Table of Contents
  1. Dallas Cowboys
  2. Philadelphia Eagles
  3. New York Giants
  4. Washington Commanders

The NFC East has had a different champion for 20 years running. Nothing has been guaranteed between four teams with rich rivalries and always high expectations.

What follows is a breakdown of every NFC East team’s top three needs with corresponding stats related to certain position units' 2023 performance, 2024 salary cap allocation and more.

Note that the needs aren’t listed in any particular order. Thanks to Over The Cap for the salary cap and contract information. Key free agents are unrestricted unless otherwise indicated and listed in no particular order. The 2024 draft picks don’t include projected compensatory selections.

For more divisional breakdowns on team needs, see below!

Dallas Cowboys

Running Back

Tony Pollard went from being one of the game’s single-best RBs at creating yards after contact and ripping off explosive runs to … well, this:

The Cowboys still featured Pollard plenty — his 307 touches were the sixth-highest mark in the NFL — and he deserves some slack for returning from a broken leg in 2022 (his second-half splits were better). Still, it seems likely the Cowboys will add more of a “thunder” option to the committee after their bell cow converted just three of 13 rush attempts inside the five-yard line (23%) into TDs.

Backup RB Rico Dowdle is also an unrestricted free agent; it’d make sense if the Cowboys dip their toes both into the free agent market and/or devote one of their three top-90 picks to the position.

If you trust Pollard to bounce back, you can start drafting him TODAY on Underdog Fantasy, where you can get a 100% deposit match of up to $100 with code LIFE below!

Cornerback

Stephon Gilmore was largely great during his first season in Dallas, grading out as PFF’s 22nd-best overall corner while more than holding his own in some big-time matchups against guys like A.J. Brown and Stefon Diggs.

And yet, the unrestricted free agent will be 34 next September, and the Cowboys already made Trevon Diggs a top-five highest-paid player at the position. Diggs will (hopefully) return to full health and form a solid one-two punch with breakout CB DaRon Bland; just realize longtime slot maven Jourdan Lewis is also entering the open market.

This ever-lethal pass rush will likely continue to make life relatively easy for all secondary parties involved, but adding depth to a unit that looked rather lost against teams like the 49ers, Seahawks and Packers will be needed if the Cowboys wish to finally conquer their early January demons.

Offensive Tackle

Future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith may very well re-sign in Dallas, but he’ll be 34 next December anyway. There’s also the reality that Smith has played two, 11, four and 13 games over the past four seasons and pretty much always seems to be dealing with one nagging injury or another these days.

Tyler Biadasz

Nov 5, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Cowboys center Tyler Biadasz (63) and offensive tackle Tyler Smith (73) block against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Cowboys remain in good hands at guard thanks to all-world RG Zach Martin and young stud LG Tyler Smith, although RT Terence Steele disappointed in 2023 after getting a big-time extension. Maybe Smith kicks outside and becomes Dak Prescott’s new blindside protector; either way, PFF’s reigning eighth-ranked offensive line needs to stabilize their edges if they wish to function as a top-10 unit again in 2024.

Fantasy LIfe’s Matthew Freedman has the Cowboys filling this need in the form of Duke OT Graham Barton in his first 2024 mock draft.

Honorable mentions 

Michael Gallup is a cut candidate and Brandin Cooks turns 31 in September. Adding one of the many talented Day 2 options at the position could make some financial sense. … The defensive line’s rock stars are still here, but re-signing or replacing rotational pieces like EDGE Dorance Armstrong Jr., EDGE Dante Fowler and DL Johnathan Hankins is necessary. … LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck) is seemingly looking at a potential career-ending injury. Either way, the Cowboys are one of just 10 teams with under $8 million devoted to their linebackers in 2024.

Philadelphia Eagles

Running Back

Kenneth Gainwell is the only RB currently signed to the active roster for 2024. This hole could be rather quickly solved by re-signing D’Andre Swift, although there were at least a few red flags in the lead back’s 1,263-yard campaign.

  • Pass-game usage: This was Swift’s best skill in Detroit, but he caught just six passes for 17 yards during the team’s final six regular season games combined. The Eagles continued to keep Gainwell also involved on pass downs all season long.
  • Lack of ability post contact: Swift’s 2.4 yards after contact per carry ranked 45th among 49 qualified RBs. He was the NFL’s only RB to not gain two-plus yards after contact on at least half of his carries.

