Howie Roseman explains why Jaelan Phillips trade wasn't hard to make

Howie Roseman explains why Jaelan Phillips trade wasn't hard to make originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Third-round picks are valuable and the Eagles have found a lot of really good players in that round during Howie Roseman's run as general manager.

They gave up a third-round pick this week to get Jaelan Phillips.

But a day after pulling off that trade to bolster the Eagles' edge rusher rotation, Roseman said it wasn't hard to pull the trigger on this trade with the Dolphins.

Just for us, where we are as a team," Roseman said, what we believe is important to winning a world championship and to being a great team, it really wasn't a hard trade to make."

The Eagles made three trades within the last week but the deal to get Phillips out of Miami was the most significant. They gave up their own third-round pick in 2026 in the deal. The organization has always believed in building through the trenches and their edge rusher group just a week ago was looking way too weak for a championship run.

Adding a player like Phillips could be the difference between an early playoff exit and a deep run to the Super Bowl. Roseman on Tuesday explained the fit with Phillips.

With all these guys, the process starts with college, and we spent a lot of time with [Phillips] coming out of college knowing the person," Roseman said. It's really easy to scout the player. He's got freak ability, he can rush, he can set the edge, he can play in space. He's got a nonstop motor. I think one of the most fun things to do is put on his tape and watch his effort.

When you have the athleticism and the physical ability he has with the effort he has, and then just going and seeing that he was Walter Payton Man of the Year in Miami and the things that he does in the community. He comes from an unbelievable family, and then Vic (Fangio) was with him."

While Fangio has routinely downplayed his involvement in Eagles personnel decisions, it's obvious the Eagles consult with him before making moves on defense. And in this case, it's even more obvious. Because Phillips played under Fangio for one season in Miami in 2023 and had the most productive stretch of his NFL career. In eight games before tearing his Achilles that year, Phillips had 6 1/2 sacks, 11 QB hits and his only career interception.

Injuries have been an issue for the former No. 18 overall pick out of the University of Miami. He had that torn Achilles in 2023 and last season lasted just four games before he tore his ACL.

Roseman on Tuesday acknowledged the risk, saying there's no insurance on any of these deals" but also went into specifics about Phillips' injuries. It's obvious the Eagles did their homework. Roseman mentioned that the Achilles injury happened during a Black Friday game on that infamous MetLife Stadium turf and that his ACL was the result of friendly fire from a teammate, not a non-contact injury.

But after his 2024 season was cut short, Phillips returned in time for the start of the 2025 season and started all nine games for the Dolphins, playing 73% of their defensive snaps. He has 3 sacks and 7 QB hits this season and all of them have come the last five games, which could be a sign that he's improving the further removed he is from that surgery.

Just knowing the person and what kind of worker he is, the freak show of an athlete that he is, and seeing the effect that he had on the game this year," Roseman said. Watching him and just seeing the difference that he makes, and really, he's made every time he's been on the field since they drafted him.

For us, it's so hard to find difference makers as players and as people that - you don't want to live with regret in this job. I think when we came down to it and had the conversations, the regret would be not doing everything we can to try to maximize the ability of this team to win as many games as we possibly can and give ourselves an opportunity in January and, hopefully, February."

Since Phillips comes to the Eagles on an expiring contract, Roseman was asked about the possibility of re-signing him but made it clear he's not interested in handing out extensions during this season. That was his MO in 2022 and 2024 too. Basically, he doesn't want to create locker room issues by extending some players and not others.

But it's very possible that Phillips could end up being an Eagle beyond the 2025 season if things work out. Roseman really believes Phillips is a good fit and we'll find out soon enough if he's right.