If the Philadelphia Eagles are going to make another trade before the start of the 2025 NFL season, it will likely come on the defensive side of the ball.
On paper, it makes sense, right? The Eagles returned almost all of their offensive starters from their Super Bowl Championship-winning team, minus right guard Mekhi Becton, and the few holes that did exist on the offense have been largely filled by internal candidates like Tyler Steen, free agent additions like AJ Dillon, and trade additions like John Metchie III, who now look like like a genius addition following Johnny Wilson landing on IR.
The defense, however, is a very different story.
After looking like one of the best defenses in the business under Vic Fangio in 2024, Howie Roseman said goodbye to seemingly every veteran defender on the roster not named Zach Baun, with Brandon Graham, Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, Darius Slay, Isaiah Rodgers, CJ Gardner-Johnson, Oren Burks, Avonte Maddox, and James Bradberry – who was technically still on the team – in favor of a full-on youth movement.
So far, that decision appears to be going well enough, with Jihaad Campbell and Andrew Mukuba looking like Day 1 starters and internal options like Moro Ojomo and Jalyx Hunt stepping up in major ways. But for every young player who has stepped up, there's been at least another who hasn't quite looked ready for primetime, with the team left with very real questions surrounding who will start at outside cornerback opposite Quinyon Mitchell and who will rotate in at defensive end when the starters need a break.
Fortunately, if the Eagles decide that their current depth isn't good enough, with Kelee Ringo, Adoree' Jackson, Mac McWilliams, Jakorian Bennett, and Parry Nickerson unable to eke out a clear starter and the edge rotation of Josh Uche, Azeez Ojulari, Antwaun Powell-Roland Jr., Patrick Johnson, and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo unable to secure enough pressure to give Hunt and Nolan Smith a break, they still have a chance to make a trade and secure another contributor who can help them out right away.
Fortunately, there are teams with quality players who could be on the move, especially on the defensive side of the ball, as they look to secure some sort of return on players they would otherwise release anyway. If the Eagles want to add an edge rusher on a team-friendly deal, at least in 2025, there aren't many better value buys than David Ojabo, who might be the off-man out of the Baltimore Ravens' edge rotation.
David Ojabo is the perfect buy-low Philadelphia Eagles target
Back in 2022, there was a segment of the Eagles fanbase who desperately wanted to see Roseman draft Ojabo in the first round of the NFL Draft.
A one-year wonder at Michigan who turned in 11 sacks as a do-it-all weapon off the edge opposite Aidan Hutchinson, Ojabo's prototypical size, when coupled with his unique journey from Nigeria to Scotland, to New Jersey led fans to love the idea of bringing in the collegiate Wolverine and having him learn from one of the best players in program history, Brandon Graham, even if a Pro Day Achilles injury dropped him down boards and onto Day 2.
Taking the field for just two games in 2022, Ojabo flashed the type of tape talent evaluators expected, but in 2023, after returning to full strength, injuries hit him once more, with a leg injury sending him to IR before being replaced by Kyle Van Noy. Finally healthy, Ojabo played a career-high 275 snaps in 2024 but didn't do much with it, recording just nine tackles and two sacks as a situational rusher.
Now locked into the final year of his rookie contract, Ojabo needs to find some way to showcase why he is worth of another NFL contract heading into the future, which will be hard, considering the Ravens already had a loaded pass rush heading into the year and only strengthened it with the addition of Mike Green in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
If the Ravens feel like Ojabo isn't ready to be a rotational piece on their championship roster in 2025, and want to guarantee he doesn't end up signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, or Cincinnati Bengals, just in case, shipping him up the road to Philadelphia could present a unique opportunity to get something out of a player they don't want to retain anyway.
At best, Ojabo could be the Eagles' DE3 behind Smith and Hunt, with the potential to slide in on either side of the line when a starter needs a break, just like the Houston Christian product last fall. And at worst, he's a reserve who doesn't see much action, and the Eagles get back a similar pick when he signs elsewhere next summer as a compensatory. Either way, if Ojulari, APR, Okoronkwo, and Johnson don't quite instill confidence in Fangio moving forward, Ojabo is another prospect to rotate in and see what happens, all the while maintaining Smith and Hunt's proverbial sea legs for the playoffs.
