Eagles make no deadline trades; Vic Fangio is ‘pleased’ with the defense

The 4 p.m. trade deadline on Tuesday came and went without a peep from the Eagles.

Howie Roseman stood pat at the deadline for just the second time in the last eight seasons, neither acquiring a player nor shipping one off. Earlier in the day, Vic Fangio said that he hadn’t heard if the team was pursuing a prospective deal, leading him to assume that the Eagles weren’t involved in anything, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

Just as he said last week, the Eagles defensive coordinator reiterated his confidence in his existing group of players, a defense that ranks third in the league in yards against and ninth in points against.

“I’m pleased with what we’ve got and we’ll continue to move forward with it,” Fangio said.

That group includes Bryce Huff, whose limited usage on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars led to speculation that the Eagles would look to trade him. Fangio revealed that the 26-year-old defensive end has been dealing with a wrist issue, which flared up during pregame warmups and led to the decision to reduce his snaps.

Huff played just six snaps, the bulk of which came on the Jaguars’ final possession of the game. Fangio explained that by that point in the contest, the rest of his pass rushers were exhausted, as Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham hit season-highs in snaps by the end of the game.

“I always kind of feel that somebody that’s 100% is better than somebody that’s dealing with an ailment,” Fangio said. “So luckily, the way the game went, we were able to play most of it with the other guys sharing the load.”

Huff finished the game with one pressure on five pass-rush snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. The 6-foot-3, 255-pound edge rusher has generated just 11 pressures (including one sack) on 132 pass-rush snaps this season. Fangio said that if Huff gets healthy, he will play more.

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While Huff remains an Eagle, several pass rushers across the league were moved leading up to the deadline. The Arizona Cardinals acquired outside linebacker Baron Browning from the Denver Broncos in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick on Monday. The next day, the Detroit Lions officially traded for former Cleveland Browns defensive end Za’Darius Smith, giving up a 2025 fifth-rounder and a 2026 sixth-rounder to bolster their pass rush in the absence of Aidan Hutchinson.

Smith’s former teammate with the Green Bay Packers, defensive end Preston Smith, reportedly was dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers roughly an hour before the deadline.

Although Roseman did not execute a trade leading up to the deadline, the general manager made one deal during the preseason, acquiring Jahan Dotson from the Washington Commanders in exchange for a package of picks including a 2025 third-round selection. After a quiet start to the season, Dotson made his most impactful play as an Eagle on Sunday against the Jaguars, snaring a 36-yard contested catch in the third quarter.

With the trade deadline passed, all players are subject to waivers if released, including vested veterans.

With Dak Prescott out against the Eagles with a hamstring injury, Cooper Rush is expected to start at quarterback for the Cowboys in his place on Sunday. The 30-year-old backup is well-acquainted with the offense he’ll be tasked to run. Rush has spent the last seven years across two stints with the Cowboys, starting six games in that span (5-1-0).

Rush made his last start in 2022 when Kellen Moore was the offensive coordinator in Dallas. Moore, now in the same role with the Eagles, has plenty of familiarity with the longtime Cowboys backup.

“Coop’s a really smart player,” Moore said Tuesday. “He has a great feel for the game. Anticipation, vision, feel for what the defense is doing. I think he puts himself in a really good position. He can handle volume from an offensive game plan perspective. Obviously, when Coop’s gone in there, he’s had success. And so it’ll still be a challenge for us.”

Moore downplayed the significance of his connection to the Cowboys, which began in 2015 when he signed with the practice squad as a depth quarterback. He became the quarterbacks coach in 2018 following his retirement as a player and assumed the offensive coordinator role the following year through 2022.

While Moore is familiar with a number of the players on the Cowboys’ roster, he emphasized the turnover that has occurred over the last two seasons since his departure. Fangio said that he may ask Moore some questions this week about the quarterback, but he also understands that things have changed since the offensive coordinator’s tenure with the team ended.

Even with a different quarterback at the helm, Fangio said he doesn’t expect the Cowboys offense under second-year coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to change much.

“Rush has been there a long time,” Fangio said. “He knows the offense as well as anybody there does. And he’ll operate it efficiently.”

The Eagles released Albert Okwuegbunam, whose 21-day practice window was coming to an end.

The 26-year-old tight end started the season on injured reserve while dealing with an abdominal ailment. Roseman had acquired Okwuegbunam from the Denver Broncos at the cut-down deadline last year in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round draft pick. He appeared in four games last season and was targeted once on 57 offensive snaps.