PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Emergency Pod: Howie Roseman lands Eagles another CB in trade for Jaire Alexander

Episode Date: November 1, 2025

Once Howie Roseman starts trading, you know he can't stop, so in comes Jaire Alexander, the one-time do-it-all Pro Bowl corner for the Packers whose career has stalled to the point he was a healthy scratch for the Ravens. Fran Duffy and Bo Wulf decide whether they think Alexander can compete for a job with Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Michael Carter II, Kelee Ringo, Jakorian Bennett and Adoree' Jackson. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

mobile studio this is an emergency episode of the P-H-O-Y Eagles podcast presented by Bet365 and Ashley. I'm Bo Wolf, joined by Fran Duffy. And as I said elsewhere, Fran, I believe, listen, Howie Roseman is a man with Vandettas who carries around beefs with him. He's got a lot of people he, I think, you know, has grudges with, but there's nobody. And I mean nobody that he dislikes more than the family is a lot of people. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not a lot of people he. He's of people who cover the Philadelphia Eagles. How are you? You know, it was one of those things

where I'm like, I told Meg, I was like, oh, the Eagles made a trade and I like my voice trialed off. It was like, we're driving home and get there. I'm like, oh, well, I'm going to do something when I get home. It's only going to be 15 minutes, I promise.

Yeah, that's right. But it's, you know, something to talk about, certainly. Absolutely. And I'll tell you what my initial reaction was, friend. tell me what you thought because to me this is you know this is classic howie when he when he sees a weakness what it reminds me of fran is the summer of 2023 when the eagles entered training camp and realized that the linebacking group was bad and they said okay we're going to sign not one

but two veteran linebackers we're going to sign miles jack and zach cunningham and at the time my thought to myself, unlike every other national reporter, that that reminds me of Adomacin Sue with involved Joseph when Howie attacked a need a defensive tackle in the middle of the 2022 season. And so now two fell swoops in a week for Howie Roseman trading seventh for sixth and John Mechie for now Michael Carter and Jair Alexander, has he solved it. I mean, look, he hasn't been this aggressive to address the cornerback position since draft weekend in 2024, you know, with Quinnianne Mitchell and Cooper Dijin. No, I mean, look, I think when you're looking at Jayaeer Alexander, I think a lot of people see the name and get very excited. But I do think that there are a lot of reasons to really temper the expectations here.

You know, you're not getting the 2023 version or 22 version of Jayaeer Alexander. You know, this is a player that has been largely a healthy scratch for the majority of this season for, a defense that has been 27th in EPA per play against the past and 24th in EPA per play overall over the course of this season. This has not been your classic Baltimore defense in the 2025 campaign. So yeah, look, maybe he's an upgrade over Dory Jackson. Like, I think it's a similar kind of situation. So at his best, which the Eagles are not getting Jerry Alexander as best, but at his best,

what kind of player was he? At his best, he. At his best, he was a true matchup corner. This was a, you know, undersized, like, he's like 510, you know, 190 pounds and could line up inside, can line up outside, you know, had that competitiveness and the quickness in and out of breaks. He had long speed. He had ball skills.

All the things, honestly, like, to me, it was a top five corner in football. Well, you know, when he was at his best. Now, you know, just going back and watching, because he only, he's only played 40 snaps in coverage this year. So it wasn't too hard to go back through and just watch those. really quickly. He doesn't move the way that he used to. Injuries have kind of taken their toll over the last couple of years in Green Bay. And that's why they were willing to part ways with him this summer and why it wasn't a huge, huge market for him in free agency once he did hit the open market.

But he doesn't move the way that he used to. And it was, look, it was a new defensive scheme. I don't think he looked totally comfortable. He played a decent amount early, got dinged up, and then it's been a healthy scratch since. He is 28 years old, which before we get to exactly how this fits, it is an interesting reality check as you think about the Eagles defense, because this is a player who in the beginning of his career was talked about and thought about the same way that we think about and talk about Quinn Yon Mitchell and Cooper DeShine, right? Like this is an ace in the secondary who's going to be elite for a long time. And he, I mean, he was elite for, you know, five, six years, right? But and so at once, you're thinking, okay, like, it's a bit of a of a reality

