After making a trade earlier in the week to bring in Michael Carter II from the New York Jets, reuniting him with the man who drafted him, Joe Douglas, the Philadelphia Eagles did it again on Saturday afternoon, acquiring Jaire Alexander and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Baltimore Ravens for a 2026 sixth-round pick.
Suddenly, the Eagles went from a team with major needs at cornerback to a squad with more defensive backs than they have snaps to play, with the potential to make even more moves in the future, like to acquire a pass rusher like Jaelan Phillips or Jermaine Johnson II, both of whom have been linked to the team via trade.
And as for the Ravens? Well, they've now made two trades where Eric DeCosta turned a late pick into an earlier one, having to surrender a player both times in order to make that happen.
Sitting at 3-5 following an early-season losing streak, the Ravens are somehow still in play for the AFC North due to a series of blunders by the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Cincinnati Bengals, with a Lamar Jackson return the potential catalyst for a major later-season comeback. Even if the addition of Alohi Gilman has worked in the Ravens' favor so far, saying goodbye to Odafe Oweh and Jaire Alexander doesn't exactly send the best message to the rest of the league, especially after a huge Thursday Night Football win.
Will moving Alexander change the fate of either the Eagles or Ravens all that much? Maybe yes, maybe no, but it's clear the two teams made the moves for very different reasons and thus have to be evaluated accordingly.
Jaire Alexander makes the deadline more interesting for the Eagles
In a vacuum, acquiring Alexander is pretty cut-and-dry.
While Alexander graded out as one of the worst cornerbacks in the NFL so far this season, albeit in limited action for the Ravens, very few cornerbacks can effortlessly transition from one scheme to another and maintain their level of play, especially when the rest of the defense is among the worst in football. In Green Bay, Alexander played at a Pro Bowl level at times when healthy, and while he's older and has already spent time on the bench in 2025, a spot in Vic Fangio's scheme might unlock some of that old play in a way Zach Orr couldn't unleash.
Fortunately for Philadelphia, this move wasn't made in a vacuum, and with Alexander, Carter II, Kelee Ringo, Jakorian Bennett, Adoree' Jackson, and Mac McWilliams now all on the bench, Roseman now has the ability to make another move, including one or even two of his young defensive backs in a package for a ready-made pass-rushing upgrade.
In the lead-up to the trade deadline, Ringo has been linked to a number of teams around the NFL, and for good reason. While he hasn't been particularly good in 2025, he hasn't been horrible either, and still has all of the athletic gifts that cause Roseman to trade up to select him at the top of the fourth round. For a team that is rebuilding like, say, the Jets or the Dolphins, having half a season to see what Ringo looks like in their scheme is an exciting prospect that any general manager would consider, even if Miami might look very different next season regardless.
With Alexander and Carter II now locked into the Eagles' top-4 cornerbacks and the option to run more dime packages now on the table after placing Marcus Epp on IR, Fangio will certainly be in the proverbial lab trying to figure out the best way to attack different looks during the second half of the 2025 NFL regular season. If he decides that Alexander is worthy of a spot on the outside in Week 10, then he'll likely get the nod early on, with Cooper DeJean getting to remain in the slot. If he decides instead that Carter II looks like a legit player on the inside, then DeJean may kick outside to the perimeter more often than not, playing in the slot only in dime.
But if Fangio decides that Ringo, or even Bennett, is never going to be a player he can count on full-time, then they instantly become intriguing options on the trade market, where their inclusion in a deadline deal could be the difference between a third round pick and a fifth round pick, or help to sweeten the pot if two teams come with the same picks. Not too shabby for a late Day 3 pick swap.
Grade: A-
The Ravens got something for nothing from Jaire Alexander
When the Ravens “won” the Jaire Alexander sweepstakes over the summer, it felt like a massive win for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Sure, Alexander hadn't played in 16 games since 2022, recording just seven in 2023 and seven more in 2024, but he was a Pro Bowler in that campaign and was paid like one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL as a result. Reunite him with his college quarterback, mere hours from his childhood home in Philadelphia, on a championship-caliber team, and who knows, maybe Alexander could be the cherry on top of one of the best rosters in football.
Instead, Alexander's injury bug reared its ugly head in Charm City, with the veteran cornerback missing time in camp with a knee injury and only appearing in two games since, in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills and again in Week 5 against the Houston Texans. The Ravens slowly but surely settled into a new defensive backfield configuration that worked, with Nate Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey starting outside and the trio of Gilman, Kule Hamilton, and Malakai Starks all playing together in the nickel.
Where does that leave Alexander? On the outside looking in, with the team potentially having to release the veteran defender for nothing if the trade deadline passed and no role developed for him on a team with a sub-500 record. Instead, DeCosta decided to trade Alexander now and give him a chance to find a role before a pivotal free agency period. Could they have kept him for such a meager return? Sure, but why keep Alexander and make him unhappy when he isn't really needed? The Ravens got a better draft slot a year earlier, and Alexander gets a chance to compete, which he thought he would in Baltimore. All in all, a win-win for both parties.
Grade: A
