Nolan Smith Named Potential Bust Candidate in 2026

The NFL world can't quite figure out what Nolan Smith's 2026 season is going to look like.

Mere days after the Philadelphia Eagles EDGE was named a potential breakout candidate from ESPN, Smith was singled out as a potential bust by Bleacher Report's Moe Moton.

After pushing the Eagles to the Super Bowl with a four-sack postseason that followed his career-best 6.5-sack regular season in 2024, Smith regressed in 2025. He only had three sacks and 31 tackles and fell behind trade-deadline acquisition Jaelan Phillips.

Nolan Smith Named a Potential 2026 Bust for Eagles

Moton named one bust candidate for each of the 32 NFL teams, and the Bleacher Report writer named Smith as Philadelphia's.

The writer also called out Howie Roseman and Eagles brass for exercising the No. 30 pick of the 2023 NFL Draft's fifth-year option, since he has not been a significant-enough contributor to warrant a drastic pay raise.

"They have another year before that $13.8 million option year kicks in, but the 25-year-old hasn't shown promising signs of meeting heightened expectations that come with a pay raise," Moton wrote. "For a recent first-rounder, he's posted modest pass-rushing numbers."

Smith's underlying numbers are good but not elite, since he posted a 67.3 pass-rush win rate (49th) and had the 55th-best overall grade (66.7) among 115 qualifying EDGE rushers from Pro-Football Focus.

Smith, like fellow 2023 first-round pick Jalen Carter, is contract-extension eligible this season.

But the Eagles surely won't be interested in bringing a long-term deal to him until he proves he can consistently contribute like the top draft pick he was -- particularly after he was arrested during a traffic stop in Georgia during the offseason.

The Eagles' Offseason Moves Challenged Nolan Smith

Not only are the Eagles not locking down Smith, but Roseman's moves have challenged him.

The Eagles first acquired Phillips from the Miami Dolphins, parting with a third-round pick to bolster their pass rush midseason.

After Phillips signed a massive four-year, $120 million contract with the Carolina Panthers, the Eagles traded for Jonathan Greenard, sending two third-round picks to the Minnesota Vikings before giving Greenard a colossal four-year, $98 million contract.

All that should put Smith on notice, particularly since 2024 third-round pick Jalyx Hunt passed him while leading the Eagles in sacks last season.

"[Smith] has started in 22 out of 45 games with defensive snap counts below 58 percent in each of his three seasons," Moton wrote. "Greenard and Hunt may be far more impactful than Smith on the edge in 2026."