah Parsons is also holding out and has also requested a trade Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he has no plans to do that but he used the salary cap as an excuse for not meeting the star player price As always in any relationships or different moods

at different times of your relationship, that's what it is. Don't lose any sleepover. That's one

thing I would say to our fans, don't lose any sleepover. One disgruntled player who requested

and was granted a trade in the offseason, wide receiver George Pickens

Pittsburgh sent him to Dallas, and Pickens tops our list of four players

looking to break out in the NFC East in 2025. The Cowboys need him to play well

to take some pressure off fellow wideout CeeDee Lamb. In Philly, the combo of Keely Ringo and Cooper DeGene

step up into the spotlight after several defensive backs departed. In D.C., rookie second-round pick Trey Amos

could be in line for a starting job. And there are reports from New Jersey that say second-year wide receiver Malik Nabors

is unguardable during practices. Perhaps that's a byproduct of working with new quarterback Russell Wilson

who signed a one-year, $21 million deal to lead Brian Dable's offense

I'm glad Russ is here for a number of reasons. He's provided leadership to our football team in various ways

not just in the quarterback room, but meeting extra with the entire offense

how he communicates with defensive players, the experience that he's had throughout his career

With that veteran leadership at quarterback, the Giants could more than double their win total of three from 2024

That may be enough to call progress, and so far, there's been no drama in Jersey

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis