Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …
NFL trade deadline grades: Jaelan Phillips, Jaire Alexander – ESPN
Eagles get: Edge Jaelan Phillips. Dolphins get: 2026 third-round pick.
Eagles grade: A-. Dolphins grade: B-. Even though Smith could return from injury soon and Graham is coming out of retirement, the Eagles felt — and with good reason — that adding talent at edge rusher was a priority and made a move for Phillips, a good pass rusher in the final year of his contract. Injuries hampered Phillips’ career with the Dolphins. He suffered season-ending injuries to his Achilles and ACL in 2023 and 2024, respectively. But when he has been on the field, Phillips has always been quite impressive. He recorded 8.5 sacks as a rookie and then followed that up with a 7.0-sack season in 2022 in which he boasted a 23.9% pass rush win rate at edge that ranked fifth at the position that season. He has a 17.1% pass rush win rate at edge for his career and is at 16.5% this season, both a shade above average. Considering his track record and that he’s getting back to form after his ACL injury, I think it’s reasonable for the Eagles to expect him to be little better than that in the second half of the season. Phillips also generally scores well in run stop win rate, and that has particularly been the case this season, when his 30.5% RSWR at edge ranks 11th among edge rushers. There’s a pretty decent chance Phillips is a rental. He’s currently playing on his $13.25 million fifth-year option. While that means he might well be a stop-gap solution for Philadelphia, it opens up the pretty strong possibility that Phillips could leave in free agency and net Philly a compensatory pick (perhaps a fourth-rounder, just like Sweat is projected to earn the Eagles, according to OverTheCap). The Eagles have $23.8 million in cap space next year (per OverTheCap), so while they could make some signings, they probably won’t be huge players in free agency, thus making the comp pick quite likely. Framed in those terms — a 2026 third-round pick and around $6.6 million for half a season of Phillips and a likely 2027 fourth-round pick — this seems well worth it. The Eagles are true Super Bowl contenders, so the leverage on patching up any weakness is high. Anything that moves the needle on probability of a Lombardi Trophy is valuable.
Jaelan Phillips trade grades: Eagles address major weakness, as Dolphins prepare for future – The Athletic
Eagles’ trade grade: A-. The defending Super Bowl champions are the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and they’re in dogged pursuit of another ring. You must always respect bold moves in a situation like this. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio had the same role with the Dolphins in 2023, so he’s familiar with Phillips. Fangio’s peers have always admired his ability to identify his scheme and personality fits, so you can be sure the Eagles will have a sound plan to maximize Phillips’ production as they attempt to topple the conference for the third time in four years.
Eagles-Dolphins trade: Philadelphia acquires LB Jaelan Phillips – BGN
There were plenty of reports indicating the Eagles were interested in trade if for Dolphins LB Jaelan Phillips ahead of the deadline, and Howie Roseman was able to make it happen early Monday morning. The Eagles have acquired Jaelan Phillips in exchange for a third-round pick in 2026, with the Dolphins also picking up a portion of his remaining salary.
Miami Dolphins trade Jaelan Phillips to Philadelphia Eagles – The Phinsider
The move comes just days after the Dolphins and long-time general manager Chris Grier decided to mutually part ways, with reports following the departure saying that Grier was hesitant to trade many of Miami’s top stars. With interim general manager Champ Kelly holding the reins of the franchise, clearly the Dolphins’ trade strategies have changed. Phillips, the 18th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, leaves Miami after an injury riddled tenure with the club. Both his 2023 and 2024 campaigns were cut short due to gruesome lower body injuries. In 2023, he played in just 8 games before tearing his Achilles in a November contest against the New York Jets. In 2024, Phillips made it through just 4 games before tearing his ACL in a game against the Tennessee Titans. In four and a half years with the Dolphins, Phillips amassed 177 combined tackles, 26 sacks, one forced fumble and four fumble recoveries.
