The 2025 NFL trade deadline is on Tuesday and teams around the league are squeezing in some last-minute deals. Nobody has been busier than the Philadelphia Eagles, who have completed three trades over the past week.
First the Eagles acquired Michael Carter II from the Jets. Then they added even more depth at cornerback, trading for Jaire Alexander from the Ravens.
Philadelphia made another aggressive move on Monday, acquiring Jaelan Phillips from Miami in exchange for a third-round pick.
The Eagles have needed help at edge rusher for the entire season. They initially added Za'Darius Smith to help out, but he surprisingly retired in the middle of October. Philadelphia benefitted by getting Brandon Graham to come out of retirement, but clearly they felt they needed even more juice rushing the passer.
Now Philadelphia has all of the reinforcements they need to make a Super Bowl push during the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Miami seems to be open for business at the deadline after sending away one of their best young defensive players.
But which team came out on top of this trade? Did it work out for both teams, or did one take advantage of the other?
Below we will assign grades to the Eagles and Dolphins after their big Jaelan Phillips trade on Monday.
Eagles make a calculated gamble by acquiring Jaelan Phillips
The Eagles get arguably the top player available on the trade market in Phillips.
Not only does he play at a premium position, but it also so happens to be Philadelphia's single biggest need on defense right now.
At worst, Phillips gives them some juice rushing the passer for another playoff run in 2025. Then if the walks in free agency, he could potentially net a future compensatory pick.
But there's some upside too. It is possible that the Eagles could retain Phillips on a long-term contract. That's assuming he remains healthy, plays well, and is within Philadelphia's price range. If all of that happens, this trade would look even better in just one year.
But it is not without risk.
Phillips has a somewhat extensive injury history. He missed 13 games in 2024 with an ACL injury and had a pedal Achilles tear back in 2023. But that is mostly in the past, as he's played in all nine games this season.
All of that said, the fact that Philly has some flexibility here makes this trade easier to stomach.
The Eagles only have five draft picks in 2026 at this point, which is somewhat concerning.
At the end of the day, it is hard to argue with an aggressive move like this one when it means keeping your Super Bowl window open longer.
Grade: B+
Miami is officially in sell mode after dealing Jaelan Phillips (and that's a good thing!)
One of the most important parts of this trade from Miami's perspective is what it means for the future of the organization.
The Dolphins are clearly positioning themselves as sellers ahead of the trade deadline. At this point, I would be shocked if they don't trade more players away before Tuesday's deadline.
One reason why this trade is surprising is because many believed that Phillips was not actually available. As recently as Thursday, NFL insiders believed that Matthew Judon was a more realistic trade candidate than Phillips.
It seems that Miami's embarrassing defeat in Week 9, and the loss of GM Chris Grier, changed that opinion.
If the Dolphins can pull off this trade without their general manager, then there's no reason to think they cannot do it again.
As for this trade, I like getting some guaranteed value back for Phillips. Miami could have easily let him walked in free agency this spring. If that happened, the Dolphins could have been left with nothing, or the possibility of some value from the compensatory pick formula.
A third-round pick is pretty excellent value for Phillips, even if it is late in the round.
Looking at the big picture, I like moving some value in future seasons for the Dolphins.
It looks like plenty of changes are coming to Miami this offseason, including a new general manager and possibly a new head coach. Adding more ammunition gives the next regime a better chance to turn things around.
Ultimately, the Dolphins got the exact asking price that they wanted for Phillips. So in that respect, it is hard to argue with this trade at all.
Personally I believe that holding onto Phillips would have been a mistake, so I applaud the Dolphins for making a smart move here.
Grade: A
