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Shortly before Eagles-Chargers kickoff on Sunday afternoon, ESPN released a report stating that the Eagles almost traded for Colin Kaepernick.
Strange timing, huh? I didn't even want to approach this topic until the Chargers post-game coverage died down. It's an awkward report.
In the weeks leading up to the 2012 draft, the Eagles came close to trading a second-round draft pick to the 49ers for Kaepernick, league sources tell ESPN. The 49ers were open to trading him because Alex Smith just had led them to the NFC Championship Game and they weren't sure what to do with their now-starting quarterback.
I have a hard time buying this. Regardless of Smith's performance, why would the 49ers be so quick to give up on Kap? He still would be on a very cost-friendly contract and there would be nothing to lose by keeping him. As far as trade compensation goes, why would SF only give him up for a second rounder when they picked him in the second? What kind of precedent is there in the NFL for a situation like that?
Kaepernick is a great talent and I am sure the Eagles had interest in acquiring him. It just doesn't seem realistic.
Now, for the second half of this report...
One league source maintains that the Eagles backed out of the proposed deal when they decided they would be able to draft Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson, whom they geared their whole draft around, league sources said. But then, just before Philadelphia could draft Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks selected him, leaving the Eagles to take Nick Foles, another quarterback they rated highly, though not nearly as high as Wilson.
It's already been reported about, oh, I don't know, a billion times that the Eagles wanted to take Russell Wilson in the 2012 draft but the Seahawks beat them out in the third round. The Eagles would draft Nick Foles instead.
But the Eagles "geared their whole draft around" Wilson? That's ridiculous. How do you gear your draft around a guy you passed over THREE TIMES, especially at a premium position? It doesn't seem to make sense. If the Eagles believed in Wilson enough to "gear their draft" around him, I don't think they gamble missing out on him.
Thinking about these rumors really makes you wonder about the source of these reports. Hm...
These rumors don't mean much now, and I'm not sure they ever really meant anything at all. Other than the Eagles have interest in good quarterbacks... which isn't exactly groundbreaking. It's fun to think of what the Eagles could be with a dynamic young QB, but even if these reports are true (they're probably not) it's all in the past now.