The Philadelphia Eagles he made no moves before the NFL trade deadline. General manager Howie Roseman may have made his preseason trade when he traded a third-round pick to the Washington Commanders for wide receiver Jahan Dotson. Maybe that’s it, or maybe nothing worked out for Howie this year.

Be careful in the next couple of days when you hear news that says, “Team X tried really hard to trade for player Y,” because that’s akin to an owner or general manager saying they were really picked up. player they didn’t draft even if they had the chance to.

In reality, the Eagles have what they have and any other additions will have to come in free agency. Is that a good thing? Eh… Sort of.

The Eagles could use some help on defense. There is no proven one-on-one replacement for Zack Baun if he misses time, and Bryce Huff has been far less than spectacular. That said, the defense has been firing on all cylinders recently, so trading for help hasn’t exactly been a pressing issue.

There are reasons to be happy that Howie Roseman hasn’t made a midseason move, and of course, there are reasons to feel uneasy about it.

Reasons to be OK with the Eagles’ lack of action:

On Monday, Tom Pelissero said he wouldn’t be surprised if Bryce Huff drew attention at the trade deadline because he played just six snaps against the Jaguars because of a wrist problem.

It is very strange because you would think that a player who is injured would not play at all. When Nick Sirianni said that Huff had been dealing with an injury during his time post-match press conferenceI found it a bit unpleasant.

Apparently there was nothing strange about it. Tuesday, Vic Fangiowhich is as transparent as a bird kill window, was asked about Huff’s lack of playing time against the Jaguars. vic said, “He’s got a wrist issue that he’s dealing with that flared up before the game, so you always feel like someone who’s 100 percent is better than someone who’s dealing with an illness.” He later continued, “When a guy is dealing with something, you’d rather play a guy who is 100 percent or close to 100 percent. Then at the end of the game we had those two drives where guys were gassed.”

So it looks like Huff wasn’t in a Devante Adams-adjacent situation where he had a mystery injury that was going to be cleared up right when he was going to be traded. This is a real injury that he’s dealing with, and he wouldn’t have played at all in Week 8 if the game wasn’t close and the other edge rushers weren’t completely spent.

So it’s good, right? It’s not a thing where everyone involved mutually and openly hates the situation. He’d hate it if that were the case, especially since Huff was never traded.

Vic was also asked whether or not he expected a new player before the trade deadline. he said, “I haven’t heard that we’re involved in anything anyway, so I’m assuming we’re not involved in anything. I’m happy with what I got and moving forward with it.”

So again, if you want to spin the Eagles’ lack of activity in a positive way, it shows that they’re not forcing anything. Howie Roseman trusts his defensive coordinator, and if Vic is happy with what he’s got, then he’s not doing anything to sour him…especially since he’s a 66-year-old.

Fangio earned the benefit of the doubt. He has a great eye for talent and his scheme has proven to range from “super awesome” to “just okay.” If he says he’s happy with what he has, then there’s no reason to change it.

Offensively, the Eagles are settled. It would have been nice to see some sort of upgrade to the RB2, but it wasn’t a must or anything. Eagles like Kenny Gainwell and he’s good behind this offensive line, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a running back who isn’t. It would be great if Saquon could take some games more often and his replacement would be someone a little better than Kenny G.

Reasons to be a little concerned:

We’re doing the Bryce Huff thing for the rest of the season. It wasn’t great or even good. A $17 million pass rusher should produce about 10 times as much as Huff. Mix that with the wrist thing that’s apparently supposed to keep him off the field and we’re looking at even less production.

He might have a good game here or there, and maybe he’ll start to consistently do better than what he’s doing now, but he clearly has a low ceiling for what the Eagles are asking of him.

Fortunately, Nolan Smith played quite well. You’re right to be much more comfortable with him getting more playing time now than you were two months ago.

Another cause for concern is because of the upcoming draft picks. Right now, the Eagles have seven picks left in the 2025 Draft: one pick in the first, second, third and fourth picks, and three picks in the fifth round. They didn’t trade anyone, so they’re stuck with those seven picks…for now.

Howie tied a record for most trades during the 2024 draft with eight trades over the three days. He’ll end up making a few moves during the 2025 draft, but it would have been nice if he could get rid of someone relatively inconsequential to get another fifth- or sixth-round pick or better in 2026.

The rating scale is: Terrible, Bad, Good, Good, Great. Other NFC East contenders certainly improved their teams and had good trade deadlines. The Detroit Lions added edge rusher Za’Darius Smith and the Washington Commanders added cornerback Marshon Lattimore.

This trade deadline was perfect for the Eagles. They didn’t add someone as old as a 38-year-old Calais Campbell, who used to be good but would inevitably be bad, and they didn’t add anyone who could shore up some of the defense’s weaknesses. But again, Vic gets what Vic wants. If Vic doesn’t want it, then Vic doesn’t get it.