Every NFL team has played at least one preseason game now, so it’s time to take stock and spotlight the biggest emerging storylines across the league. Here’s the latest on every NFC East team.
Starting with the Hall of Fame Game and continuing last week with a full slate of preseason games Thursday through Saturday, NFL fans got their first taste of live action since the Super Bowl.
And if third-string quarterbacks balling out is what gets one revved up for the season, then the start of preseason play delivered in a big way.
While most of the league’s stars are mere spectators this time of year, there is still plenty to evaluate and learn from these games — and also the continuing developments from training camps.
As we go division by division, let’s dive into the top performances and most compelling storylines from every team in the NFC East.
Dallas Cowboys
Preseason Week 1 Result: 17-7 W Saturday at Seattle Seahawks
Top Performer: Wide receiver Camden Brown
Undrafted out of Georgia Southern, Camden Brown had one of the best performances of any rookie in the league last week, catching all 3 of his targets for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns.
That included a 39-yard TD pass from Sam Howell that he hauled in amid tight coverage in the end zone, and then a nifty one-handed TD catch on a short pass from Joe Milton III to account for both Cowboys’ TDs.
Brown has apparently been doing that kind of thing throughout training camp too.
That won’t surprise Georgia Southern fans, who watched the receiver transfer in from Auburn last year and catch 65 passes for 1,079 yards and 14 TDs.
Considering most NFL teams keep five to six wide receivers on their 53-man roster, Brown entered camp as a longshot. Beyond stars CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, the Cowboys also have established wideouts Ryan Flournoy and KaVontae Turpin with the final spot(s) coming down to veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling (on a cheap one-year contract with minimal guaranteed money), Brown, Jonathan Mingo (a second-round pick of the Panthers in 2023 who spent time the last two seasons on Dallas’ roster), Tyler Johnson (59 games for three teams the last four years), seventh-round pick Anthony Smith (out of East Carolina) and others.
Emerging Training Camp Storyline: Cowboys sign Von Miller
Despite missing the playoffs the last two seasons, the Cowboys remain always in win-now mode, and with the upgrades they made to the defense this offseason it’s easy to find renewed optimism for Dallas’ chances as a contender.
Well, that defense got another reinforcement as the Cowboys signed future Hall of Fame edge rusher Von Miller on Sunday to a one-year, $5.5-million (worth up to $7.5 million) deal to play his 15th NFL season.
Miller has 138.5 career sacks, which is tied for ninth all-time since sacks became an official statistic or 13th including unofficial sack totals back to 1960. He hasn’t made a Pro Bowl since 2019 or received any All-Pro recognition since 2018, but he nonetheless chipped in 9 sacks last season for the Washington Commanders.
The 37-year-old is from the Dallas area, so he’s returning home with this move. He joins an edge rusher group that includes Rashan Gary (acquired from the Packers this offseason), first-round draft pick Malachi Lawrence and James Houston.
New York Giants
Preseason Week 1 Result: 13-10 L to Minnesota Vikings on Saturday
Top Performer: Wide receiver Malachi Fields
The third-round pick out of Notre Dame hauled in all of his targets for a team-high 3 receptions for 34 yards and the Giants’ lone touchdown — a 15-yard pass from starting quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Malachi Fields should have every chance to carve out a significant role as a rookie on a Giants WR depth chart that is underwhelming beyond third-year star Malik Nabers, with 33-year-old Odell Beckham Jr. attempting a comeback and then a bunch of middling veterans like Darius Slayton, Darnell Mooney, Jaylin Hyatt, Calvin Austin III and Isaiah Hodgins.
Emerging Training Camp Storyline: Giants sign Najee Harris, Malik Nabers progressing
The Giants announced Tuesday they’ve signed free agent running back Najee Harris, the former Steelers feature back who played three games for the Chargers last season before tearing his Achilles tendon.
“He looked good in the workout,” coach John Harbaugh, per ESPN. “You know, he’s not back 100%. He’s not in football shape yet. So, if we are able to do something, it’ll be a process.
“But that would be a guy that has got a lot of experience. He’s a decorated vet. And with those guys, generally, you just have to kind of see where they’re at when you get them. And sometimes it works out great. Sometimes it’s just OK, and other times it doesn’t work out. But based on the workout, I would say we feel like he’s got a shot. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”
The Giants will go into the season with second-year RB Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary atop the depth chart, but if the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Harris looks ready to contribute at some point he adds a different dimension to that group.
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Nabers, the Giants’ top receiver, had remained limited throughout camp while continuing to work back from a torn ACL and meniscus, but he was finally cleared to participate in full-speed team periods at practice Monday (albeit in a red non-contact jersey).