What the trade for pass rusher Jaelan Phillips means for the Eagles defense – PHLY
As Bo Wulf and I discussed on the emergency podcast on Monday morning, Phillips has a very high pressure rate (5th-best in the NFL among all edge rushers with at least 175 pass rush snaps, per NextGenStats), but a low sack rate and quarterback-hit rate. Is there a reason to be alarmed by that? Certainly. I get it. It paints the picture of a guy who has empty calorie rushes but doesn’t ACTUALLY impact the quarterback. Here’s what I will say after going through the tape: I think a lot of Phillips’ pressures showed a guy who can still win quickly off the ball but struggled a bit to finish in the backfield. I think that’s fair to say. He’s had a handful of missed tackles in the run game (more this year than any other year in his career) as well. When I’ve seen players like this in the past, college or pro, it can be a sign of poor lower body flexibility and stiffness. This was not an issue for Phillips earlier in his career, but after two serious lower-body injuries have ended his last two seasons, it wouldn’t be a huge shock if that has negatively affected his ankle flexion.
Everything You Need to Know Ahead of the NFL’s 2025 Trade Deadline – The Ringer
Edge Jaelan Phillips, Miami Dolphins. It feels like everything is building to a Phillips trade by Tuesday afternoon. He’s in the last year of his deal, the general manager who drafted him is gone, he’s playing on one of the league’s worst defenses, and he’s one of the few young Dolphins players who can potentially command a high draft pick in a deal. It was a winding road for Phillips to become a high-value edge rusher, as he dealt with several injuries in college and the pros, but he has Pro Bowl potential when he’s healthy. Entering Week 9, Phillips ranked top 10 in third-down pressures per game. He shows up when his defense needs him to affect the quarterback, and while his injury concerns might keep him from securing a long-term deal right now, he can certainly be a major addition for a contender in the short term. Dream destination: Philadelphia Philadelphia can’t hide its edge rushers’ lack of production because of its problems at cornerback, and it can’t hide its cornerback problems because it doesn’t get enough pressure. The Eagles could end this vicious cycle by adding a player like Phillips, who is able to consistently win his matchups, assuming he can stay healthy. [BLG Note: This was published about an hour before Phillips was traded but still relevant.]
Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles’ bye week – PhillyVoice
6) The ‘Nah’ Award: Comparisons to the 2023 team. During the first four games of the season, the Eagles beat a bunch of very good teams, but often didn’t look super convincing in doing so. They then also lost a couple of games to the Broncos and the awful Giants, and throughout that first third of the season, a lot of fans were unhappy with Patullo. Similarly, in 2023, the Eagles beat a bunch of good teams but didn’t always look convincing when they did, and fans were unhappy with both coordinators. Because of these surface-level similarities, the 2025 team was widely being compared to the 2023 team that collapsed in epic fashion down the stretch. That comparison always felt weird to me, given how bizarre the 2023 season was. I mean, they replaced their defensive coordinator in-season when they had a 10-3 record, lol. They had guys like Nick Morrow, Zach Cunningham, James Bradberry, Kevin Byard, Justin Evans, Terrell Edmunds, and Bradley Roby starting games. The defensive coordinator had no rudder and his replacement was even worse. Once the 2023 season started going sideways, it snowballed and the team never recovered. The 2025 team has already righted the ship after those two losses to the Broncos and Giants. We’ll see what becomes of this season. There are a lot of possibilities! But whatever it is, it’ll be its own thing.
Top Dog – Iggles Blitz
The Eagles didn’t have the top seed last year (Detroit did) so it doesn’t guarantee anything. Still, you’d rather have the bye than not. Getting an extra week of rest and having time to prepare is never a bad thing after a long season of NFL battles. Buffalo beat KC 28-21. That didn’t affect the Eagles, but it makes life hard for the Chiefs. They are now just 5-4. They’ve got two games with Denver left. They also have one with the Chargers, Colts and Texans. The Chiefs could go 9-8 or 10-7. Maybe they get hot and win out. But this season isn’t going to be about the top seed for them. They are going to have to battle their way into the postseason. Washington is about to drop to 3-6. What a disaster after last season’s playoff run. Who could have seen this coming?
NFL midseason crystal ball: 10 people who will shape the 2025 season’s second half – NFL.com
7) OC Kevin Patullo. The Eagles’ first-year offensive coordinator already has faced plenty of scrutiny this season. The defending Super Bowl champions have struggled offensively — they ranked 25th in the league in passing and 19th in rushing coming into Week 9 — and this team isn’t winning the NFC again unless Patullo can increase this unit’s potency. The good news here is that Philadelphia found a groove in its run game before the bye week. The team rushed for 276 yards in a 38-20 win over the Giants, with running back Saquon Barkley accounting for 150 of those yards on just 14 carries. The next step for Patullo is finding consistency in the passing game. There’s been a weekly dissection of wide receiver A.J. Brown’s mood swings in relation to his targets, but there have been real reasons for that frustration. The Eagles have too much talent to be so middling on offense. It’s up to Patullo to resolve that.
