Five trade targets for depleted Eagles edge rusher corps, from Trey Hendrickson to Jermaine Johnson

If the Eagles didn’t need to add another edge rusher last week, they certainly do now.

Za’Darius Smith announced his retirement on Monday morning, making an already-thin edge rusher corps thinner. The Eagles have just four healthy players at the position on the active roster: Jalyx Hunt, Joshua Uche, Azeez Ojulari, and Patrick Johnson. Nolan Smith, who has been on injured reserve for the last three weeks, isn’t expected to return until November following the Eagles’ Week 9 bye.

With the Nov. 4 trade deadline just three weeks away, here are five players the Eagles could consider acquiring to bulk up the position:

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If Trey Hendrickson is on the table for the Eagles, that would mean Howie Roseman is ready to throw the kitchen sink at the 2-4 Cincinnati Bengals.

Hendrickson, the 2024 NFL sack leader (17½), is in the final year of his contract. Back in August, the 30-year-old Hendrickson and the Bengals agreed to restructure the last year of his deal, increasing his salary for 2025 and ending his hold-in over unsuccessful contract extension negotiations.

Before reworking his contract, the Bengals had granted Hendrickson permission to seek a trade. At the time, The Athletic reported that Cincinnati was seeking — at a minimum — a young defensive player and a 2026 first-round pick in return.

Has that asking price come down six games into the season? Or could the Eagles get into a bidding war with other pass rush-needy NFC teams, especially the San Francisco 49ers, at the trade deadline, driving up the return for Hendrickson?

That would be a steep asking price for a rental, but players of Hendrickson’s caliber aren’t easy to find. Going into Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Hendrickson had generated 27.5% of the Bengals’ pressures and 40% of their total sacks this season, even though Cincinnati’s defense had the fourth-lowest pressure rate in the league (27.5%), according to Next Gen Stats.

Hendrickson exited Sunday’s game with a back injury and is day to day heading into the Bengals’ Thursday night matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Regardless, time will tell if he is still on the team by Thursday.

What if Roseman doesn’t want to expend an exorbitant amount of draft capital or part ways with a young defensive player for Hendrickson?

He might turn his attention to the 1-5 Miami Dolphins, starting with Bradley Chubb. The 29-year-old Chubb leads the team in sacks (four) through six games.

Chubb has plenty of familiarity with Vic Fangio, playing for the Eagles defensive coordinator for three seasons (2019-21) when he was the head coach of the Denver Broncos and for one season in Miami (2023) when Fangio was the defensive coordinator. The 6-4, 268-pound Chubb was named to his first career Pro Bowl under Fangio in 2020.

He missed the entire 2024 season while recovering from a torn ACL that he sustained in Week 17 the previous year. But the two-time Pro Bowler is off to a decent start this year, ranking second on the team in quarterback pressures, according to Next Gen Stats, and could potentially come at a low cost.

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Chubb is technically under contract with the Dolphins through 2027, but has no guaranteed salary remaining in the final two years of his deal. He will likely warrant a new or reworked contract after this year, making him more of a rental at the deadline.

What if the Eagles want to target a player with more upside? The Dolphins have another intriguing target on the roster in Jaelan Phillips, the 2021 No. 18 overall pick out of Miami who is in the final year of his rookie deal.

Phillips, 26, hasn’t had an ideal start to his NFL career. He was productive through the first two seasons, totaling 15½ sacks in that span. But he sustained season-ending injuries in the two years that followed. In the midst of a would-be breakout season in 2023, in which he collected 6½ sacks through eight games, Phillips sustained a torn Achilles.

In Week 4 the following year, the 6-5, 263-pound Phillips partially tore his ACL, ending his season again.

Phillips has started all six games so far this season and hasn’t mustered the same sack rate he achieved earlier in his career. He has just one sack, but he leads the team with 17 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats. Roseman loves a reclamation project, but is that the most sensible route to explore from a short-term perspective?

Like Phillips, New York Jets outside linebacker Jermaine Johnson is still on his rookie deal and could be a candidate for a change of scenery, especially if the winless team is in the market for draft picks.

Johnson, 26, was the Jets’ No. 26 overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Florida State, a selection made by former Jets general manager and current Eagles senior personnel director Joe Douglas. He has also dealt with injuries during his brief NFL career. Following his 2023 Pro Bowl season in which he registered 7½ sacks, Johnson tore his Achilles in Week 2 the next year. He returned to action to start this season, but he missed three games with an ankle injury sustained in Week 2.

In his first game back from the ankle injury this weekend against the Denver Broncos, the 6-5, 254-pound Johnson registered his first sack of the season. Despite playing just three games this year, Johnson still ranks third on the team in pressures (eight), per Next Gen Stats.

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According to SNY, it would take “a lot” for the Jets to part ways with Johnson. After all, they picked up the fifth-year option on the young edge rusher this offseason, so he is under contract through 2026.

Would the 1-5 New Orleans Saints be willing to make a deal within the NFC to move eight-time Pro Bowler Cameron Jordan?

Seeing him suit up for another team would have been like watching Brandon Graham play outside of Philadelphia, given that Jordan has spent all 15 seasons of his NFL career with the Saints. Still, ESPN listed Jordan as a player who could potentially be available in a trade as the deadline approaches.

Perhaps he wants a chance to compete for a Super Bowl before he retires. Jordan is the oldest player on the list at 36 and is in the final year of his contract, but he still has some juice left as a pass rusher. He has 2½ sacks (second-most on the Saints) and 13 pressures (tied for second) in six games this season, according to Next Gen Stats.

But his biggest asset as a player at this point in his career is his run-stopping ability. According to Pro Football Focus, Jordan is tied for fourth in the league among edge defenders in run stops (eight), which are defined as tackles that constitute a failure for the offense. His stinginess against the run would be a benefit to an Eagles defense that ranks No. 26 in the league in opponent rushing yards.