The Philadelphia Eagles have 1 great tight end when it comes to catching the ball in veteran Dallas Goedert and hopefully another 1 in rookie Eli Stowers, a 2026 2nd-round pick.
What they don’t have, really, is a grind-it-out blocking tight end. Which you need if you want to run the ball the way the Eagles have in recent years.
That’s the biggest reason why ESPN’s Mina Kimes singled out 6-foot-4, 245-pound free-agent tight end Johnny Mundt as an unheralded signing that could benefit the Eagles in the long run.
Mundt signed a 1-year, $1.5 million contract on March 10.
“They’ve got Dallas Goedert and Johnny Mundt, a sneaking signing that I loved,” Kimes said on July 1. “They also drafted Eli Stowers. So it’s an interesting tight end group.”
Johnny Mundt’s Unlikely, Decade-Long NFL Career
Mundt is headed into his 10th NFL season — an unlikely decade in the league considering he went undrafted out of the University of Oregon in 2017.
That Mundt went undrafted wasn’t such a surprise after just 46 receptions for 683 yards and 8 touchdowns over 4 seasons. That he’s caught on in the NFL is the surprise.
Mundt caught on with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent, where he played just 2 games as a rookie, then saw that number leap up to 10 in 2018 and 13 in 2019. He played in all 16 games in 2020. He was on that same track in 2021 before he tore his ACL after 6 games and watched from the sidelines as the Rams won the Super Bowl.
In 9 NFL seasons, Mundt has 74 receptions for 658 yards — that includes 64 receptions for 570 yards and all 4 career touchdowns over the last 4 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s also not had injury issues in that time, playing in 67 out of a possible 68 regular-season games in that stretch.
Eagles Have TE of the Future in Eli Stowers
Whatever happens with Goedert, Mundt, and another backup tight end, Grant Calcaterra, in 2026, the thing to remember is that Stowers is the clear-cut tight end of the future in Philadelphia. He might need to also be their best tight end this year at some point.
ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky called out Stowers and Eagles’ wide receiver and 2026 1st-round pick Makai Lemon as the 2 players under the “Most Pressure” in the NFL in 2026.
“Makai Lemon is under the most pressure of any wide receiver in the NFL because he’s trying to replace one of the 2-3 best wide receivers in the NFL,” Orlovsky said on June 1. “Both of the (Eagles) rookies need to be in the Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation … look, the Cowboys have 2 elite wide receivers, the Seahawks have 2 elite wide receivers. For every team in the NFC Playoff picture, you need 2 big-time wide receivers. That’s why the pressure is on Lemon.”
Stowers wowed scouts with a 4.51-second 40-yard dash as well as clocking a 45.5-inch vertical leap at the NFL scouting combine.
“Oh my Lord,” ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote on his official X acount on February 27. “Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers. 45.5-inch vertical jump. Tied with Cameron Wake for the third-highest vert in the Combine (since 1999).”
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