A Week 1 injury to Gainwell was seemingly the only reason why Swift got a chance to run away with the featured job in the first place; don’t be surprised if the Eagles continue to shuffle bodies if any of their incumbent options set their price too high.

Defensive Line

Maintaining dominance here will be crucial: Philly boasted PFF’s fourth- and eighth-best team grades in run defense and pass rush last season. However, even that wasn’t enough to make up for their glaring issues on the back end (pause).

Fletcher Cox

Oct 1, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (91) against the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

This can be fixed fairly quickly by simply re-signing DL Fletcher Cox and EDGE Brandon Graham, although the former turned 33 last December, and the latter will be 36 in April. Throw in a recent trade request from Haason Reddick, and at a minimum this group needs some reinforcements to complement Josh Sweat and their group of Georgia Bulldogs.

Secondary

Technically, this group isn’t losing any key contributors, but it’s safe to say they remain a BIG problem fresh off allowing the second-most passing yards (4,296) and TDs (35) in the league.

Major depth is needed even if the Eagles want to roll back some of their key parties:

Only the Commanders were worse than the Eagles when it came to production allowed to opposing WRs. Fantasy LIfe’s Matthew Freedman has the Eagles addressing this need in the form of Iowa CB Cooper DeJean in his first 2024 mock draft.

Honorable mentions

The bulk of the passing game should continue to flow through A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, but a third WR is needed with all third parties involved hitting the open market. … Center will obviously become a major need if four-time first-team All-Pro Jason Kelce decides to call it quits. … Adding resources to the linebacker room probably isn’t a bad idea considering only the Vikings, Chiefs, Texans and Rams have fewer 2024 dollars devoted to the position at the moment.

New York Giants

Quarterback

The Giants could technically leave just $11.1 million in dead money if they can find a trade suitor for Daniel Jones, otherwise a release won’t really be viable until after the 2024 season.

Yes, the artist known as Vanilla Vick hasn’t had much to work with when it comes to high-end pass-catching talent. Also yes, Jones took a BIG step back relative to what we saw in 2022, cratering in pretty much any QB efficiency metric after mostly improving in each of his first four seasons:

  • EPA per dropback: -0.211 (No. 44 among 48 QBs with 100-plus dropback)
  • Completion percentage over expected: +0.3% (No. 21)
  • PFF pass grade: 54.4 (No. 39)
  • Passer rating: 70.5 (No. 44)
  • Yards per attempt: 5.7 (No. 45)

Both TyRod Taylor and Tommy DeVito posted superior efficiency marks to Jones basically across the board. There are already plenty of rumors about the Giants exploring a QB with the sixth overall pick. Even if they go elsewhere with that selection, it wouldn’t be shocking if they use one of their additional top 50 picks on the position fresh off ranking *checks notes* 31st in passing yards last season.

Skill-Position Playmaker

You pick what position.

RB? Well, Saquon Barkley is a free agent and has never quite fully resembled the same game-breaker he was during his first two seasons in the league since returning from 2020’s devastating knee injury.

WR? Yeah, I’d say that Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt probably aren’t cracking anyone’s top-30 WR duos ahead of next season.

TE? Darren Waller is a cut candidate, hasn’t played more than 12 games in a season since 2020, and turns 32 in September.

Saquon Barkley

Jan 7, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) scores a rushing touchdown during the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Honestly, we could have gone with just “offense” here, because PFF’s reigning 31st-ranked offensive line doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence outside of stud LT Andrew Thomas. That said, their status as the league’s worst offense in sacks allowed (94) was heavily caused by Jones and DeVito posting the position’s two worst marks in terms of failing to limit sacks when pressured. The Giants are one of four teams to use at least five Day 1 or 2 draft picks on their offensive line over the last five years; the group should be better moving forward without completely overhauling things.

Fantasy Life’s Matthew Freedman has the Giants using their sixth overall pick on electric LSU WR Malik Nabers in his first 2024 mock draft. Sounds great to me; just look at the list of WRs who have run a route in this offense over the last three seasons.

