Landon Dickerson was once a succession plan for the Eagles. Now they need one for him.
Just four NFL Drafts ago, the Eagles took the former Alabama tackle 37th overall with an eye on playing Dickerson at guard. At the time, they already had two outstanding interior linemen in Isaac Seumalo and Brandon Brooks. But their philosophies of building in the trenches and having an in-house replacement before actually needing one are what made the Eagles smarter, and more successful, than most NFL organizations.
The foresight paid off that season, as both Seumalo (Lisfranc) and Brooks (torn pec) sustained season-ending injuries before Week 4, forcing Dickerson into an immediate starting role and beginning a career that has led to Pro Bowls in each of his past three seasons.
Dickerson, 26, is in the prime of his career and is already among the NFL’s highest-paid interior offensive linemen, but after going down hard late at Sunday’s open practice at the Linc, Dickerson is also about to undergo yet another knee procedure – and now his lower-leg surgeries are stacking like the pancakes he’s known to serve.
Dickerson is signed for three more seasons after 2025, but the Eagles desperately need a replacement plan for him, and they’re already a little later than usual in having one.
According to multiple reports Monday, Dickerson’s most recent injury to the right knee will only require a minor meniscus surgery and there’s some optimism that he’ll be ready by the season opener. But this is Dickerson’s second knee procedure since the Super Bowl – he had his left knee done in February – on top of the multiple knee and ankle injuries he sustained in college.
We’ve reached the point where there’s no such thing as a “minor” surgery for Dickerson because the wear and tear of constantly going under the knife surely clouds his long-term viability.
As our Jimmy Kempski pointed out, Dickerson’s history of surgeries and major injuries in college include a torn ACL in his right knee in 2016, season-ending right ankle surgery in 2017, a recurring left ankle injury the next year that caused him to miss most of the season, a torn ACL in his left knee in 2020 … and a partridge in a pear tree.
Dickerson is tougher than a Brillo pad and has only missed five games since the start of his career – not all from injury – despite frequently limping off the field mid-game and needing to be replaced. Everyone knows he moved to center for an injured Cam Jurgens in last year’s NFC Championship game – and then suffered a knee injury during the game that forced Jurgens off the sideline and into action, the same injury that required that February procedure.
It’s not being suggested here that Dickerson won’t return and play at typical Pro Bowl level, but the reality is that every time he undergoes a new procedure it becomes less and less likely that he’ll be able to hold the position down for another five to 10 seasons, which is why the Eagles need to identify their next Landon Dickerson sooner than later.
And they’re already a little behind.
Because they cut down on up-front spending this season, the Eagles let right guard Mekhi Becton walk in free agency and ushered in Tyler Steen, another guard taken early in the draft who the Eagles didn’t need to play right away.
In April, the Eagles didn’t use a Day 1 or Day 2 pick on an offensive lineman, after taking one early in three consecutive drafts from 2021-2023, which has left their cupboard a little more bare than usual.
Trade acquisition Kenyon Green, who came over from the Texans as a throw-in for the C.J Gardner-Johnson trade, was viewed as another potential Jeff Stoutland reclamation project, but Green hasn’t looked any different from the failed, injury-stricken linemen who Houston regretfully drafted 15th overall in 2022.
Green was already toiling on the third string before he was carted off the field in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Bengals, and he reportedly won’t be back anytime soon.
Landon Dickerson isn’t the only Eagles guard who is now considered week to week. Kenyon Green, whom the Eagles acquired in an off-season trade, also is what one source described as “week to week” with a shoulder injury that is likely to end his preseason. https://t.co/le6y7rhzwO
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 12, 2025
Right now, the Eagles are replacing Dickerson with seven-year vet Brett Toth, a try-hard guy who’s in his seventh NFL season and can play all three o-line positions but hasn’t actually played any of them very well or even at an average NFL starter level. Toth, a practice squad staple, is a long shot to make the 53.
Meanwhile, 2024 fifth-round guard Trevor Keegan in entrenched on the third team and practicing at center. Drew Kendall, a fifth-rounder from this year’s draft, is a natural center who’s been taking most of his training camp reps there with the second team. Journeyman guard/tackle Matt Pryor would be the most logical replacement given his 92 career NFL games and 32 starts, but Pryor is 30, on his fourth different team in the past four seasons, and it’s somewhat curious that Toth and another backup, Darian Kinnard, each got left guard reps Tuesday over Pryor.
Stoutland is the NFL’s best offensive line coach and he’ll surely have someone ready and prepared if Dickerson’s comeback lingers longer than expected, but all of his current options are Band-Aids at best.
The Eagles will count to their blessings that Dickerson makes it through 2025 without another injury, and then need to be steadfast next offseason in their search for his eventual replacement.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
