Eagles' New Edge Rusher Pleased To Be "With A Storied Franchise"

Jaelan Phillips landed at Philadelphia International Airport, and probably before he even had his first cheesesteak, he was greeted by the ubiquitous John Clark of NBCS Philadelphia. The Eagles finalized a trade to bring Phillips to Philly from the Miami Dolphins on Monday morning. Hours later, he arrived.

"I mean, it's incredible, you know, it's like, I had no idea this was going to happen, but, I mean, there's literally no other team I'd rather play for,” he told Clark. “You know, obviously, Philly is a storied franchise, great tradition here, incredible team. So, I'm just excited to get in, get to work with the guys, man, I'm super excited. It's gonna be awesome.”

Clark has a knack for being the first on the scene when a heralded player makes his first appearance in his new city. And Phillips is a heralded player, a first-round draft pick of the Dolphins in 2021, the 18th player selected overall that year.

“I’m gonna work my ass off. I’m going to come in and be a humble worker. Earn the guys respect. Earn the fans respect. I want to fly around and make plays. Literally fly around! Go Birds”

-New Eagles pass rusher Jaelan Phillips arrives in Philly tonight. He is happy to be…
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) November 4, 2025

Injuries have robbed him of the player he could have been, but it’s not too late for him to still become that player. He is just 26.

After playing all 17 games in his first two pro seasons and collecting 15.5 sacks in those two years, the UCLA product was beset by injuries and played a combined 12 games over the next two years.

The good news is he has played all nine games for the Dolphins this season and has played 73 percent of their defensive snaps. He has three sacks, but his pressure rate has increased in the past few weeks.

"Oh, man, I'm just going to work my ass off,” he said to Clark. “I'm going to come in be a humble worker, earn the guys respect, earn the fans respect. Just come in and do everything I can to support the team. Want to be able to fly around and make plays, yeah, literally fly around.”

Phillips shouldn’t take too long to get acclimated to the Eagles defensive scheme since defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was Phillips’ DC for a year in Miami.

“Yeah, I love Vic as a person and as a coach,” said Phillips. “I had some good success with him. Excited to get back into his system and play with other guys on defense too.”

He had 6.5 sacks in the eight games he played under Fangio before tearing an Achilles.

"We're going to miss him tremendously,” said Fangio when Phillips got hurt that season.

Sources said that the Eagles made inquiries about trading for Phillips during the summer, but the Dolphins thought they had a chance to contend in the AFC East. They are 2-7, however, and appear headed for a rebuild, recently firing general manager Chris Grier after a run that lasted for nearly 10 years.

The Eagles gave up their own third-round pick – not the one they got from the Jets when they traded Haason Reddick – to land Phillips.

Will the Eagles try to keep him in the offseason with a new contract or let him walk as a free agent and recoup a compensatory pick? That’s a question for another day, however. Right now, it’s about seeing what kind of impact Phillips can have and how quickly he can get on the field.

More NFL: Handing Out Five Awards At Halfway Point Of Eagles Season