Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Howie Finds a Nickel

Posted October 29th, 2025 | 3 Comments »

Howie Roseman didn’t wait for the trade deadline to make a move. He found someone he liked on Wednesday and made the deal, adding an experienced player to the Eagles secondary.

Carter has played in 65 games over his career, with 25 starts. That’s misleading because he is a nickelback. He played starter level snaps, but wasn’t always on the field at the beginning of games. His 5-10, 184 size certainly is more of a traditional fit at nickel than outside corner.

So what exactly are the Eagles getting in Carter?

The question now is how Carter fits in with the Eagles defense. They already have one of the top nickelbacks in the league, Cooper DeJean. Trading for someone with Carter’s talent and experience could mean a couple of different things. It is possible that Vic Fangio wants Carter in the slot and will move DeJean to outside corner.

The other possibility is that Carter was made as a depth move. He gives the Eagles a backup at nickel in case anything happens to DeJean. Parry Nickerson had been the backup nickel. Carter is an upgrade. Vic Fangio likes rookie Mac McWilliams, but he’s just not ready to play key snaps for a title contender.

There might not be a definitive plan for Carter. Fangio can have him as the backup initially and get a better feel for Carter and how to use him as he practices with the team. No matter how you slice it, this was a good move. Metchie wasn’t needed at WR. The Eagles have Darius Cooper and Xavier Gipson outside of the big three. They are fine at WR.

DB was an area of need. You would love to trade for a good outside corner, but I’m not sure how many of those guys are available right now. Carter didn’t cost a key player or pick and makes the Eagles deeper and more versatile. His presence gives Fangio the option to keep DeJean in the slot or move him outside. The Eagles could try Carter outside, but he’s barely played there in his NFL career. Carter is meant for the slot.

Here is a look at Carter from the Jets perspective.

Carter wanted to come to Philly. He re-worked his contract so the deal would get done. He’s never had a chance to experience the postseason, let alone the Super Bowl. Now Carter has a great chance to be playing in January and possibly February. You know he’s excited.

A couple of misc nuggets.

  • Joe Douglas was the GM for the Jets when Carter was drafted. Douglas is now back working for the Eagles.
  • Carter will have almost 2 weeks to get ready for the Eagles next game (a week from Monday)

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Does this mean Howie is done? I don’t think so. The Eagles didn’t use any key resources in making this deal. Howie can continue talking to other teams to see what is available. I don’t think he’s going to pay a premium price because I’m not sure there would be a deal that makes sense. I wouldn’t trade a first round pick for DE Trey Hendrickson. He will turn 31 in a month, has 4 sacks this year and is battling back/hip injuries.

Any deal will have to make sense for the Eagles now and into the future. The Eagles are good enough to win as is. Howie isn’t desperate for help. That said, there are areas that could be upgraded. The price has to be right. The fit has to be right.

*****

Moro Ojomo has sacks in consecutive games and is playing well this season.

Keep making plays.

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Keep It Real

Posted October 27th, 2025 | 2 Comments »

The Eagles played their best game of the year on Sunday, beating the Giants 38-20. The run game came alive and Saquon Barkley looked like the guy from 2024. The defense limited NY to 246 total yards, with 65 of those coming against backups at the end of the game. The pass rush had its best game, sacking Jaxson Dart five times and pressuring him on a regular basis.

This was the Eagles team we’ve all been waiting to see. And they did this without AJ Brown, Cam Jurgens, Adoree Jackson and Azeez Ojulari. That was an impressive performance. The timing of the game makes things interesting. The Eagles are heading into their bye week. They will get back the injured guys after the bye. They’ll also get back Jakorian Bennett, Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham. All of this is important because the NFL trade deadline is next week.

Two weeks ago you might have said “the Eagles must add a pass rusher”. Now they’ll be adding Smith and Graham internally. You also have to factor in that Jalyx Hunt is coming off the two best games of his young career.

Is that enough at pass rusher? Maybe. Howie Roseman will still make his calls. The problem is that half the league is looking for pass rushers and not many are available. Howie can look around, but I don’t know that he’ll find many good options. You don’t want to waste a draft pick just to add a body. You would want to add someone that can truly help. The cost will have to make sense.

The other position that’s had some issues this year is cornerback. Kelee Ringo got the start on Sunday. I haven’t had a chance to study his game yet, but the fact he didn’t stand out as a problem is encouraging. He stood out in a bad way in the first Giants game. Adoree Jackson had played better recently before getting hurt. Are either of those guys good enough to help you win in January? That’s a tough question.

Howie might actually be more aggressive in calling around about corners. If anything happened to Quinyon Mitchell, the Eagles would be in big trouble. There aren’t going to be great options at CB, but they could be better than pass rusher.

Nick Sirianni and Howie will have some talks about the state of the team. They need to be on the same page about how good the Eagles are and how aggressive they should be in trade talks. The team’s braintrust needs to be honest and realistic about the roster.

As good as things looked on Sunday, that came against the 2-5 Giants.

The Giants were missing multiple starters in the secondary. One of their CBs was a practice squad promotion making his NFL debut. The Eagles looked really good, but you do need to keep that performance in context. It is critical that the Eagles make an honest evaluation. It feels like the team is trending in the right direction, but they will need to make sure that’s the case.

Any talk of the team being better without AJ Brown is just silly. They didn’t need Brown yesterday, but they will as they play a tough second half schedule.

One of the interesting things about each season is player development and discovery. Tank Bigsby was a bad trade until Sunday at 1pm.

Now the Eagles suddenly have a really good backup RB. He ran for 104 yards on Sunday and showed real burst and toughness as a runner. Who knew?

Brett Toth played the best game of his career. He looked like a legitimate starting NFL center against the Giants. Now you feel more comfortable about OL depth. Cam Latu was an afterthought when the season began. You could argue that he should be STs MVP at this point.

The Eagles have plenty of time to figure out what they think of the current roster and what moves they want to try to make. We have to say “try” because trades take two sides. Teams don’t just give away talent. Howie can make all the calls in the world, but that doesn’t mean other teams will send players to Philly. Howie and Nick’s discussions will affect how aggressive the Eagles are.

They can feel good about where the team is in terms of the division. The Eagles are tied for the second best record in the conference and already have tiebreakers over the Rams and Bucs. There are upcoming games against the Packers and Lions so the Eagles have a lot of control of their own fate in terms of earning the top seed in the NFC.

Expect to hear lots of rumors over the next week. That doesn’t guarantee any deals, but there will be a lot of talk.

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