PFT says Eagles are trying to make it seem like they never tried to trade Malcolm Jenkins

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is doubling down on his original report that the Philadelphia Eagles offered Malcolm Jenkins and two draft picks (a third and a fourth) in exchange for Brandin Cooks.

This comes in a response to Adam Schefter’s claim on Wednesday morning that the Eagles did not initiate including Jenkins in a trade offer to the Saints. Florio writes:

It’s an exercise in semantics. The Eagles may not have “wanted” to lose Jenkins, but they “wanted” Cooks enough to offer Jenkins along with a third-round and a fourth-round draft pick. The Eagles didn’t “want” Cook badly enough to “want” to give the Saints both Jenkins and a second-round pick.

As one league source with knowledge of the talks explained it to PFT in the aftermath of Schefter’s suggestion that Jenkins wasn’t offered to the Saints, the Eagles now want (need) to create the impression Jenkins wasn’t offered to the Saints. Obviously, the Eagles want (need) to avoid creating the impression that Jenkins generally is on the trading block and/or to minimize any potential frustration or confusion from Jenkins or the rest of the team.

Personally, I find PFT’s original report hard to believe, but maybe I’m just wrong. Florio is pretty insistent that Cooks would be on the Eagles right now if the Eagles had offered Jenkins AND a second-round selection instead of Jenkins and lesser draft picks.

The point of curiosity for me is whether the Eagles offered up Jenkins on their own. Unless I’m misinterpreting their report, PFT makes it sound like the Eagles offered Jenkins to the Saints on their own. That’s the impression I get, and they’ve done nothing to clarify otherwise. Schefter, meanwhile, was pretty clear it was New Orleans who wanted Jenkins involved in the discussions.

Perhaps what really happened here is the Saints brought up Jenkins in trade talks and the Eagles entertained the idea after they suggested it. I just have a hard time believing Philadelphia was so easily looking to move Jenkins on their own. Especially considering the Saints have clearly realized letting Jenkins walk in free agency a few years ago and signing Jairus Byrd instead was a big mistake.

To this point, the Eagles haven’t issued a denial about offering Jenkins despite media members making requests for comment. One could suggest the team leaked information to Schefter in order to throw cold water on the Jenkins speculation, though.

Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman will have an opportunity to address the Jenkins rumor in a radio appearance on SportsRadio 94WIP on Wednesday afternoon. He’ll join Chris Carlin and Ike Reese at 4:30 PM ET. You can click here to stream the interview live as it happens.