In a division with opponents who struggle to roster a functioning kicker for three years or remember to take its franchise quarterback out of a blowout, it feels almost unfair that the Philadelphia Eagles can call on general manager Howie Roseman to improve the team in-season.
What’s most fascinating about the flurry of moves the Eagles pulled off over the past week, addressing the biggest team needs in the process, is how much of the work to make today’s team better came from either previous trades which made them possible or come with additional factors which will help Roseman make moves tomorrow as well.
Defensively, the Eagles were clearly most concerned with a pair of limitations — coverage in the secondary and the team’s pass rush. And it’s interesting to note that Philadelphia isn’t grading out terribly on either front, with the Eagles ranking 12th in overall coverage efficiency, per Pro Football Focus, and 13th in pass rush.
But in Philly, the only acceptable outcome is a Super Bowl, and contrasting their marks to last season’s group — first in coverage, second in pass rush — says it all. So the Eagles have added a quartet of new players, though the first, Brandon Graham, is certainly familiar to the franchise, having played for only the Eagles since Philadelphia drafted him back in 2010.
“When we talked in August… I kind of joked that we weren’t fully ready to hand over the keys and that was because [we] felt like there was still meat on the bone in terms of trying to acquire players and understanding the resources that we had in terms of draft picks to possibly do that,”Roseman said of his conversation with Graham during a media availability on Tuesday. “Before the season started and before we went down any path, I called BG — I’m fortunate really to have special relationships with a bunch of guys here and BG was my first pick. I just reached out and said, ‘Hey, we’re in the market for an edge rusher, how are you feeling?’ At the time, he just felt like that wasn’t the right timing for him. [Brandon Graham] hadn’t really contemplated, was doing a bunch of other things, but apparently got his mind started moving a little bit and he started working out a little bit harder…
“When [former Eagles OLB Za’Darius Smith] Z retired, [I] picked up the phone again and just said, ‘Hey, I’m just reaching out again. I had heard a little bit through the grapevine; you’re working out a little bit harder.’ I got that little BG cackle, and that kind of gave me a sense that he wanted to come back.”
Philadelphia’s pass rush is getting an in-season facelift, between the return of Graham, the acquisition of edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and imminent returns from injury by linebackers Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt. And all it cost Roseman was a third-round pick to Miami for Phillips. That’s even more impressive than it sounds at first glance.
The third-round pick is Philadelphia’s natural pick, and they have another third-rounder. But that one belonged to the New York Jets, who sent it to Philadelphia in the Hassan Reddick deal. The season is not over yet, but the smart money is on the 6-2 Eagles finishing with a better record than the 1-7 Jets, who just held a firesale.
Moreover, if the Eagles like Phillips, 26, they can work to sign him long-term after the season. And if they choose not to, he will likely generate a compensatory pick for Philly from whoever signs him next.
Put it this way: there’s a decent chance the Eagles just added four pieces to their pass rush in-season without suffering any net loss in current or future talent at all. As it stands now, the Eagles have maintained their own first and second-round picks, while holding onto multiple picks in rounds 3, 4 and 5 in 2026.
“Our best teams, we’ve been fortunate to be in three Super Bowls over the last eight years, and they’ve been led by our front,” Roseman said. “You can never have enough pass rushers; you can never have enough cover corners, and they’re hard to find. Getting another player who can get pressure on the quarterback in key situations, those guys are always going to be paramount to our success. When you talk about that room, excited about all those guys in the room. When you can rotate those guys and you can keep them fresh, especially with the talent that you’re talking about that those guys possess, it just opens up all the possibilities to really be a dominant defensive front when you combine our interior defensive line with them as well. Obviously, it’s got to come together on the field, but feel like we’ve got a really good front, and obviously adding Jaelan to that puts a lot of pieces in place to give us the opportunity to be dominant upfront.”
As for the secondary, it has been clear for weeks that the Eagles need additional help at CB2 opposite Quinyon Mitchell. They may not receive the three-time Pro Bowl level that Jaire Alexander played at earlier this decade, but it only cost them a 2026 sixth round pick to find out how close he can come.
Moreover, Roseman didn’t rely on Alexander’s acquisition alone to fortify the secondary, bringing in nickel back Michael Carter from the aforementioned Jets in exchange for receiver John Metchie.
In both trades, the Eagles gave up sixth rounders and received seventh rounders. Collectively, they came out of the two deals with the best players to help them now and, somehow, even more draft capital.
“I think the first half of the season showed us how important corner depth is,” Roseman said. “We had a bunch of games here where we didn’t have our full complement of guys. It’s a position that you need to have a bunch of guys here for the amount of games that we’re trying to play.”
…What we’re really trying to do is we’re trying to be able to match up with all kinds of shapes and sizes at the wide receiver position in the secondary. When you have guys who can do that, it just gives you so much flexibility when you’re going to play different teams and the different types of receivers they have, different types of tight ends, even backs coming out of the backfield. When you talk about Michael Carter, the guy has played at an elite level inside, so that gives you flexibility there.”
There are no guarantees that in-season trades will work. Just ask Roseman about Linval Joseph or Ndamokong Suh, for instance.
But without depleting future assets, Roseman just addressed his team’s biggest areas of need with multiple new options for head coach Nick Sirianni to deploy.
Meanwhile, Giants kicker Graham Gano did not participate in practice again on Thursday, and the Commanders haven’t yet ruled Jayden Daniels out of Sunday’s game despite a dislocated elbow.
The difference is almost unfathomably large.