Dolphins Coach On Eagles' New Edge Rusher: 'Tough Decisions In Football'

The transition in Miami has already begun with long-time general manager Chris Grier out and interim GM Champ Kelly starting what could be a mini-fire sale by agreeing to trade talented edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to the Eagles for a 2026 third-round pick.

Phillips, Miami's 2021 first-round pick, is on the final year of his rookie contract and is going from the outhouse with the 2-7 Dolphins to the penthouse of the 6-2 Eagles, who look in prime position to make another run at the Lombardi Trophy.

To outsiders, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is also skating on thin ice, although owner Stephen Ross has intimated that McDaniel could keep his job if Miami keeps playing for the fourth-year coach and shows incremental improvement.

That becomes more difficult without your best players, and McDaniel was asked about the Phillips trade Monday in South Florida.

“My reaction – I think as a head coach you have a unique balance where my job is clearly to prepare the team to win this football game that’s coming in now six days," McDaniel said of his Week 10 matchup with 6-2 Buffalo. "That being said, it’s vitally important that when you’re making decisions for an organization, that I make my feelings clear on how things relate in the short term and the long term to be able to understand."

Different Timetables

Oct 30, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) is tackled by Miami Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips (15) during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

NFL teams are often on different timetables when it comes to contending. For the Eagles, Phillips makes a lot of sense for a very good team at a need position. For the Dolphins, premium draft capital is more important than an expensive player with an expiring contract for a roster that needs to be rebuilt.

"No one wants to be able to lose a good player, but you do things for the best interest of your football team in both the short and long term," McDaniel said. "My feelings towards it, I have a high regard and a lot of investment into Jaelan Phillips, and that part of the business I absolutely dislike in terms of having to say goodbye to a player. That being said, I understand it was a trade that we got back compensation. I understand the value of that compensation."

Phillips is unlikely to be the only player shipped out of Miami before Tuesday afternoon's NFL trade deadline.

“As far as the trade deadline is concerned, it’s very similar to digesting injuries after a game where you have your possibilities of players that you think that will be able to play on Sunday and sometimes those players are in question or sometimes you find out new information that they’re ruled out," said McDaniel. "I think that’s an every week rep that you kind of have to apply when you’re talking about specifically the decisions that need to be made for this specific game plan [against Buffalo].”

McDaniel is in a very difficult situation in what is a rapidly deteriorating situation around the Dolphins.

"I think as far as the organization and me working with the front office and communicating that, it was very healthy conversation that we all understood that maybe there’s some times that the best interest of the football team in the long term doesn’t necessarily overlap with the exact interest for one game with one player," McDaniel admitted.

The translation for that is that the Dolphins could have used Phillips this weekend against the Bills, but with a season lost, it's time to prioritize the future over the now in Miami.

"So tough decisions in football that I think the way to avoid those tough decisions, you can avoid those if you’re hitting on all cylinders and winning football games," McDaniel said. "We just lost this past week and if we want to make that a little easier on ourselves, we just win football games that we have the ability to instead of losing them. We control the controllables."

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