Highlights: All 100 of Jalen Hurts’ career passing TDs – PE.com
If you’re itching for some Eagles football during the Bye Week, check out all 100 of Jalen Hurts’ career touchdown passes during the regular season.
Packers News: Tucker Kraft’s injury throws wrench into Green Bay’s offense – Acme Packing Company
When the Green Bay Packers get into their facilities at Lambeau Field this morning, they will have a new, unwelcome challenge facing them. The coaching staff, particularly on offense, will have to figure out how to assemble a productive offense without one of their most important players. Tucker Kraft has become a do-it-all player for this team over the past season and a half, and in recent weeks he has been the Packers’ most dynamic receiving threat. Now, with what appears to be a torn right ACL likely sidelining Kraft for the 2025 season, Matt LaFleur must figure out how to replace his contributions in the aggregate. It will surely take multiple players and a somewhat dramatic shift in scheme and playing time to do so, however, speaking to the versatility that Kraft displayed. He’s the true throwback tight end, equally adept blocking on the line as he is catching the football and picking up yards after the catch. None of the other tight ends on this roster — Luke Musgrave, John FitzPatrick, or the soon-to-be-called-up Josh Whyle — can come anywhere close to matching Kraft’s skill set.
Cowboys trade rumors: Team willing to trade Mazi Smith as deadline nears – Blogging The Boys
Mazi Smith’s time with the Dallas Cowboys may be coming to an end. NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Dallas is open to moving on from Smith before Tuesday’s trade deadline. Dallas also appears to be open to trading 2023 first-round DT Mazi Smith, who has only played in five games this season. This is the first time the team has been mentioned as potentially moving on from Smith. Coming out of training camp, Smith was on the brink of being released after preseason standout Perrion Winfrey came on strong to finish the summer. The Cowboys also picked Jay Toia in the draft, who they were high on as a developmental player at the one-tech position.
Daily Slop – 3 Nov 25 – Commanders appear rudderless after 3rd straight blowout loss and another injury for Jayden Daniels – Hogs Haven
“Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered a dislocated left elbow during the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, sources told ESPN. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday to confirm the diagnosis and help determine a recovery timeline. Daniels is expected to be sidelined indefinitely, but it is uncertain whether his season is over, according to sources.”
NFL Winners and Losers: This season is drunk – SB Nation
Loser: Everything about the Washington Commanders right now. The vibes are so off with the Commanders right now. The mounting injuries are one thing, but the coaching staff seems lost as to how they can right the ship. It’s been a horrible year for a team we all expected to take another step forward in 2025. Sitting at 3-6 it’s going to take an absolute miracle to make the playoffs this season. We all had them pegged to be a 10+ win team, and it’s a shame to see it all implode like this. I wrote all this right before Jayden Daniels was injured. Things keep going from bad to worse.
Giants-49ers winners and losers: A loss that looked all too familiar – Big Blue View
Wet Willies to … Brian Daboll — Yes, the Giants were under-manned. That isn’t an excuse for a team being lifeless, having the same issues week after week, for running a simplistic, unimaginative game plan that looked like the Daniel Jones stick route offense and the first game of the preseason on defense. Oh, and what is with running Dart over and and over and over two weeks in a row in games that were hopelessly out of hand. The job is to develop him, not kill him. The Giants are now 11-32 over the last 2½ years with Daboll at the helm. Injury-riddled at this point or not, it is a team that should be better than 2-7. One more thing: All I could think of when the score was 20-7 in the third quarter, the Giants had fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line, and Daboll chose to kick the field goal rather than play for the touchdown was Joe Judge at the end of his tenure coaching to keep scores respectable rather than actually trying to win games.
YouTube TV, Disney squabble inches toward Monday Night Football – PFT
The fact that it’s not a big game (relatively speaking) takes some of the steam out of the situation. That changes next week, when the 6-2 Eagles visit the 5-1-1 Packers, who will be 6-1-1 or 5-2-1 (or, in theory, 5-1-2). So what’s it gonna be, Google and Disney? It’s not either/or. It’s both. Get your shit together, and give the people what they want. A deal.
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