“Like I said, my soul’s been dead for so long just being away and knowing what I could’ve accomplished, knowing where I was before this happened,” Nabers said. “Every tear, every talk with the family, every down day, every day that I didn’t complete something, it just kept that in the back of my head to continue. … Being out there and having my teammates behind me kind of felt that soul come back to life.”
Nabers had 109 catches for 1,204 yards and 7 TDs in 15 games as a rookie before being limited to four games last season.
Philadelphia Eagles
Preseason Week 1 Result: 24-7 L at Baltimore Ravens on Saturday
Top Performer: Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
There weren’t many highlights period for the Eagles in this one, but Jeremiah Trotter showed out well with 5 tackles and a sack.
The 2024 fifth-round pick, who had 32 tackles last season, is projected as a second-team inside linebacker for Philadelphia behind starters Zack Baun and Jihaad Campbell.
Emerging Training Camp Storyline: Jalen Hurts returning to his dynamic dual-threat ways?
While the entire Eagles offense needs a fresh start after a disappointing 2025, with former coordinator Kevin Patullo fired after one season and replaced by former Packers QBs coach Sean Mannion while disgruntled wide receiver A.J. Brown was traded to New England.
That’s especially true for quarterback Jalen Hurts, who’s hot-and-cold standing within the fan base came under fresh scrutiny last season as he seemed reluctant to run the ball and the lack of designed QB runs in turn changed the entire complexion of the Eagles offense while making it easy to defend.
After totaling at least 150 rushing attempts each of the previous three seasons and with at least 600 yards and double-digit rushing in four straight seasons, Hurts attempted only 105 rushes for 425 yards and 8 TDs with a major chunk of that production coming in the first four games (41 carries for 179 yards and 4 TDs) before the dual-threat QB decidedly became much less of a dual-threat.
Hurts returning to his prior form, the one that helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl two seasons ago and landed him second in the MVP voting in 2022, is essential for the team.
Well, the reports out of camp suggest he at least looks like his former self in terms of being an impactful runner.
“I don’t know what it is but when I’m watching and I’m running [after him], it’s like a movie, it feels like I’m going slow,” defensive tackle Jalen Carter said, per ESPN, which also noted Mannion intends to have designed QB runs remain a key part of the offense. “He be moving man, he’s been working hard and he’s the one, for sure.”
Hurts said he doesn’t feel anything is different, but he also didn’t offer much explanation last season for his decreased rushing output, so time will tell.
Washington Commanders
Preseason Week 1 Result: 20-7 W vs. Miami Dolphins on Friday
Top Performer: Running back Robert Henry Jr.
The undrafted free agent out of UTSA was all over the field on Friday for the Commanders, with 17 carries for 75 yards and a TD and a 30-yard kickoff return.
His touchdown came from 22 yards out as he broke free around the right edge and took off to the races.
Henry rushed for 1,045 yards and 9 TDs on 6.9 yards per carry last season for UTSA.
He may be a longshot to make Washington, though, unless his abilities as a return specialist push him over the top, because the Commanders are set atop the depth chart at running back with Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White and then have veteran Jeremy McNichols (221 rushing yards and 196 receiving yards for Washington last season), former Browns part-time starter Jerome Ford and sixth-round pick Kaytron Allen (23 carries for 85 yards and 1 TD Friday) all competing for spots.
But that kind of tape can help him even if his future isn’t in Washington.
Emerging Training Camp Storyline: Impacts of Laremy Tunsil injury and Stefon Diggs signing
Aside from the Jayden Daniels-LSU standoff between the Commanders’ QB and his college football program dominating social media, the biggest news in Washington’s camp is the loss of standout left tackle Laremy Tunsil to a torn triceps earlier this month.
Tunsil, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, just signed a two-year, $60.2-million extension with Washington and will now miss most if not all of the season.
Washington is going with 2024 third-round pick Brandon Coleman, who made 17 starts over the last two seasons, as Tunsil’s replacement at left tackle.
Meanwhile, as many expected, the Commanders signed veteran free agent wide receiver Stefon Diggs on Aug. 7 to a one-year, $8-million deal that can be worth up to $12 million. The 32-year-old Diggs had 85 catches for 1,013 yards and 4 TDs last season in New England in his return from a torn ACL, but the Patriots released him after just one season.
Diggs, who is returning home in a way after growing up in Maryland and attending the University of Maryland, seems to already be fitting it well with Washington, where he should immediately step in as the team’s WR2 next to Terry McLaurin.
Few teams in the league remained as WR-needy as the Commanders entering training camp.
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