Weapon X Mailbag: Will the Eagles be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline?

The first ever Weapon X Mailbag coming after an Eagles win. What a world we live in. Let’s get to the burning hot questions!

@BIrish615: With the division being so weak do you see us being buyers at all this trade season? Or if we fall out of it selling on big cap hit players?

@Hunter86682014: With Mohamed Sanu now a free agent should the Eagles pick him up?

These kind of go together, right?

My head says that the Eagles should be sellers and it’s the rational move to not overvalue a luck-filled victory over a banged up 49ers team. Has that Sunday Night Football win made me infinitely more excited for the Steelers game than I was a week ago this time? Certainly, but we need to be realistic and think about the future of the franchise.

Zach Ertz? Fletcher Cox? I wouldn’t trade those guys because of some dislike for them. I’d deal them because of how damn good they are and because you might be able to get at least a couple of second rounders for them. Cox may be a cap causality come next year anyway. Ertz’s disgruntled contract negotiations are public knowledge (maybe a little too public for both parties).

For an aging, expensive roster, why not recoup potential young, cheap talent as you reload for a new run in 2021 or 2022?

The Eagles do not operate that way. The franchise does not view their 2018 and 2019 playoff berths as flukes, but as gritty triumphs in the face of harsh circumstances. I would have to believe that if the team went 7-8-1 or something and won the division before getting smoked in the playoffs, the front office and company would consider themselves just a break or two away from being real contenders.

That concerns me.

In defiance of everything we know about the National Football League, the Birds are going to end up stealing one of these next two games, aren’t they? No one jerks your mental well-being around quite like the Eagles and they’ll do everything in their power to make you think their 0-2-1 start was a mirage (hint: it wasn’t).

The NFL trade deadline is Thursday, October 29 at 4:00 p.m. EST. The Eagles have three games before then: at the Steelers and then home against the Ravens and Giants with the latter of those two games being on Thursday Night Football. Because they’re the ultimate tormentors, let’s say for this hypothetical that the Eagles upset Pittsburgh and then lose by single digits to Baltimore before spanking Joe Judge and the G-Men. They’d be 3-3-1 with a Sunday night contest against the Cowboys (Dallas sucks) on the way before their Week 9 bye.

If they’re 3-3-1 with one of the hardest chunks of their schedule already done (even though they still have an upcoming Seahawks-Packers-Saints stretch coming), Howie Roseman might be inclined to do something dumb. The obvious upgrade would be at wide receiver and I’d assume they’d target an older wideout who’s in the last year of his contract and has some star shine. Who fits that billing? A.J. Green!

They’d need to open up a bit more cap space, but I could unfortunately see the Eagles parting with a third or a fourth rounder total Golden Tate-style for Green. With youngsters Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins developing alongside rookie quarterback Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, Green has yet to get in a rhythm with the former Heisman Trophy winner.

Green, at 32, is easily having the worst season of his career, totaling just 119 receiving yards on 14 catches for a putrid 8.5 yards per catch. Green is expensive, old and coming off a season he missed the entirety of due to injury. That screams the Eagles’ M.O.

If it were between giving up a pick for a Green or a similar pass-catcher and taking a flyer on Sanu, I’d just grab Sanu. He hasn’t found a role in his last two stints in New England and San Francisco and is likely washed, but when you look at the composition of this roster overall, it’s irresponsible to be parting with picks unless it’s for young, proven talent.

@KickPushEmoji: What’s the situation with Davion Taylor? 2nd rd pick and can’t even get snaps with this weak group [facepalm emoji]

@Byronicgyro1: Does the player behind Nate Gerry have leprosy? What does worse than Nate Gerry even look like? How can he possibly continue to get snaps?

@cvcasal: is there a reason Nate Gerry is still in this lineup?

I got nothing. I don’t get it. I never will. I think Nate Gerry’s gotten a little too much shit in the past, but he’s just been a disaster this season. My dad calls him “Jerry” every game and it’s almost as painful as seeing Gerry himself play.

Let’s take a look at some quotes from defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz:

Ol’ Schwartzy is right. It’s not all Gerry’s fault. It’s Howie Roseman’s fault. I couldn’t be more against pouring big money and big resources into the linebacker position, but there’s a difference between valuing other positions more and then just having non-NFL players out there.

The Eagles finally addressed the linebacker position relatively early in the draft this past April and took a linebacker on Day 2 with Davion Taylor. He’s a “project” player. If you’re going to draft a linebacker on Day 2... GET A GUY WHO’S GOING TO PLAY RIGHT AWAY. My blood is boiling. Akeem Davis-Gaither was right there for the taking! Every Eagles fan had the team taking ADG in their personal mock drafts. Roseman didn’t get the memo. It feels like a wasted pick. It was a bad pick the moment it was called in. It’s great if Taylor is a contributor in Year 3, but they need a Day 2 LB to be playing from Week 1 on.

@evanweiss209: Have we found our left tackle of the future in Jordan Mailata

I don’t want to get too crazy, but maybe?

It’s one game, but it was the first real football game that Mailata had ever started, so given that context, it’s a hell of a performance. Per PFF, Mailata gave up a single pressure in 38 pass-blocking snaps. He also had a false start penalty. Again, the guy never started a football game, at any level, in his life before Sunday. He’s two years younger than Andre Dillard. His size-athleticism combo is scary.

All respect and thanks to Jason Peters, but they should either put him back at right guard or on phantom IR and make this Mailata’s job to lose over the rest of the season. Hitting on a starting left tackle in the seventh round is a wildly redeeming draft pick on Roseman’s part.

Mailata held his own against the 49ers. That’s a win, but his toughest tests are yet to come. This week against Pittsburgh, he’ll find himself blocking the likes of Bud Dupree and Cameron Heyward. The following Sunday back home in Philly, he’ll be lining up across from Calais Campbell. If he survives that and we’re still having this “left tackle of the future” talk about Mailata two weeks from now, the former rugby star could be Roseman’s biggest diamond in the rough since Jason Kelce

@ThisIsJoeMac: Will the meatball sandwich ever experience a renaissance?

I wasn’t aware that the meatball sandwich ever went away!

I wouldn’t be caught dead eating one from Wawa, but a nice home cooked meatball sandwich with Sunday gravy on white bread or fresh rolls? Yeah, I have and always will be about that. Don’t get it from a chain sandwich shop. Get it from your friend’s Italian grandma’s kitchen or a a classic local place. I’d recommend Angelo’s Pizzeria and Pastificio (both in South Philly) as the best in that regard, but I’m sure there are a ton of good spots in South Jersey that I’m unaware of too.