The Philadelphia Eagles released their 2026 offseason workout schedule this week, and the headline is not what is on the calendar. It is what is missing from it.
Per multiple reports (Inside the Iggles, Bleeding Green Nation, and PhillyVoice), Nick Sirianni will run the Eagles through two mandatory workouts and six voluntary OTAs, with everything beginning on May 26, 2026. OTAs are slated for May 26 to 27, May 29, June 1 to 2, and June 4. The mandatory minicamp lands on June 9 to 10.
What stands out is the restraint. Sirianni is again declining to use his full league-allowed allotment of OTAs and minicamp days, and he is doing it on a roster that just finished a 2025 season ending in a wild-card loss.
The Numbers Behind the Decision
Under the current CBA, NFL teams are permitted up to 10 days of OTAs plus a three-day mandatory minicamp. Sirianni is using six voluntary OTAs and two mandatory days. That is a deliberate trim on both sides of the schedule, not a paperwork accident.
It is also a continuation of a pattern. Sirianni has talked openly in recent years about the cost-benefit of full-bore spring practice work, and his offseason schedules have leaned toward the lighter end of what the league allows. The 2026 version is the most pared-back yet.
What Sirianni Actually Said
Sirianni framed the change as a big-picture call rather than a reaction to any single event.
"You have to do different things to make sure you're looking at it from a big picture standpoint. There is a balance between the time that you put in with practice and then the duration of a season."
The reasoning behind the trim, per The Athletic's Zach Berman: ensure players have enough time after OTAs and minicamp to recover, train on their own terms, and arrive at training camp fresh.
Translation: Sirianni is betting that a veteran roster will use the reclaimed time well, and that the marginal value of a third mandatory workout in mid-June is lower than what players can do with that week back.
A Veteran Roster, a Long Runway
Context matters. This is not a rebuilding team learning a new system from scratch. The core that won Super Bowl LIX in February 2025 is largely intact, and most of the rotation pieces from the 2025 season are returning. Sirianni's offensive and defensive structures are not new to this room.
For a roster like that, the law of diminishing returns on offseason practice arrives faster. Sirianni appears to have done that math and decided two mandatory days is enough to install what needs installing.
Not Everyone Will Love It
The counterpoint is worth airing. Reducing structured practice work on a team coming off a wild-card exit is a bet, not a guarantee. Coaches around the league have made the opposite call after disappointing playoff exits, leaning into more spring contact and more film work rather than less.
There is also a new wrinkle this year with offensive coordinator Sean Mannion settling in. New voices in the meeting room generally argue for more reps, not fewer. Sirianni is going the other way anyway, which is a tell about how much trust he is placing in his veterans and assistants.
The Real Test Is in September
This kind of decision is unfalsifiable in May. You cannot prove a lighter offseason works until the season starts and the team either looks fresh in December or does not.
What we can say is that Sirianni is on a multi-year track of paring the schedule down rather than building it up. He has the resume to experiment: a Super Bowl LIX championship, a deep playoff run the year before, and a locker room that has earned the benefit of the doubt.
The two mandatory days will tell us who shows up. The six voluntary ones will tell us who wants to. And September will tell us whether Sirianni's quiet calibration is genius or hubris.
