Jaelan Phillips delivers perfect message to Eagles fans after trade from Dolphins

Philadelphia Eagles fans were elated to wake up early in the morning for work to see that general manager Howie Roseman got the edge rusher they had been hoping to get all season.

The Eagles made a trade with the Miami Dolphins to acquire edge rusher Jaelan Phillips in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick. It's the third trade Philly has made in the past week that includes cornerbacks Michael Carter II and Jaire Alexander.

Phillips has been off to a solid start in 2025 with three sacks and seven quarterback hits in nine starts with the Dolphins. After being in Miami for the last four and a half years, he arrived in the late night to Philadelphia were he spoke with the media for the first time since the trade.

How Phillips got the Eagles fans pumped with his first comments

NBC's John Clark got a quick minute with Phillips at the Philadelphia airport, being escorted by "Big Dom" DiSandro as Clark asked Phillips his feelings on being traded to the 6-2 Eagles.

"I mean it's incredible. I had no idea this was going to happen, but there's literally no other team I would rather play for. Obviously, Philly is a storied franchise, great tradition here, incredible team so I'm just excited to get in, get to work with the guys man. I'm super excited it. It's going to be awesome."

One of the talking points that has made this trade make sense is that Phillips is reunited with Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio after the two worked together in Miami in 2023. In that one season, Phillips had 43 tackles, 11 quarterback hits, and 6.5 sacks in eight games. Phillips is looking forward to being reunited with his old coach.

"I love Vic as a person and as a coach. Like you said, I had some good success with him, excited to get back in his system, and play with the other guys on defense too."

As for his message to the Eagles fan base, which has such high hopes for the newcomer? Phillips knows he has work to do to earn the respect of everyone in Philly.

“I’m gonna work my ass off. I’m going to come in and be a humble worker. Earn the guys respect. Earn the fans respect. I want to fly around and make plays. Literally fly around."

Phillips sounded like a seasoned pro as he, of course, closed out the interview the only way anyone could: "Go Birds."

So far, so good for the new Eagle.