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The Philadelphia Eagles are rumored to be one of four teams in the mix to trade up to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, according to Robert Klemko of The MMQB.
"At the moment, there are four teams in play to trade up to the No. 1 spot: Cleveland (as insurance against losing their preference of Goff or Wentz), San Francisco (No. 7), Philadelphia [No. 8] and Los Angeles (No. 15). And I don’t believe it will take the "king’s ransom" Titans GM Jon Robinson says a team will have to give up to move to No. 1. (Robinson later clarified his remarks, saying he did not want to give the impression the Titans were unwilling to move down). My hunch is that the deal will land somewhere south of the legitimate king’s ransom Washington paid for the right to draft Robert Griffin III—basically, three first-rounders and a second-round pick."
This rumor comes one day after it was reported an NFL executive thinks the Eagles will try to move up to draft North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz. As I pointed out yesterday, this rumor also lines up with some other signs we've seen this offseason.
The Eagles (more specifically Jeffrey Lurie and Doug Pederson) have been very vocal that the team plans to draft a quarterback. So it's just a matter of when that will happen. One report states the Eagles plan to draft a quarterback within the first three rounds. Another report indicates there was talk at the NFL Combine that the Eagles wanted to move in position to select one of the top three quarterbacks in this year's class.
The Titans very well might have interest in getting out of the No. 1 pick. They've already got their young franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota. Tennessee needs more than just one elite player to launch their team upward so trading down and collecting a bounty of picks could make sense from their end.
But are the Eagles really going to be so desperate to move up to get a quarterback? It remains to be seen. In the meantime, here's an interesting comment from Ron Jaworksi, whom the Eagles consulted during their head coaching search. Quote via Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice:
"Teams will start jockeying up if they really like (a quarterback)," said Jaworski. "Don’t discount the Eagles moving into this mix either. I got a funny feeling quarterback is on their list. I’m not sure they can push up to get one of these two guys, but they’re going to get a quarterback somewhere in this draft to build for the future.
The Eagles already made two expensive investments in the quarterback position this offseason by handing out a lot of money to Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel. Despite this, however, neither player is guaranteed to be a long-term option for the Eagles at the most important position in the game. Trading up and drafting a rookie is risky, but the Eagles might have to be aggressive to get a guy if they really want him.
A big theme this offseason has been about the Eagles going back to the days of the Andy Reid era. One of the biggest reasons Reid was successful is because he drafted Donovan McNabb at No. 2 overall. The Eagles don't have the same "luxury" of being so high in the NFL Draft order, but they might have enough ammo to trade up and get their next franchise signal caller.