In Or Out? Eagles Give Mixed Signals On Defensive Superstar

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There’s perception and there’s reality. The latter of those concepts isn’t a shared vision by those in Indianapolis when it comes to Cleveland superstar Myles Garrett, who has requested a trade from the Browns.
Andrew Berry was asked if Garrett is going to be moved and the Cleveland GM said he can’t envision a world without Garrett.
Ask ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler about an NFC East arms race between the Eagles and Commanders regarding Garrett and the insider defaults to Howie Roseman’s reputation claiming the Super Bowl-winning Philly GM would "likely step in and try to make a deal that is too hard for the Browns to refuse" if it seemed Washington personnel chief Adam Peters was about to land the big fish.
Then there’s on-podium Roseman, who toed the line while also allowing his passionate fan base room to dream.
"I'm not going to talk about anyone under contract with another team, but I think that one thing that I can promise our fans is that there will not be a player that's available that we won't study, that we won't look at and see if he can help the team," the Eagles GM said. "Sometimes those opportunities work and you're able to do that and sometimes they don't."
Off-podium Howie was a little more pessimistic with local beat reporters.
#Eagles GM Howie Roseman declined to answer a question about interest in trading for Browns DE Myles Garrett on the podium. But earlier, with team beat reporters, he was asked about the parameters -- age, position, roster construction -- that need to be in place to trade away…
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) February 25, 2025
“Anytime that you’re talking about giving up a high pick and a lot of money for a player, it’s also got to fit where you are as a team,” Roseman said when speaking about a real difference-maker in a more general sense. “It’s got to fit where you are from a cap perspective, all those things have to match up. And so we look at all those.
“There’s a lot of attractive items out there, you know, and we spend a lot of time talking about every position and every good player, and we’re selfish. We want everyone, but at the end of the day, it’s just not the position we’re in right now.”
So what's real and what's not?
The answer to that is to be determined by a Butterfly Effect that starts with Berry deciding if things can be salvaged with the uber-talented Garrett in Cleveland.
If not and it becomes clear that Garrett is up for grabs, Fowler's assessment could come into play especially if the top suitor is the Commanders, a team that suddenly gave Jonathan Allen permission to seek a trade.
That kind of push could get Roseman to pull some levers he'd prefer not to as long as Garrett remained out of the NFC East.
For right now, the mixed signals have been floated because that's exactly where the Eagles are when it comes to Garrett.
Unless pressed by the desires of others too close to home the idea of the former Defensive Player of the Year with the Eagles remains a longshot.
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John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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