Report: Eagles are “aggressively approaching” the 2020 NFL trade deadline

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has made at least one deal ahead of the last three NFL trade deadlines and this year might mark four in a row. The latest trade rumor talk comes from Jason La Canfora:

The Eagles have had a slow start and been ravaged by injuries to certain position groups but remain very much alive in a brutal NFC East and are aggressively approaching the trade deadline, league sources said. General manager Howie Roseman is among the more proactive executives in the league and has already sent signals to multiple teams that he is interested in acquiring some of their talent if they are open to it.

[...]

“Howie is on the prowl already,” one rival general manager said. “He’s looking for action. If there is a trade to be made he’ll do it. Bringing in a free agent from the outside is tougher now and more risky with COVID, and he loves to make trades anyway. I’ll bet you anything he gets something done before the deadline.”

[...]

Linebacker, an area of consideration in the early rounds of the draft, is one area of focus for the team, according to some who have been in contact with Roseman.

Sigh.

I find this report discouraging in light of how the Eagles are approaching this season.

With the team recently waiving a promising 2020 draft pick in Casey Toohill to bring back a 32-year-old Vinny Curry playing on a one-year deal, it seems like the Eagles are more focused on winning an awful NFC East at all costs than caring about their long-term outlook. It’s concerning to think that the Eagles might actually be buyers at the deadline when they should actually be sellers.

As a refresher, here’s Roseman has handled the deadline in recent years:

2017 — Acquired Jay Ajayi in exchange for a 2018 fourth-round pick. The Eagles buying totally made sense here since they were looking like a strong Super Bowl contender. Good trade.

2018 — Acquired Golden Tate in exchange for a 2019 third-round pick. The Eagles were 4-4 and in need of offensive help at the time, so the impetus was understood. But it ended up being a bad deal because Tate wasn’t a good fit.

2019 — Acquired Genard Avery in exchange for a 2021 fourth-round pick. It was a perplexing deal at the time and it hasn’t aged very well. Avery did have a good game in the Eagles’ only victory this season. But he’s made little impact otherwise and he’s down to being the fifth defensive end again with Curry back on the roster.

Roseman’s last two deadline deals have been sub-optimal. That track record doesn't inspire the utmost confidence for this year’s outcome.

To be clear, I don’t think the Eagles being buyers is an automatic failure. Buying on a young player who can help the team beyond this season could be a good move! But if the Eagles are giving up a draft pick to acquire a player who only helps in the short-term, well ... that’d be incredibly foolish.

We’ll just have to see what the Eagles have in store ahead of the 4:00 PM Eastern deadline on Tuesday, November 3.