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NFL Catching Up With Eagles Draft Day Strategy?

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Apr 27, 2011; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles first round draft pick defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (Mississippi State) addresses the media as head coach Andy Reid listens during a press conference at the Philadelphia Eagles NovaCare Complex. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Under Andy Reid, the Eagles have always been movers in the draft. In fact, Danny Watkins is only the first round pick in recent years that the Eagles stood pat and took. They jumped up for Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and Jeremy Maclin, while moving back in the years prior.

And that's just the first round. The team has always piled up picks to move up and down in the later rounds. This past year, they made more deals (5) than any other team in the draft. That said, the overall frequency of dealing has ramped up. Teams made a record 16 first round trades and did 36 deals overall on draft weekend.

NFP's Dan Pompeii went to a few league executives to find out why this may be.

"This draft was not deep, so it led to trades. People needed things, so they went up and got them," said one AFC exec.

Another said that the movement was indicative of the win-now nature of today's league.

"Philosophies are changing," he said. "First time general managers and head coaches feel they have to make impact moves because they won’t have a lot of time to turn around their teams. A lot of existing general managers and head coaches feel pressure to get what they need in order to stick around."

For the Eagles, the increased frequency of trading overall will likely just lead to more deals. The Eagles always seem willing to move, so if there's more takers in future years, expect them to continue moving around at an increased rate.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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