When news broke that the Philadelphia Eagles acquired Jaelan Phillips from the Miami Dolphins, fans were cautiously optimistic to see the former first-round pick reunite with Vic Fangio.

Though the sample size may be small, it's safe to say fans can throw that caution to the wind, as Phillips has turned in two games for the ages in Philadelphia and suddenly looks like one of the best players on arguably the best defense in football.

Discussing the Eagles' big win on Sunday Night Football on ESPN's NFL Live, Mina Kimes took the Phillips hype one step further, boldly declaring that his acquisition might just go down as the single most important moment of the 2025 season.

“The Eagles' front seven, to a man, is playing out of their minds. It's not just one player, and that includes the linebackers as well.  But I do want to say this. I think that when all is said and done, the trade for Jalen Phillips will go down as one of the defining moments of the 2025 NFL season. He was unbelievable in this game,” Kimes declared.

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“And because the defensive tackles for Philadelphia are so often doubled, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, who was unbelievable in this game, by the way, he gets one-on-ones. Now, this is Detroit, so a one-on-one against Penei Sewell is not a normal one-on-one, and he still won inside on Penei Sewell, of all people. And you saw that open up opportunities, Nakobe Dean coming through on the blitz on one side at one point. I just think he's been absolutely fantastic. He is not the only reason why they're getting that level of pressure, but you see the impact that he has had on this entire group.”

After amassing a questionable trade deadline resume in the years since Jay Ajayi helped the Eagles win their first-ever Super Bowl, with Golden Tate, Robert Quinn, and Kevin Byard all underperforming versus the draft capital surrendered to bring them to town, Howie Roseman took a massive swing in acquiring Phillips for a third-round pick. Though things could tail off for the 26-year-old edge, so far, Phillips not only looks like one of the Eagles' best players but like someone who has spent the last half-decade mastering Fangio's system, instead of a player acquired less than a fortnight ago. If he keeps playing up to that high standard, the Eagles will soon be talking about a long-term extension, instead of how to tackle the outside linebacker spot during the offseason once more.