PHILADELPHIA – It’s not an Eagles draft without some sort of trade possibility in the forefront.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman already made a trade this month in a first-round pick swap with the New Orleans Saints that left the Eagles with two first-rounders instead of three, and a extra first-round pick in 2023.
But that doesn’t preclude him from making another trade – or even two – with his two remaining first-round picks this year at No. 15 and No. 18.
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Roseman, speaking Wednesday in advance of the NFL draft that begins with the first round next Thursday, said every scenario would be in play.
That is one of five main takeaways from the press conference.
1. Expect the Eagles to be active
It’s easy to see why the possibilities of trading up from the No. 15 spot, as well as trading back from the No. 18 spot, are both in play.
NFL draft analysts have said there are about 20 players with first-round grades. The Eagles, of course, have needs at wide receiver, cornerback, safety and on the defensive line.
So it’s quite possible the Eagles could trade up from 15 to somewhere around No. 10-12 to get one of their coveted players who might fall out of the top 10.
Some possibilities include Cincinnati cornerback Sauce Gardner, Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton, or a defensive lineman such as Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux or Georgia’s Jordan Davis.
“We have two picks, so you’re planning every scenario about who you’d move up for,” Roseman said. “Who you’d be really comfortable staying (put) for? How many players you’d be comfortable staying (put) for? And what are the tiers of moving back for? And what you would take?”
The Eagles have 10 picks in the seven-round draft. That includes two third-round picks, one of which could be packaged with the No. 15 pick to move up three or four spots.
At the same time, the Eagles could recoup an early-round pick, either in this draft or in 2023, to move back from No. 18. And here, they might do so for a wide receiver that they could pick later in the first round.
“There’s a price that does not make sense to move back for, either,” Roseman said. “We’re not going to move back 10 picks for (an extra) fifth-round pick. So at the end of the day, you go through all of those, so you have a really good sense for what you want to do.”
2. Will free agency impact draft?
At wide receiver, the Eagles only signed a lower-tier wide receiver in free agency in Zach Pascal rather than spend at least $20 million per season for stars like Davante Adams, Allen Robinson, Amari Cooper and Tyreek Hill, among others.
At defensive back, the Eagles let starting cornerback Steven Nelson leave without signing anyone to replace him.
So it would stand to reason that the Eagles will draft a wide receiver and cornerback early in the draft, right?
Not so fast, Roseman said.
“Certainly, when you look at some of the mistakes that I’ve made personally, it’s because you try to force something,” Roseman said. “You can only do what the board allows you to do. There’s obviously a lot of time between now and when the first game starts for us to continue to address needs of the team.
“We just gotta make sure we take the best players, and not look at the draft as a short-term fix.”
3. Learning from missing on Reagor
The Eagles, of course, could end up drafting a wide receiver in the first or second round for the fourth straight year.
They took J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in the second round in 2019, Jalen Reagor in the first round in 2020 and DeVonta Smith in the first round last year.
Only Smith, who had 916 yards receiver, has worked out so far. This year, possible first-round receivers for the Eagles include Ohio State duo Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, USC’s Drake London, Alabama’s Jameson Williams, Arkansas’ Treylon Burks or Penn State’s Jahan Dotson.
“You’re constantly evaluating things that you did wrong, and you always want to learn from the things that you did right, and lessons that you have from that,” Roseman said.
Roseman then mentioned Reagor, who has 695 yards receiving in two seasons.
“With Jalen, obviously I know that he gets a lot of attention in this city, and I know that he’s working his butt off,” Roseman said. “Sometimes the book isn’t necessarily written on all of those guys.”
4. Taking a risk on injured players?
The Eagles haven’t been scared away by a draftee’s injuries. Sometimes it has worked out, such as last season with second-round offensive lineman Landon Dickerson. Sometimes it hasn’t, such as with 2017 second-round cornerback Sidney Jones.
Dickerson was rehabbing a torn ACL suffered in December 2020 when the Eagles picked him. Jones was rehabbing a torn Achilles suffered in March 2017.
Both were considered first-round picks before their injuries.
It just so happens that in this draft, there are two players who are rehabbing from injuries who the Eagles could take a chance on. Many draft analysts rate Williams as the top wide receiver in the draft if not for the torn ACL he suffered in the national championship game. Williams likely would miss at least the first month of the season.
Michigan defensive end David Ojabo tore his Achilles during his Pro Day workout in March. He’ll likely miss most, if not all, of this season.
If the Eagles want one of those players, they might have to use a first-round pick on them.
“For us, with Landon, the timing for that was a little different than the timing for Sidney,” Roseman said. “It allowed you to see more the progress of where it was, based on the testing. Two different positions, different injuries. So you take that all into account, and the value has to be right – the value for the player, and how we feel the player fits for us.”
5. Hurts and the QBs in the draft
Roseman was once again quick to back quarterback Jalen Hurts when asked about the trade with the Saints as a possible precursor for going after a quarterback in the 2023 draft.
“We’re excited about Jalen Hurts,” he said. “We’re going to support Jalen and want him to have a great career in Philly. This was about flexibility for our team, and about making sure that we have resources to improve our team, not only for this year’s draft, but for next year’s draft going forward.”
As for the 2022 draft, Roseman has said often that it’s important to improve the roster around Hurts. So it’s unlikely that the Eagles will go after quarterbacks Kenny Pickett or Malik Willis in the first round.
“The quarterbacks are the anchor of any draft, and there’s some uncertainty about where the quarterbacks will go in this draft,” Roseman said. “For us, we just go by our rankings and what we think is the right way to stack the board.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
