When the Philadelphia Eagles made their trade with the Miami Dolphins for edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, it felt like an instant win for Philly.
The Eagles gave up a 2026 third-round pick for Phillips, and it initially worked out well, as he helped Philly turn the season around with their pass rush and make the playoffs. It was short-lived, though, as the Eagles ended up losing Phillips in free agency to the Carolina Panthers.
Another part of the equation is what the Dolphins did with the Eagles' third-round pick, the compensatory pick for Haason Reddick's departure. Miami ended up selecting Ohio State tight end Will Kacmarek with the 87th overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Did the Eagles truly win the Jaelan Phillips trade over the Dolphins?
Phillips was a great rental for the Eagles when they needed him the most. During the regular season with the Dolphins and Eagles, he had 57 hurries and 73 pressures with just five sacks, but that kind of work to get in the face of the quarterback was huge throughout the season.
Part of the problem with Phillips was that he could not get many sacks for the Eagles. He only had two in his time in Philly, with Jalyx Hunt leading the team with six.
Miami might have lost its best pass rusher, but they were already in the process of cleaning up and creating cap space. Adding Kacmarek only helps their offense, which is trying to get younger.
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In the end, the Eagles are going to get a nice third-round compensatory pick for Phillips' departure, which will help, but Philly was hoping for more than half a season of work to help them. It was worth it at the time, but now that third-round pick the Dolphins got might have been used for something better. This feels like a bit of a missed opportunity from the Eagles, even if it did help for a short time last year.
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