PHILADELPHIA −It’s becoming almost a rite of passage where Eagles general manager Howie Roseman makes a significant trade in the weeks before the regular season starts.
In 2016, Roseman traded starting quarterback Sam Bradford for a first-round pick that became Derek Barnett. In 2017, he swapped wide receiver Jordan Matthews for cornerback Ronald Darby. Even last season, Roseman traded for backup quarterback Gardner Minshew and traded away offensive lineman Matt Pryor in separate deals.
The way Roseman sees it, the so-called talent-acquisition period doesn’t stop with free agency and the draft. It lasts right up until the trade deadline at the end of October.
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Yet this summer is different for many reasons, and that’s why it’s hard to see Roseman doing anything significant.
Make no mistake: Roseman would certainly entertain the idea of trading away wide receiver Jalen Reagor, or an offensive linemen like Andre Dillard or Isaac Seumalo, or one of the Eagles’ younger defensive backs, or even Minshew.
But barring an outrageous offer, Roseman won’t because the Eagles’ expectations are different than they have been in recent seasons. The Eagles are poised to be one of the better teams in the NFC, with a young nucleus held together by a core group of veterans.
Roseman knows this.
“Our most talented teams have not necessarily been our best teams,” Roseman said recently. “You can have all this talent, but them coming together and fitting the right pieces in place is the most important thing. That’s what this camp is for, coming together as a team and making sure the talent meets the connection.
We have also seen injuries decimate teams that aren’t deep enough to withstand them.
Jordan Mailata might be the Eagles’ left tackle for the next decade, but he missed three games last season with a knee injury. As a former first-round pick who has started eight games at left tackle, Dillard is more than capable of filling in.
If Dillard is traded, the Eagles would be left with a huge gap behind Mailata with veteran Le’Raven Clark, who was on the practice squad for much of last season, and the unproven Kayode Awosika.
Nearly 30,000 fans at Lincoln Financial Field for the Eagles’ open practice saw the possible consequences.
Mailata, Dillard (both concussions) and Clark (hamstring) all sat out, leaving Awosika as the first-team left tackle. It’s no accident that quarterback Jalen Hurts had more running plays, by far, than he had in any other practice this summer.
Of course, Hurts is a phenomenal runner, as he demonstrated Sunday by putting a move on defensive end Brandon Graham that left Graham grasping at air.
But for the Eagles to become an elite team, Hurts has to improve as a passer. To do that, he needs time to throw. We have seen Hurts and new wide receiver A.J. Brown, whom Roseman traded for on draft night, form an instant connection.
In addition, Hurts has to find ways to keep the other receivers, most notably DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins and tight end Dallas Goedert happy.
“We know that’s how we like to play offense,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said about going to Brown often. “That’s no secret. But now we have three guys to really run the offense through, and we’re excited about that … I think Jalen is doing an awesome job at that, of going where he needs to go with the ball based off the defense.”
Hurts can’t do that without time to throw. So trading Dillard or even Seumalo, who’s clearly winning the starting job at right guard, would weaken the depth at those positions too much.
It’s the same at wide receiver.
Sure, Reagor has been a disappointment through his first two seasons, with just 695 yards receiving. But Reagor is a first-round pick from 2020. And the Eagles won’t get anywhere near that kind of value by trading him. Besides, injuries are often a factor at wide receiver, too.
So it’s quite possible that the Eagles will need Reagor at some point during the season.
And sure, the Eagles can trade Minshew to a QB-desperate team, possibly getting a Day 2 draft pick in return. If that happens, Hurts’ backups would be Reid Sinnett and undrafted free agent Carson Strong. Neither has played in an NFL game.
Keep in mind that last season, only 13 quarterbacks started every game. Minshew, in fact, started in place of an injured Hurts last Dec. 6 against the Jets, and led the Eagles to a crucial win for their playoff hopes.
Perhaps the Eagles’ only need at this juncture is a power running back. But that could be a possibility at the trade deadline at the end of October, like in 2017 when Roseman traded for Jay Ajayi. It’s not worth giving up a key player to get one now.
It’s similar on defense.
Roseman already added to the defense by signing free agents in pass rusher Haason Reddick, linebacker Kyzir White and cornerback James Bradberry, while drafting defensive tackle Jordan Davis and linebacker Nakobe Dean. It would be hard to see him taking away from that unit.
Besides, trading a key player for a conditional draft pick would be a slap in the face to Eagles icons Jason Kelce and Graham. Those two clearly put off retirement, not to mention Graham working back from a torn Achilles, because they want to win now.
“We can be really good,” Graham said about the defense. “We just got to make sure we put that work in because we do got some dogs back there. And I’m excited … because on defense, man, we are looking good. I’m liking what’s going on.”
Then Graham added this: “I think this is probably the best group I have had since I’ve been here.”
Roseman wants to keep it that way.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
