Eagles Open Camp at Nova Care Center on July 24

Philadephia Eagles 2017 Summer Training Camp

Rookies: July 24

Veterans: July 26

First practice: July 27

Site: NovaCare Complex

Location: Philadelphia

The Eagles officially open their 2017 training camp on Monday, July 24 with rookies reporting to the Nova Care Center in South Philadelphia. The veterans are set to report two days later with the first full team practice scheduled for Thursday, July 27. It is an exciting time to be a Philly fan with the addition of free agent wide receivers' Alshon Jeffrey and Torrey Smith and running back LaGarrette Blount to the offense and rookie defensive end Derek Barnett and cornerbacks' Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas to the defense via this year's draft.

Philadelphia went 7-9 in Doug Pederson's first year at the helm as head coach and the pieces are now in place for bigger and better things in 2017. While the Birds are not favored to win the NFC East this season behind both Dallas and the New York Giants, the ever-revolving spot at the top of this division has continually been up for grabs over the past several years. In fact, you would have to go all the way back to 2004 to find the last time that the reining NFC East Champion repeated as the top team the following year with the Eagles laying claim to their fourth-straight division title in a run that also included four-straight trips to the NFC title game and one run to the Super Bowl.

I may be a homer, but I like the Birds' chances to win the division this season as much as any other team in the NFC East. Dallas went from just four wins in 2015 to an impressive 13-3 last year behind a pair of rookies named Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. The problem for the Cowboys this time around other than playing a first-place schedule is that they are not going to sneak up on anyone. Defensive coordinators have a knack for scheming against an opponent's top weapons on offense and both of these standouts could be headed for a sophomore slump. The Giants could be the team to watch in this division in 2017 after jumping up to 11 victories last year. This followed three seasons of a sub-.500 record so the big question heading into this year's campaign is which direction does New York go in 2017?

Washington has been an up and down team for the past few years. The Redskins won the NFC East title in 2012 with a record of 10-6 before plummeting to just three victories the following year. After going 4-12 in 2014, the Skins managed to win nine games the following season to claim the title again. Last year's 8-8 record puts Washington into a very interesting situation this year; however most of the NFL experts have the Redskins to bring up the rear in the NFC East this season.

It all gets started in late July in what should be one of the most interesting division title battles in the NFL this season.