In terms of where the best landing spots are for undrafted free agents, you can’t find anywhere better than the Philadelphia Eagles — the main reason being that once you get there, you know you’re going to get a real shot at making the team.
The next man up in terms of a possible UDFA-to-Roster story could be Alabama inside linebacker Deontae Lawson, who Bleacher Report singled out as the 1 undrafted player who could wind up on the 53-man roster for the Eagles.
“Lawson was the 101st-ranked prospect on the B/R board and a player who, by most accounts, should have heard his name called somewhere in the middle of draft weekend,” Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox wrote. “At 6’2″ and 228 pounds, Lawson is a bit undersized, but his athleticism and coverage ability could earn him an early rotational role on defense and special teams. This past season, he recorded 89 combined tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and four passes defended.”
Deontae Lawson Predicted as 6th-7th Round Pick
NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein predicted Lawson as a 6th- or 7th-round pick.
Lawson was a 3-year starter for the Crimson Tide and a 2-time All-SEC pick. He was also a 2-time team captain.
“Lawson is twitchy and covers ground quickly when scraping to the football or knifing inside to disrupt as a run blitzer,” Zierlein wrote. “His quick flow and pursuit is countered by a lack of play recognition/patience that can place him in the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s much better at slipping blocks than he is at taking them on. He has the reactive agility to become an above-average open-field finisher, but his wrap-and-drive fundamentals run hot and cold. Lawson’s athleticism shows up in man coverage and when expanding his zone influence. He projects as a run-and-chase Will linebacker with three-down potential but a limited ceiling.”
Eagles Have Invested Heavily at Off-Ball Linebacker
The Eagles have put a lot of eggs in their basket, so to speak, when it comes to off-ball linebacker over the last 2 years.
After earning NFL All-Pro honors and helping lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl win following the 2024 season, Zack Baun was rewarded with a 3-year, $51 million contract — making him 1 of the highest-paid players at his position in the NFL.
The Eagles doubled down in the 2025 NFL draft by selecting another Alabama linebacker, Jihaad Campbell, in the 1st round only to see him struggle to keep his starting spot once veteran Nakobe Dean returned from a torn patellar tendon.
By the end of the season, Campbell was relegated to the sideline and was only on the field for 1 defensive play in a 23-19 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card Round.
Now, in 2026, that position is Campbell’s to lose after Dean left for a 3-year, $36 million free-agent contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Dean’s future with the Eagles was most likely sealed by injuries that defined 2 of his 4 seasons with the team.
In 2023, a pectoral injury cost Dean 12 games. After a breakout season in 2024 in which he had 128 tackles, Dean tore his patellar tendon in Philadelphia’s playoff opener against the Green Bay Packers and was sidelined as the Eagles rolled to a Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs — the injury that cost him the 1st 7 games of the 2025 season.
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