Perfect trade deadline target is staring Eagles directly in the face
History would tell us that we should expect nothing less than aggressiveness bordering on recklessness from Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman at the NFL trade deadline. Roseman loves to wheel and deal more than maybe any other general manager in the league, and he's not going to change his tune now.
The Eagles actually have a number of interesting potential trade candidates given what players could actually be available and the needs they have, but there's one option out there who might make more sense than the rest.
The perfect trade deadline target for the Eagles (or at least one of them) has got to be Tennessee Titans DL/EDGE Dre'Mont Jones, who could reunite with Vic Fangio in Philadelphia.
Dre'Mont Jones is a no-brainer trade target for Eagles at the NFL Trade Deadline
There are a couple of players with connections to Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio who could be available at the NFL trade deadline this year, but Dre'Mont Jones might be one of the best bargain values out there.
Jones was actually the very first defensive player drafted by the Denver Broncos when Fangio was the head coach in the Mile High City, and he was an effective player on Fangio's defensive front immediately. In fact, Jones became the first Denver Broncos rookie to
He developed under Fangio in Denver for three seasons before the Broncos moved on in 2022, and he blossomed into a player with a big-money contract after the 2022 season. Although things didn't work out for Jones in Seattle with the Seahawks, he had a career-best 13 quarterback hits last season and already has five quarterback hits and three sacks in eight games so far this season.
The best part about Jones's game is that he doesn't have to play strictly off the edge. Actually, the Titans moved him out there this season due to the state of their roster. Jones actually played more on the interior defensive line under Fangio in Denver, and can provide that pop from the edge whenever it's needed.
He would be a great addition to the Eagles' defensive front, and because the Titans are expected to have a bit of a fire sale, he could be available for a late-round pick swap or something pretty reasonable.
The Eagles could also look to reunite Fangio with a player he had both in Denver and Miami: Bradley Chubb. Actually, it was the Broncos' decision to trade Bradley Chubb that seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for Dre'Mont Jones in terms of his time with the team. At that point, he wanted nothing to do with coming back to the Broncos, or so it seemed.
Maybe Howie Roseman can swing it so those two guys can be back playing together again under Vic Fangio, helping the Eagles chase another Super Bowl win.
JJ McCarthy Catches Tough Break Upon Return as Vikings’ QB1
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy will step back into the role of starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings against the Detroit Lions in Week 9, but the timing of his return probably could not be worse.
McCarthy played just two games to begin the year before a high-ankle sprain sidelined him for the past six weeks. Danny Heifetz of The Ringer explained on the October 22 edition of “The Bill Simmons Podcast” the direness of the scenario McCarthy faces.
“The Vikings, to this point in the season, had the easiest schedule in the NFL. The Vikings going forward have the hardest schedule in the NFL,” Heifetz said. “So McCarthy comes back, he’s gonna get rocked. He’s clearly not ready for the NFL, and the Vikings are a win-now team.”
Minnesota has two games against the Lions, two with the Green Bay Packers, one vs. the Seattle Seahawks and one against the Chicago Bears remaining on the schedule.
Heifetz continued, asserting that Minnesota’s McCarthy problem is going to extend into the 2026 campaign.
“The timelines are totally mismanaged. He’s not gonna play well. And if he doesn’t, the whole offseason is gonna be, ‘What do the Vikings do?'” Heifetz said. “You gonna go with just J.J. McCarthy again? They had Daniel Jones last year, let him go. They had Sam Darnold, they let him go. [McCarthy] has more pressure on him than any quarterback going into next year.”
Vikings Facing Serious Consequences for Betting on JJ McCarthy Over Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones
And that is to say nothing of what McCarthy faces across the final 10 games of this season — even beyond the gauntlet of the toughest slate in the league.
Minnesota is 3-4 and currently paying the price for making a huge bet on McCarthy as the No. 10 pick in 2024. The team made another monster wager that parting ways with Darnold and Jones in favor of a 22-year-old QB with zero professional experience was the right call simply because his salary is manageable enough compared to what Darnold now earns ($100.5 million over three years in Seattle) that the Vikings could spend more to build out other parts of the roster.
“The Vikings had a very difficult situation, decision, where do you pay Darnold $30 or $40 million a year or do you go with McCarthy? And that’s a hard decision. So it’s not Monday morning quarterbacking, but they clearly made the wrong decision,” Heifetz said. “We all wonder if the McCarthy ankle thing was a shadow benching. There was probably some kind of injury there, but I’m like, ‘They are hiding this guy.'”
Vikings Will Bring in Competition for Starting Job Next Season if JJ McCarthy Struggles Down the Stretch
McCarthy is going to get as much rope as exists through the remainder of the 2025 campaign. The Vikings have only undrafted rookie Max Brosmer and John Wolford (four career starts) to round out the quarterback room.
It is possible, or maybe even likely, that the team will try to add a veteran signal-caller ahead of the trade deadline to replace the departed Carson Wentz, who is now out for the season due to surgery on his non-throwing shoulder.
If Minnesota does bring in another veteran QB by November 4, it probably won’t be a player who can viably threaten for the starting job in 2026. However, if McCarthy continues to struggle, the Vikings are certainly going to hunt for competition for him come next spring.
“If the young quarterback shines, as he did during a transcendent fourth quarter on the first Monday night of the season, he’ll have a firm grip on the job that was handed to him last spring, and the Vikings will continue to build around him,” Michael Silver of The Athletic wrote Friday. “Should McCarthy struggle, as he did in a Week 2 defeat to the Falcons, the organization will surely explore viable alternatives at season’s end.”
