PHILADELPHIA − The Eagles weren’t willing to take any chances, so with Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter still available, they traded up one spot to No. 9 to get the controversial lineman.
The Eagles traded with the Chicago Bears, sending the Bears the No. 10 pick and a fourth-rounder in 2024 to get Carter.
The Eagles had an idea that Carter would drop into their range. That became apparent when they didn’t trade up three spots to No. 7 for Texas running back Bijan Robinson.
Carter was rated the top overall prospect in the draft by many analysts. But he has had to deal with questions about his character and his work ethic beginning just days after leading Georgia to its second straight national championship.
Six days after winning the title, Carter was at the scene of a fatal car crash that led to the deaths of a teammate and a football staffer. Carter was driving a different car. Then at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Carter left to face an arraignment. He ultimately pled no contest for reckless driving and racing.
Carter also reportedly had a poor Pro Day. He had reportedly gained nine pounds and couldn’t finish a few drills because of exhaustion.
As for the car accident, Carter said he wasn’t really asked about that in interviews and visits with teams, including the Eagles.
“They really didn’t ask much about that,” Carter said in a videoconference Thursday night. “They asked when it happened. Then it was pretty much getting to know me, the love of the game I got for football. Just getting to know my personality and stuff like that.
“I don’t think they really asked me questions about Pro Day. It was just getting to know me and the guy that I am.”
Carter did admit that he wasn’t in top condition for his Pro Day.
“I felt conditioned, but I guess I wasn’t,” he said. “That was just me. I should have conditioned a lot more before the Pro Day.”
That will no doubt change with the Eagles. That was evident at the draft in Kansas City, when he and Eagles center Jason Kelce had a brief word after he was picked. In fact, Kelce was shown on video chugging a beer after the pick.
Carter was asked what Kelce said to him. “He’s glad that I’m an Eagle, and he can’t wait for 1-on-1s.”
That, of course, is when an offensive lineman goes against a defensive lineman during training camp drills. They’re intense, so Carter will have to be ready.
He was at Georgia. Carter had 3 sacks in each of the last two seasons, and had 8.5 and 7 tackles for losses in 2021 and ’22, respectively.
But Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said last week that the Eagles would do their due diligence on Carter, along with anyone they might select. That background work could have included consulting with Carter’s two Georgia teammates in 2021 who were drafted by the Eagles last spring in first-round pick and fellow defensive tackle Jordan Davis and third-round pick in linebacker Nakobe Dean.
He said “the relationship is very close” with both Davis and Dean, and he’s looking forward to being teammates with them again.
Things started falling the Eagles’ way to Jordan when the Houston Texans, picking No. 2, took quarterback C.J. Stroud from Ohio State, then traded up from No. 12 to No. 3 with the Arizona Cardinals to take Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson.
But with the Colts taking Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson at No. 4 and Seattle going with Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 5, that pushed some of the top defensive players like Carter and Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez down towards the Eagles.
That continued when the Cardinals then traded back up from No. 12 to No. 6 for Ohio State offensive lineman Paris Johnson.
But the Raiders kept their pick at No. 7 and took edge rusher Tyree Wilson, paving the way for the Eagles to make their move up to No. 9 for Carter.
And the Eagles clearly saw Carter as a better prospect than Robinson, who rushed for 1,580 yards last season at the University of Texas. The Atlanta Falcons took Robinson at No. 8.
The Eagles chose Carter over players like Northwestern offensive lineman Peter Skoronski, Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez and Georgia edge rusher Nolan Smith.
For the Eagles, the action began just minutes before the draft started when they improved their position in the third round with a trade resulting from a tampering charge against the Cardinals. That stemmed from the Cardinals hiring Egles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to be their head coach days after the Super Bowl.
As a settlement, the Eagles exchanged third-round picks with Arizona, moving up from No. 94 to No. 66, essentially going from near the end of the third round to near the beginning. The Eagles also gave the Cardinals their fifth-round pick in 2024.
The tampering charge resulted when the Cardinals spoke on the phone with Gannon after the Eagles’ won the NFC Championship game, a dead period for contacting prospective coaching candidates still alive in the playoffs.
Then the intrigue intensified minutes later when the draft began. It wasn’t long before the Eagles got their man. Carter joins a talented, but young, defensive tackle rotation that includes Davis, Milton Williams and veteran Fletcher Cox.
Carter, in essence, replaces Javon Hargrave, who signed a four-year deal worth as much as $84 million, with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Eagles also hold the No. 30 pick in the first round.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