check that we can't just expect that Cooper de Gene and Quigion are going to be amazing for a decade. And it's possible that, you know, whatever mega contract they sign after their rookie deal is going to age poorly, as Jaira Alexander does. But it also, to me, then because of that, underscores, you have these guys in the secondary who are playing elite and are going to be elite for a very short period of time, potentially. And so it is worth, you know, cashing in your chips to go for this Super Bowl window, which probably won't last as long as you think it will last in your in your minds eye. Yeah, and a few things. There's the cohabitation matrix, right? So our friend Tim Kvanis, Tim McManus, T-Mack pointed out on social media that Christian Parker, the Eagles defensive backs coach,

worked with Jaira Alexander in Green Bay. That's the second time now, both of these cornerback additions, the Eagles have had familiarity on the staff. Greg Kosell pointing out with Ross Tucker, late this week that Joe Casper coached Michael Carter at Duke, which is a really good point. Obviously, Joe Douglas drafted him with the New York Jail. So plenty of familiarity with both players off the field. I think when you're looking at Jayaer Alexander as well, you know, one thing I reached out to somebody that is in the building in Baltimore. I just said like, hey, like, what's the deal with Jair?

Like, how was he this year? And it was all positive. Like, was still a vocal leader even though he wasn't playing. You know, all the teammates loved him. Everybody in the building loved him. So, you know, I don't think this is like, all right, we're really kind of jettizing him here. Jeff Rebeck, who does a great job covering the Ravens over at the athletic and said, like, yeah, this was just basically giving him an opportunity to go and find a spot to play because he was not playing these last few weeks was with a healthy,

a healthy scratch on Thursday night against the Dolphins. So I think when you're looking at Jaya Alexander, like I said, I think the best case scenario, if you're an Eagles fan is like, okay, he is your your backup outside corner, your fourth outside corner. And honestly, like if I'm looking at musical chairs and reading tea leaves, I don't know if Dori Jackson's on the 53-man roster by the time we get to Green Bay. Well, I have one other question here about Jaya because at his best, he also spent a lot of time inside. So do you think that this could be another potential optionality for, you know, he's struggling on the outside in Baltimore. Maybe if we get him inside and he focuses on that, it all of a sudden becomes kind of a, head-to-head competition with him and Michael Carter for if you do want to have

Cooper DeGine on the outside because you couldn't find a starting caliber outside corner in the trade market. It's a it's a great point and I'm really quickly just going to go up and pull obviously he's been primarily an outside corner over the course of his career but he has played plenty on the inside and so I'm just going to quickly let me just give me a second here. I'm going to pull up how many snaps he has spent on the outside and square. Oh, you know the other aspect too that I was thinking of? he actually visited the Eagles during the pre-draft process, came in on a 30 visit.

And I learned on that visit, I spent just a few minutes talking with him. He actually was born in Philly. I know. And he, like, called me off guard. I could not believe, having scoured very quickly, that we are the podcast that's breaking. Can you believe that nowhere else on social media

that someone mentioned that he was born in Philadelphia? He was born in Philadelphia. It's like a Bryce Young situation where it was like he was born here, but he was yeah like moved away very very quickly he said that on the 30 visit i'm like you think you know i know i thought he was messing with me i was i was like i was you know it was a group of us i thought he was messing with us i was like i don't know it turns out like yeah he was he was born in philadelphia um so a little bit of a homecoming there for jair alexander as well um all right so i've got his his positional i'm just going through pff numbers here so all right he has played in the slot

All right, so wide corner, 347 snaps. No, no, no. Let's give me a second. Yeah, these numbers are all jacked up. All right, you figured out. I will just talk for a second and mention that people are going to have some additional roster moves to make here. Because now with this, they've also placed Azizzo Jalari and Marcus Epps

on injured reserve. So that opens up one spot. However, they're going to have to at some point activate Brandon Graham, Norman Smith, and Jacorian Bennett. So there's still going to be some additional moves that need to be made for the roster. I think there are some players who they are able to part with him. And correct me if I'm wrong, friend, if you disagree. But to me, this coming with Michael Carter, it signals to me that this is it in the

secondary area, right? I would be now blown away if they do something else. I can't imagine that there's another move on top of this. Yeah, that would be, that would be surprised. I mean, look, honestly, I'm a little surprised at this. one, right? Like, I felt like they were probably done. Does this trade make you feel worse about the Michael Carter trade? No, I think that this is like a, like, hey, like, because it's a late, late round pick swap, you know, it's a year in delay in advance, but it's a late round pick swap.

