NFL Draft Rumors: Seven players the Eagles could trade in order to get more picks

The 2017 NFL Draft is merely ONE day away! The Philadelphia Eagles still own a total of eight picks in this year's draft. History suggests that the Eagles might not be done trading yet because Howie Roseman loves to make moves up and down the board. One of Roseman's best trades ever came when he dealt Bryce Brown to the Bills (for a fourth round pick!) during the 2014 NFL Draft. So with that in mind, here are some players the Eagles might ship out this weekend.

Mychal Kendricks

Let’s start with the Eagles player I’d deem most likely to be traded during this year’s draft.

It was reported back in February that the Eagles want to move on from Kendricks. This makes sense given the fact he only played around 27% of Philadelphia’s defensive snaps in 2016 despite being healthy. The coaching staff clearly didn’t want him on the field. Kendricks struggled early on in the season; the Week 5 Lions game especially sticks out in my memory.

The curious thing about Kendricks is that the Eagles kept him past a date where his roster bonus was due. So it would seem the Eagles have no plans on cutting him because they would have already done so before that date. Philadelphia must be confident that they can still trade the 26-year-old linebacker. Doing so would save $1.8 million in cap space.

The Eagles reportedly want at least a fifth-round selection for Kendricks. I’d do that deal.

Jason Kelce

I have no idea what the Eagles plan to do with Kelce. They claim he’s their starting center, but there was a report back in January that the team was planning to move on from him. Giving credence to this report was the fact the team unexpectedly re-signed Stefen Wisniewski with 2016 third-round pick Isaac Seumalo already in the fold.

But then there was a report that the Eagles aren’t cutting Kelce. So maybe he’s truly here to stay? Maybe, but this report leaves the door open for a potential trade.

Kelce is a fan-favorite and as the team’s center he has an important pre-snap relationship with young quarterback Carson Wentz. But there’s no denying he’s struggled at times over the past two seasons. Philadelphia could save $3.8 million by trading the bearded one. He might fetch a Day 3 pick.

Jordan Matthews

Trading Matthews would be unpopular with a good number of Eagles fans, but that won’t prevent it from happening. The are rumors out there that Philadelphia is open to trading their 24-year-old wide receiver.

The Eagles wouldn’t be trading Matthews because they think he’s bad. They’d be trading him because they think they won’t be able to re-sign him after this season when he becomes a free agent. If the Eagles already wanted to sign Matthews to a long-term deal, you would think they would have tried to do that by now. The Eagles handed out some early extensions last offseason. They didn’t have the same approach this year.

Make no mistake, Matthews is a nice player. But he’s also flawed. He can’t play on the outside. He drops a lot of passes and he’s too often struggled to toe-tap. Matthews has good production numbers over the first few years of his career, but they are inflated to some extent. He’s been a master of garbage time and his numbers have benefited from Chip Kelly’s volume-boosting offense. There’s an argument to be made Matthews won’t be worth his next contract, especially when the Eagles have 17 other players scheduled to be free agents after this season. They won’t be able to keep everyone. If Philadelphia can get a decent pick for Matthews, moving him now could make sense.

The Eagles might jump at the offer of a Day 2 pick.

Allen Barbre

The above three players are most likely to be traded. The next four, including this one, are less likely to me.

Still, there was talk the Eagles were willing to trade Barbre this offseason. The team reportedly gave him permission to seek a trade ... to no avail. It was then reported that Barbre will be back with the team in 2017.

Keeping Barbre around wouldn’t be the worst thing. He was solid when healthy in 2017. He figures to provide good depth for the Eagles this season. But if a team offers, say, a fifth-round pick for the versatile offensive lineman, he should be gone. Doubt it’ll happen though.

Ryan Mathews

It’s been assumed the Eagles are going to release Mathews when he’s healthy enough to pass a physical.

But here’s a conspiracy theory for you. What if they’re holding on to him until they can trade him? I wouldn’t count on this, especially since he’s coming off a significant injury and I’m not fully aware of his status, but it’s worth a thought.

If Mathews hadn’t gotten hurt late last year, I bet you the Eagles would have traded him by now. And I bet you he would have fetched a decent offer, too. For all his flaws, Mathews is a talented runner on a reasonable contract. The Eagles probably could have gotten maybe, like, a fourth or fifth for him? Shipping him out for a sixth (or anything) would be worth it now.

Nelson Agholor

So this is clearly wishful thinking. Probably no one is trading for Agholor. But I love to point out that trading him actually saves a small amount of money ($17K) while cutting him costs the Eagles $2.3 million.

I’d love for the Eagles to ship out Agholor in a bust-for-bust trade for someone like Kyle Fuller if Chicago is going to give up on him. I’d say it’s very unlikely, but with Roseman around, I’d say it’s not impossible.

Jason Peters

The Eagles should not trade Jason Peters. He likely has more value to the Eagles by protecting Carson Wentz than he does in fetching the team a draft pick. If a team offers a second-round selection for the 35-year-old, though, you’d have to really think about it.