Eagles Draft: Examining Trades Back and Up
Trade up for Will Anderson or Jalen Carter.
Trade back to get more draft picks in later rounds, where there’s a long drought between the Philadelphia Eagles’ picks at No. 94 and No. 219.
There’s no way general manager Howie Roseman will sit idly by as 125 players are picked by other teams before he gets another swing.
The guess here is Roseman is going back somewhere along the line in the first round, whether it’s with his 10th or 30th overall pick. Of course, it takes two to tango, as they say, and he will need to find a willing dance partner.
Five possible trades
BACK: Send No. 10 and a third-rounder next year to the New York Jets for their 13th pick and their second-round pick, No. 43 overall, this year.
The Jets may want to move up for the top offensive linemen in the draft, provided none of been picked with the first nine selections, a distinct possibility if the four top quarterbacks come off the board before the tenth pick. It should be noted that there's never been a draft in which four quarterbacks were selected among the first nine overall picks.
For whatever reason, maybe the Eagles would feel more comfortable taking a running back like Bijan Robinson or a cornerback like Joey Porter at 13 than 10.
BACK: Send No. 10 to the Minnesota Vikings for No 23, a third-round pick (No. 87), and a 2024 first-round selection.
This comes from NFL Media Draft Analyst Chad Reuter and I like it. That would give the Eagles five picks inside the top 100 or they could deal one of their now two third-round picks for something in that wasteland that currently exists for them between picks 94 and 219.
The Vikings may want a quarterback if one of the top four is still available at No. 10.
BACK: Send No. 30 and a third-round pick next year to the Los Angeles Rams, who don’t own a first-round pick, for their second-round pick (No. 36), a third-rounder (No. 77) and a fifth-rounder (No. 177).
There’s plenty of flexibility here should these two teams decide to deal because the Rams have three third-rounders, four fifth-rounders, and three sixth-rounders. The Eagles have nothing in those rounds, so finding a way to get something from L.A. in exchange for letting them jump into the first round makes sense.
BACK: Find something that works with the 49ers, who don’t have a first-round pick, but own three in the third round and three in the fifth.
It may pain Eagles fans to deal with those whiny 49ers, who made one excuse after another for getting taken apart in the NFC Championship Game, and it may require a great amount of creativity on the part of Roseman and San Fran GM John Lynch, but if there’s a will, there’s a way.
UP: Most mock drafts seem to have Jalen Carter going to the Seahawks with the fifth overall pick, but Seattle has nine picks in this year’s draft and their full allotment in 2024, so doing a deal with them probably won’t work.
Besides, who else besides the Georgia defensive tackle would Roseman move up to take?
There may be two players they might do it for, but it's a mighty big “might.”
Assuming Alabama's Anderson is gone in the top three, they are Northwestern offensive line Peter Skoronski and Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
Frankly, that's a stretch.
There are other offensive linemen in the draft who are as good if not better than Skoronski and the depth at cornerback in the draft is too good to give up assets for a position they addressed in the offseason and haven’t taken in the first round since Lito Sheppard was the 26th overall pick in 2002.
The one who might make sense is Texas Tech edge rusher Tyree Wilson should he slide below the top five.
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI Fan Nation Eagles Today. Please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
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