But this one doesn't make me feel worse about Michael Carter. To your point, though, about the nickel flexibility. And it very well could be that they have that in mind here. He's played for over 4,000 snaps on the outside. He's played just over 400. 450 snaps roughly in the box and then another 400 snaps in the slot. So plenty of slot experience over the course of his career. So it could be that, yeah, this is a role they have envisioned for him, is coming in kind of trying to contribute at both spots. All right.

So let's let's be wrong here. Let's put our, let's put our turkeys on who is going to take the third most snaps. Or let's just say aside from Quinnian Mitchell and Kubrigin, who of these five guys takes the most snaps a corner from now until the end of the regular season. So you've got Kili Ringo. You've got Adory Jackson. You've got Jayae Alexander. You've got Jacori and Bennett.

And you've got Michael Carter. All right. Here's my, I'm going to stork rank it. I think that it's going to be Michael Carter, Keeley Ringo, Jair Alexander, Adori Jackson. Um, Jacori and Bennett in between Jai, yeah, I forgot about Benet. Forgot about Bennett. Find a way to bury Jacorian Bennett. Let's put Bennett after Jaiyre before, you know, and above Adori Jackson.

I just, to me, it wouldn't make sense for Adori Jackson to be on this team by the time we get to Green Bay. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if I'm all the way there that he's definitely, he's definitely going to be cut. Unless they're just, unless they're going to put one of these guys on IR, like if Jacori and Bennett's going on IR or are Klingo. Because you're going to need, I mean, I would be a little bit surprised. I know they've got a whole week, but I would be a little bit surprised if they're shotgunning either Carter or Jeyer into the lineup right away. And so you might need a short-term answer, but, I mean, it could be Ringo, it could be Jacorian Bennett. I think I would go, you went Carter one?

I went Carter one, yes. I don't know. Because that really means DeGine to the outside. Yeah, I mean, I don't think that Jayae necessarily means that. They definitely have flexibility now to go a number of different directions. I don't know. I think it might still, it might still be Ringo or it might be Jacorian Bennett. It might be Ringo.

Honestly, I guess I should put turkeys on this because I said it, but I have, I feel terrible about the proposition here. I would go, let's go, I'm going to go just like the pick value that they've given up recently. So I'm going to go, I'm going to go 23, Jacorian Bennett. Wow. 21, J. Year Alexander. 20 Michael Carter. Wow. 19 Ringo, whatever left on Adore.

Okay. Yeah. I don't feel good about that. Yeah. No, it's going to be, obviously, it's going to be a huge topic of discussion over the next 10 days. But it's going to be, that's going to be fun to track. All right. I don't think we need we need too much more here, Fran, but any final thoughts?

And do you expect anything else from Howie? Yeah, I mean, there was the report from Diana Rossini at the athletic that they're sniffing around past rusher still and still, I mean, they've got three days left. So you've got Jermaine Johnson with the New York Jets, Jalen Phillips, potentially with the Miami Dolphins. We know that Bradley Chubb. I mentioned on Friday show there was the there was the report from Charles Robinson from Yahoo about Miles Garrett. but the last line of his of his statement there was that the Browns are more open to trading running back depth or defensive end depth. And so I wonder if there's like the if Alex Wright from the Browns is someone that could be. Oh, the German dancer.

A young player expiring contract that would make some sense. They got eyeballs on him. So that would be another pass fresher. Certainly I keep an eye on as well. Jonathan in the chat says, is it possible that Bennett suffered a serious setback in practice? Certainly possible. It would explain. You could say the same about, like, you know, Ringo and Adoria.

It's like if one of these, one of these guys could be hurt and we don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, whatever happens, whatever Howie does, you make sure that you know that the P.H.O.Y Eagles podcast will be there for an emergency to react, whatever it is. Make sure that you like the video, you know, scratch our back for scratching yours. Comment below. Let us know what you, let us know where you would put your turkeys on who's going to get the third most snaps,

at corner for the Eagles the rest of the season. That'll do it. Make sure you check out the Flyers Postgame show. Brina's making it all happen. She's going to be producing that bad boy. And that's all we got. Enjoyed game seven tonight for Fran. I'm Bo.

We'll talk to you later. And as always, we love you.