Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith had a “C” on his jersey last year. This year, he won’t.
A captain in 2023, Smith has been omitted from the 2024 roster recently announced by the team.
The seven captains for 2024 are receiver A.J. Brown, kicker Jake Elliott, defensive end Brandon Graham, quarterback Jalen Hurts, tackle Lane Johnson, tackle Jordan Mailata, and cornerback Darius Slay.
On Sunday, coach Nick Sirianni was asked about the omission of Smith.
“There were a lot of guys that got votes,” Sirianni said. “I had to go with the guys that got the most votes there. Just because DeVonta didn’t have as many votes as some of the other guys does not mean he’s not still a leader on this football team.
“That goes for a lot of guys. That goes for Saquon [Barkley], who has been a captain for many years [with the Giants]. Again, Chauncey [Gardner-Johnson], all these guys. So just because they aren’t the captain and have the ‘C’ on their chest doesn’t mean they’re not the leaders of this football team. You just can only have so many.”
Last year, the Eagles had nine captains. Sirianni acknowledged that they had “a couple too many.”
“Where do you cut it off?” Sirianni said. “It’s always a tricky thing. There are a lot of guys deserving of it.”
The new captain this year is Mailata. The other six were captains in 2023, along with Smith, center Jason Kelce, and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Kelce and Cox have retired.
The real question is whether Smith finished eighth or ninth, or whether those spots went to others, such as the two other players Sirianni specifically mentioned.
Regardless of the number of captains, the Eagles will need better leadership than they got down the stretch in 2023, when the team imploded from a 10-1 start to a one-and-done embarrassment against the Buccaneers in the postseason.