Drew Rosenhaus opens door for Eagles-Myles Garrett rumors without even trying

The Philadelphia Eagles had to make some personnel adjustments last offseason after implementing defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme. 

Linebacker Haason Reddick’s overly aggressive style wasn’t suited for Fangio’s system, which places greater responsibility on edge defenders than simply chasing quarterbacks. The Eagles traded Reddick to the New York Jets and signed defensive end Bryce Huff in free agency, but Huff’s underwhelming performance this season has left the team in a difficult spot.

Philadelphia will have to rebuild a significant portion of their defensive front in the near future. Along with Huff’s struggles and defensive end Brandon Graham’s potential retirement, Eagles outside linebacker Josh Sweat is set to be a free agent this offseason.

Josh Sweat’s pending free agency opens door for Eagles’ Myles Garrett trade speculation

Sweat changed agents in preparation for free agency and hired Drew Rosenhaus on Monday, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. 

“He clearly is one of the very top free agents,” Rosenhaus said.

The news would be quickly forgotten on a typical day, but not when it comes just hours after Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett formally requested a trade. Sweat, who led the team with eight sacks, may not return to Philadelphia next season, and the reminder of his pending free agency will only spark rampant trade speculation.

Garrett will receive plenty of interest from teams across the league, but he has made it clear that he wants to play for a Super Bowl contender. That leaves only a handful of viable landing spots — including Philadelphia.

Although Garrett is better suited for a 4-3 defense, it’s hard to imagine scheme being an issue for the perennial All-Pro. Garrett was named the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and he’s a finalist for the award again after recording at least 14 sacks for the fourth straight season. 

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has become known as one of the league’s best negotiators, and he hasn’t been shy about pulling the trigger on blockbuster trades. Still, this would be a difficult one to pull off. 

Browns general manager Andrew Berry has publicly stated that he has no intentions of trading Garrett, and it wouldn’t be financially feasible for Cleveland. Trading Garrett before June 1 would carry a dead salary cap charge of $36 million. That dead cap charge would drop to $14.8 million if Cleveland traded him after June 1, but they wouldn’t be able to get any draft picks until the 2026 NFL Draft. That would made negotiations even more difficult.

The Eagles have $24.8 million in salary cap space for the 2025 season, per Spotrac. They’ll need some of that to bring back their own pending free agents, such as linebacker Zack Baun.