The Dallas Cowboys will have a quick turnaround to the trade deadline after they lock horns with the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football. It was always wishful thinking that Jerry Jones would make a move before the game, and that philosophy has cost them an ideal target.
In a familiar sight for Cowboys fans, the Philadelphia Eagles have traded for Miami Dolphins edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, one of the hottest commodities before Tuesday's deadline. The Eagles are sending a 2026 third-round pick to Miami.
This trade is yet another reminder that the Eagles are the class of the NFL when it comes to being aggressive to improve their roster.
Eagles trading for Jaelan Phillips is a gut punch for the Cowboys
It's unlikely that Jones would've paid that much for Phillips, who might end up being a rental for Philadelphia. While it would not surprise if Howie Roseman extended Phillips, a good performance for the rest of the season might price Roseman out.
The Cowboys aren't in a position to acquire rental players, but they could've easily traded for Phillips with an extension already agreed upon. They don't have any long-term EDGE contracts, and it's very possible that Jadeveon Clowney, Dante Fowler, Sam Williams, and James Houston aren't back next year.
Could Dallas just draft an edge rusher in the first or second round next April? Sure, but do you really trust them to hit on that pick? While Donovan Ezeiruaku looks like a building block, Williams (2022 second-round pick) and Marshawn Kneeland (2024 second-round pick) look like busts.
Phillips has been hidden amid Miami's dysfunction, but he's a really good player.
According to Pro Football Focus, he ranks 16th among all edge defenders this season with a 77.8 pass-rush grade, 11th with 32 pressures, and eighth with 16 defensive stops. He is also tied for seventh at the position with a 31 percent run-stop win rate. That production comes in spite of the Dolphins getting virtually nothing from their interior defenders.
A first-round pick in 2022, Phillips would've slotted in as Dallas' best defensive end. Instead, the Cowboys will have to face him when they host the Eagles in Week 12, and he'll provide a massive boost to a Philadelphia defense that sorely needed more juice off the edge.
Rinse and repeat.