Eagles News: Howie Roseman among biggest winners from the NFL trade deadline

The 2-7 Eagles moved just one player before Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline, according to Inquirer.com: defensive tackle Jordan Davis, traded Monday to Jacksonville for a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick. A second deal that would have sent Arnold Ebiketie to Cincinnati fell through when the Bengals pulled out before it became official. The Eagles are on their bye week and return to the Jefferson Health Training Complex next week, and Inquirer.com reported the team will look much like it did during a seventh consecutive loss, a 19-11 defeat to the New York Giants.

General manager Howie Roseman drew praise for the return on Davis, whom Philadelphia drafted 13th overall in 2022 and who became a reliable run-stuffer and team leader after a slow start. Inquirer.com noted that Davis had not been the 2025 version of himself and that trading a team captain is never easy, but said Roseman could not pass up that value. The trade adds to what the Eagles received last month from Baltimore in exchange for Cam Jurgens, a package that included a 2028 second-round pick. Jurgens, the Eagles' second pick in 2022 at No. 51, started at guard while Jason Kelce retired, moved to his natural spot in 2024 and helped the team win the Super Bowl.

Inquirer.com framed the sequence as good business: the Eagles got a Super Bowl out of those two 2022 top picks, then used them to get back a first-round pick and two second-round picks. The team now has 10 picks in the first two rounds over the next three drafts and is projected to have 27 total picks over that time, giving Roseman options to fill roster holes, draft two young players in 2027, acquire a proven talent or trade both first-round picks to make a splash.

Roseman's offseason was not his best, Inquirer.com said, because the Eagles have not had enough talent to overcome a rash of injuries and win games, and have not yet gotten enough from the top end of the last two draft classes to mitigate absences from key players. The outlet also reported that Davis's exit suggests the Eagles know a defensive scheme change could be in their future. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio contemplated retirement last offseason and perhaps could call it a career after the 2026 campaign. Davis was an important run-defending nose tackle in Fangio's 3-4 scheme, and a move to a 4-3 front could leave him out of place.

Two other names stayed because of the dead cap. Inquirer.com reported that trading coach Dallas Goedert before the deadline would have roughly doubled his dead cap number to $18.2 million, and that the Eagles could lead the league in dead cap money next season. Riq Woolen also remained, because his $8.6 million dead cap hit in 2027 would have been unchanged by a trade.

The Ebiketie deal collapsed over compensatory picks, Inquirer.com said. Nick Korte, a contributor at Over the Cap, pointed out that because Ebiketie was a compensatory free agent signing by the Eagles, trading for him would give the Bengals three compensatory free agents gained after three lost in the offseason. To receive compensatory picks, a team must lose more qualifying free agents than it signs, so the real cost of trading for Ebiketie would have been a sixth-round pick and a third-round comp pick. The Bengals need pass-rush help, Inquirer.com said, but not at that cost.

Inquirer.com described the Eagles' position as a crucial crossroads, with the franchise mired in its worst stretch of the Nick Sirianni era after falling far from its Super Bowl glory two years ago. The outlet said the team needs to course correct and raised questions about which players might move and whether coaches' jobs are on the line.