The Philadelphia Eagles have significant uncertainty at tight end entering the 2026 offseason. But at the very least, the Eagles will bring back versatile tight end Jaheim Bell.
The team announced signing Bell to a futures/reserve contract on Wednesday. The Eagles inked Bell to an offseason deal after he finished the 2025 campaign across the state with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Bell was a 2024 seventh-round pick by the Patriots out of Florida State after he spent three years playing at South Carolina,” wrote PhiladelphiaEagles.com. “The 6-foot-2 Bell appeared in 15 games as a rookie for New England, catching two passes for 20 yards. He spent time in 2025 on the Eagles’ and Steelers’ practice squads.”
Bell didn’t play in a regular season game during the 2025 season. The tight end joined the Eagles practice squad in October. He lasted about a week in Philadelphia.
The tight end signed with the Steelers before Week 18. He remained in Pittsburgh until his practice squad contract expired on January 20.
Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders sounded a little surprised Pittsburgh didn’t retain the 24-year-old tight end.
“Bell is a quality athlete, positing a 35-inch vertical and a 4.61-second 40-yard dash in pre-draft testing for a Relative Athletic Score of 8.44 out of 10,” wrote Saunders.
“Bell also has positional versatility, having lined up as an inline tight end, slot receiver and fullback over the course of his career.”
Eagles Sign TE Jaheim Bell to Futures Deal
Bell became the 15th player Philadelphia has added on a reserve contract this offseason. The Eagles began signing players to their offseason roster on January 12, which was one day after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild card round.
That day, the Eagles inked eight players to futures deals.
Since then, Philadelphia has added seven more players, including two tight ends, counting Bell. The Eagles signed fellow tight end E.J. Jenkins on January 13.
“Jenkins signed with the Jets after going undrafted out of Georgia Tech in 2023,” wrote PhiladelphiaEagles.com. “The tight end first joined Philadelphia’s practice squad in the 2023 and spent the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons with the Eagles.
“He has played in 10 games for the Birds, two this past season, taking his only NFL catch for a touchdown.”
Eagles TE Depth Entering 2026 Offseason
Tight end depth might be a major talking point around the Eagles this offseason. That’s because there’s a chance Bell and Jenkins sit at the top of the team’s tight end depth chart when free agency begins in March.
Eagles tight ends Dallas Goedert, Kylen Granson and Grant Calcaterra will all be unrestricted free agents this spring. Those were the only three tight ends who had a reception for the Eagles during 2025.
The only other tight ends who received offensive snaps were Jenkins and Cameron Latu. Neither one had a target.
Losing all three of those tight ends at one time is obviously not ideal. But there’s probably a chance Goedert comes back to Philadelphia on a 1-year deal or Granson and Calcaterra return on affordable contracts.
If not, the Eagles at least have added some tight end depth with both Bell and Jenkins before free agency begins.
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