Report: Eagles could have gotten Myles Garrett if they included their defensive All-Pro in the trade package

The Eagles seemed all in on the Myles Garrett sweepstakes this week, and the best move they made was the one where they did nothing at all.

Here’s the report. Before Cleveland shipped Garrett to the Rams on Monday, the Eagles were on the short list of teams circling the deal, right next to the Rams and Cowboys. The Browns had a price. The price was Jalen Carter. The Eagles told them where to put it.

Good.

Cleveland reportedly wanted Carter and nothing smaller would do. The Eagles countered with Nolan Smith or Jalyx Hunt, a polite way of saying “anybody but him,” and the Browns passed. So Garrett booked it for Los Angeles, and Carter is still ours.

The national read is that the Eagles are being weird about this. Florio at PFT called keeping Carter “a bit confusing” because he’s unsigned, and went as far as suggesting Carter shouldn’t touch a practice field until he gets paid. The numbers, if you care: Carter plays 2026 on the fourth year of his rookie deal at $3.723 million, his fifth-year option balloons to $27.1 million in 2027, and his next contract is going to open with a three and a lot of zeros.

That’s the case against keeping him. I read the whole thing. Then I closed the tab.

How the Eagles-Browns phone call probably went

I wasn’t on the line. I don’t have Howie’s number saved. But you don’t need to be in the room to picture this one.

Cleveland calls. They need to move a superstar pass rusher and want a real haul back. They scan the Eagles roster, spot a wrecking ball still on a rookie contract, and lead with the most deranged ask available: give us Carter.

Howie laughs. Not the polite one. The real one.

He floats Nolan Smith. Maybe Jalyx Hunt if they push. Cleveland says no, the Rams swoop in, and the Eagles go back to their lunch. A team tried to talk the Eagles out of their best young defensive lineman and got walked to the door.

Or, and I’m only reading the calendar here, maybe those March “calls about Carter,” the ones that leaked the second the Jordan Davis extension was signed, were never real to begin with. Maybe somebody wanted the league believing Carter was gettable. I’m not accusing anyone of anything. I’m just looking at the dates.

Why keeping Carter was the only move for the Eagles

Here’s the part the cap-sheet crowd keeps speed-running past.

You don’t trade a year-four interior disruptor in his prime for an older star and a bigger contract, even when the star is Myles Garrett. Garrett’s great, no one’s denying that. But the Eagles have people to pay, not just Jalen Carter. Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, the aforementioned Smith and Hunt.

Yeah, Carter’s going to cost a fortune. Pay it. Disruptive defensive tackles who collapse a pocket from the inside do not sprout up at NovaCare. You found one. You keep him. You back the truck up when the time comes and you don’t flinch.

The “he’s unsigned, so he’s a liability” logic is exactly how you con yourself into shipping out the best part of your team for a press-conference splash. The Eagles didn’t bite. For a front office that’ll reportedly hear you out on moving a receiver this same offseason, drawing a hard line at Carter is the most clear-headed thing they’ve done since the calendar turned.

This is the same group that gets called too clever by half. Not this time.

Keep the guy who’s cheap right now. Keep the guy who’s dominant right now. Keep the guy rival teams keep calling about. Keep the guy you build the whole front around.

Garrett’s a Ram. Carter’s an Eagle. The Browns can keep dialing.