Jan 12, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (53) before kick off against the Green Bay Packers in an NFC wild card game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
Friday afternoon, the Philadelphia Eagles announced the eight players elected as team captains for the 2025 season. Three of those captains are first-timers.
Your 2025 Captains 🌟 pic.twitter.com/0LSl7QrfhX
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 29, 2025
Among those eight captains, five are returning. Jalen Hurts was voted team captain for the fifth year. Those five years of captaincy mean that he'll wear a gold 'C' on his jersey this year.
Lane Johnson and Jake Elliott are back for their fourth years as captains, A.J. Brown is back for his third year and Jordan Mailata is back for his second year.
The two 2024 captains who aren't returning are six-time captain Brandon Graham, who retired this offseason, and three-time captain Darius Slay Jr., who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency.
The newcomers to the 2025 squad who will sport the 'C' on their jerseys for the first time as Eagles are Saquon Barkley, Zack Baun and Reed Blankenship.
Barkley is no stranger to being a team captain. With the New York Giants, he was voted as a team captain for five straight seasons from 2019 to 2023. He brings that leadership experience with him, and as evidenced in 2024, he has absolutely taken up a leadership role with the Eagles as well.
The other two newcomers, Baun and Blankenship, are true first-timers.
Baun's 2024 season was the definition of a breakout campaign. After being drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Baun was mainly a special teamer for his first four seasons.
The Eagles signed him to a one-year contract in March 2024 and transitioned him to inside linebacker, where he thrived. Baun's incredible season earned him first-team All-Pro recognition, a fifth-place finish in AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting, and a lucrative contract extension from Howie Roseman.
Now Baun's teammates have bestowed a more personal honor on him: they've recognized his leadership and hard work by naming him a team captain.
"It's amazing," Baun said, per the Eagles' release. "It's awesome. (It's) better than any achievement I've gotten to date. It means a lot because it's something that's voted on by my teammates."
Blankenship's unlikely story is just as inspirational. The Eagles signed the safety as an undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State in 2022. From there, Blankenship earned a roster spot, and then a spot in the starting lineup.
The Exciting White started at the bottom and worked his way up the depth chart to become the Eagles' de facto starting safety, and now he's been named a team captain in his fourth NFL season.
"It's always been my dream to become a captain, just regardless of where I'm at. I feel like that is one of the best things you can do as a teammate," Blankenship told the Eagles. "It goes far beyond just having the 'C' on your chest, that's how I've always looked at it. With all my teammates trusting in me and voting for me, it just means the world.
"I think I've been a captain at each level of my football career, and I don't take it lightly. I feel like it's a big motivator and encouragement for me. Just knowing that my teammates look at me when things aren't going as planned, it means a lot."
Check out Eagles' head coach Nick Sirianni announcing the 2025 captains to the team:
https://t.co/OMuM7murDR pic.twitter.com/6YRyvnBIUS