Secondary

No. 1 CB Adoree' Jackson has missed 14 games since signing with the Giants ahead of the 2021 season and is an unrestricted free agent. Top safety Xavier McKinney posted top-10 PFF coverage grades both as a free safety (81.4) and in the box (79.4) last season; the 24-year-old former second-round pick figures to have a decent market for his services.

Failure to bring back either would leave the defense painfully thin of proven playmakers on the backend. Overall, only the Rams ($8.6 million), Colts ($12.8M) and Commanders ($13.7M) have fewer 2024 dollars devoted to their corners and safeties than the Giants ($15.1M).

Few teams have been more willing to address their secondary with as many early-round picks as the Giants over the years; adding at least one more such player to the locker room with any of their four top-70 picks will be huge if they fail to re-sign Jackson and/or McKinney. 

Honorable mentions

The decision to trade DL Leonard Williams to the Seahawks leaves the Giants in need of another key cog up front, although they maintain two cornerstone pieces in EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux and NT Dexter Lawrence.

Washington Commanders

Quarterback

There were some fun moments from Sam Howell early in the 2023 season. The man is NOT afraid to attempt a tight-window throw, and to his credit he pulled off more than a few legit awesome dimes.

That said: Howell demonstrated a bit too much Jameis in his game throughout his first season as a starter. Never go full Jameis.

Jacoby Brissett’s (brief) high-end production at the end of the season added more evidence to the idea that Howell deserves most of the blame for this passing game’s general inconsistency throughout 2024.

Fantasy LIfe’s Matthew Freedman has the Commanders using the second overall pick on North Carolina QB Drake Maye in his first 2024 mock draft. Maye is a -180 favorite for this selection in DraftKings’ opening NFL Draft odds.

EDGE

Nothing is a given after the Commanders traded both Montez Sweat and Chase Young midseason. Backups James Smith-Williams and Case Toohill are also free agents — this is one of just three defenses with fewer than $6 million devoted to their EDGE position in 2024.

Washington joined Carolina as the only two defenses that failed to pressure opposing QBs on at least 30% of their dropbacks last season. This cratered to a league-worst 25% in the 10 weeks after trading Sweat and Young. Not great!

Secondary

No defense allowed more passing yards or TDs than Washington in 2023. Obviously, the aforementioned porous pass rush didn’t help, but this was still an underwhelming group that could lose starting CB Kendall Fuller and S Kamren Curl to free agency.

The team spent top 50 picks on both CB Emmanuel Forbes and nickelback Jartavius Martin last season; it’d make sense if extra experience improves things a bit in 2024.

Emmanuel Forbes

Jan 7, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders cornerback Emmanuel Forbes (13) runs onto the field with teammates prior to their game against the Dallas Cowboys at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Still — like most positions on this roster — extra resources would be appreciated with Washington currently set to boast the league’s fourth- and eighth-cheapest safety and cornerback rooms, respectively.

Honorable mention: Offensive line depth is always appreciated; PFF ranked this group as the league’s 24th-best unit last season while noting that Howell was responsible for a lot of the sacks talent. … Veteran TE Logan Thomas is old (33 in July) and a cut candidate, but then again nobody has more money to play with than the Commanders. … Failure to re-sign Curtis Samuel would leave the Commanders with Dyami Brown as their projected No. 3 WR behind Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson.

At least adding some extra depth would be appreciated for whoever winds up under center come Week 1. … The loss of pass-catching specialist Antonio Gibson adds uncertainty to a backfield with the third-fewest devoted 2024 dollars ($2.3 million). This will be a position to watch considering new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was VERY willing to feature one single workhorse RB during his time in Arizona.

Team Needs: NFC East
Ian Hartitz
Ian Hartitz
Ian is a senior fantasy analyst at Fantasy Life and he truly believes every day is a great day to be great. He's spent time with Action Network, NBC Sports and Pro Football Focus over the years, writing and podcasting about all things fantasy football along the way. Ian's process relies on a mix of film analysis and data study; whatever is needed to get the job done (job done). There's no reason fun can't be had along the way — we do live on a rock floating around a ball of fire after all. Outside of football, Ian enjoys MMA, his dachshund Lilly and candles.
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