Philly Front Office

MAJOR UPDATE: Report is that the Dolphins are eating almost all of the remaining salary! I originally had this as the Eagles paying only $500k, but it’s reported to be $1.5m

As I was sipping some much-needed coffee this morning, the news hit the wire that the Eagles were trading a 3rd round pick in 2026 to the Miami Dolphins for outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips. The Eagles had been sniffing around the EDGE market and got Vic Fangio an old friend. Let’s dive in.

Sending a third round pick to Miami is a little steep, but that’s where the “old friend” line comes in. Vic Fangio was the Dolphins defensive coordinator back in 2023. Not coincidentally, that was Phillips best year as a pro, tallying 6.5 sacks in just 8 games. That 8 games part is the real worry about this deal. Phillips has missed serious time the last 2 years with an Achillies tear in 2023 and an ACL tear in 2024. So far this season he’s been fine starting all 9 games with 3 sacks.¹ PFF has him rated as the 55th best EDGE out of 120.

Phillips is 26 years old and in the final year of his contract, his 5th year option. It also means he will be a free agent in the offseason and subject to the comp pick formula. If he balls out with the Eagles, we could be looking at a 4th round pick if he doesn’t resign. Not a bad trade in terms of value in that regard.

Getting that draft pick back would be nice but not necessary. The pick being sent to the Dolphins is thankfully the Eagles own selection. This means we still have the Jets selection at the top of the round in the back pocket. The Eagles started the year with way too many draft picks to realistically use, but we are now down to a more manageable 8 picks including our own 1 and 2, two 3s, two 4s, and two 5ths.

UPDATE: Phillips still had $6.6m of his $13.25m contract remaining. This was seemingly going to the Eagles. Well, it looks like Howie was only interested in giving up a 3rd if the Dolphins took on that money. As for the Salary Cap, the Eagles had about $11m left to spend coming into the week and $10m after trading for Jaire Alexander and Michael Carter. Instead of putting a big dent in that, this move barely affects the cap at all, with only $1.5m coming on to the books. Trading for Phillips does not prevent the Eagles from making other moves (hell, they could technically still trade for Myles Garrett). The Eagles still have roughly $8.5m to spend or roll over into next year’s cap.

Anyone who reads me regularly knows that I like writing about two things with trades, contracts and spider charts. I don’t know how relevant his Pro Day performance still is coming out of Miami after two leg injuries, but Phillips was a workout warrior. At 6’5″ and 260 pounds, he performed about as well as possible in all the speed oriented testing, check it out. If the Eagles are getting that speed opposite Nolan Smith, that’s two relentless pursuers coming at the QB from both sides with Jalen Carter and Moro Ojomo up the middle. I like it.

As for the rest of the deadline, the Eagles might be done, but never count out Howie Roseman. We could still use some depth at DT and Safety as well as a real blocking tight end. I can see the Eagles trading Kelee Ringo as well.

Last thing, Eagles fans are going to need to learn how to spell with this one. Jaelan has an extra “a” and the “e” isn’t where you think it is. Phillips has two Ls. I have been struggling with this all season in my trade deadline posts, please learn from my struggles.

1. Because he missed the Eagles bye week, he has a chance to play in 18 games this season! ↩︎