Former NFL GM says he’d be surprised if Eagles don’t trade for a tackle before deadline

On Sunday, NFL insider Jay Glazer said the Eagles are “calling around about offensive tackles” before also mentioning Philadelphia is “going to be one of the most aggressive teams out there.”

On Monday evening, former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi added more fuel to fire.

Yes, this is the same Lombardi who said Doug Pederson — the head coach of the team with the best record in the NFL at 7-1 right now — was one of the least qualified coaches in the last 30 years. So who knows what Lombardi really knows. If he’s wrong about this one, it’ll just be another reason to not take what he says seriously.

But maybe he won’t be wrong because we keep hearing about the Eagles’ interests in tackles. In addition to what Glazer had to say, Philadelphia was reportedly monitoring the Duane Brown situation. The Texans traded him to the Seahawks instead. It cost the Seattle a starting corner and two draft picks, so you can’t really blame the Eagles for holding off on that deal.

So who could the Eagles turn to with the NFL trade deadline at 4:00 PM ET on Tuesday, October 31 rapidly approaching? Well, I’m glad I asked, because I wrote about five trade options for them last week.

The bad news is Brown was one of those targets. The 33-year-old Joe Staley never seemed realistic to begin with but his recent eye injury makes it even less likely. That leaves the Eagles with one of the Bills’ offensive tackles: Cordy Glenn, Jordan Mills, or Seantrel Henderson.

I still think Henderson is the move that makes most sense for Philadelphia.

Henderson, who has experience at both left and right tackle, shouldn’t be too expensive to acquire. Maybe the Eagles can get him for their sixth-round selections. The Eagles have two fifth-rounders.

It’s also worth noting Henderson’s cap number is a mere $778,816 for this season. He’s set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, which means the Eagles don’t have to make a long-term commitment to him.

Henderson isn’t some great player. He’s also played more on the right side than the left, so he might not be a direct replacement for Peters. But at 6-7, 335 pounds, he has the type of size the Eagles like in their linemen.

Yet another factor to consider here is that Jeff Stoutland was the offensive line coach (and later interim head coach) at Miami when Henderson made nine starts as a true freshman in 2010. We all know Stout likes his former college players (see: Chance Warmack).

Even if Henderson doesn’t prove to be an immediate starter, he’d give the Eagles much-needed tackle depth behind Lane Johnson and Halapoulivaati Vaitai. The current backups at OT include Isaac Seumalo, who was benched after two bad starts at left guard, and Taylor Hart, who played defensive tackle until earlier this year. Not exactly very inspiring.

Howie Roseman has his work cut out for him as he tries to improve an Eagles roster that’s been good enough to win seven out of their first eight games. It’ll be pretty interesting to see if the Birds make a trade before the deadline.