Weapon X Mailbag: Should the Eagles trade Dallas Goedert?

An uneventful free agency period for the cap-strapped Eagles is underway. Time to roll with the questions!

@rynej__: Thoughts on trading Dallas Goedert? Jonnu Smith just got a crazy deal and DG is clearly a better player with better production. Not a valuable position. Hayden Hurst went for a 2nd last year and while that was a pathetic, terrible move by the Falcons, it does sorta set a market.

At one point in time, I may have been the biggest Dallas Goedert defender on the planet. I still love his game and believe his stats will get pumped when he transitions to a TE1 role when Zach Ertz is inevitably gone this offseason.

HOWEVER...

Yes, he’s a beast on the field, but it’s that physicality that he plays with that has caused some injuries to mount up in his young career, leaving me nervous he wouldn’t be able to handle the load of playing nearly all the snaps in a 16-game season (Ertz played 16 games and 92 percent of the offensive snaps in 2018 for reference).

These tight ends are getting paid too! Goedert is better than Jonnu Smith and I don’t think it’s crazy to believe he’ll be more productive than Hunter Henry when given more opportunities. He’s going to top those contract numbers.

He’s pretty good and he’s kinda young. The Eagles have very, very few players who fit that billing. It’d make sense to just hang onto him then after his rookie contract expires next offseason, right? I’m not so sure!

I’m worried about how his body is going to hold up. I’m worried about paying big money to a non-premium position when the Eagles’ cap woes extend beyond 2021 and are lacking talent almost everywhere else on the roster. If he had the same profile and played defensive end or corner or wideout or safety? I’d say he’s a keeper, but on a team that is in need of a rebuild rather than a retool, it might be best for long-term planning.

I’m not trying to kick him out the door. He’s still good! It’d take a nice offer for sure.

Hayden Hurts, who stinks and is about 1.5 years older than Goedert, got traded from Baltimore with a fourth-round pick to Atlanta for a second and fifth. I need a second-plus. A second and a third? Maybe! If not, I have no qualms keeping him and seeing how 2021 plays out. If he’s closer to Darren Waller than Mike Gesicki, then, yeah, let Howie Roseman call up his agent and work something out. If not, let him walk and likely get a fourth back for him as a comp pick in 2023. The Eagles are by no means backed into a corner here and have optionality as to how they want to handle Goedert’s future in Philly.

@StreamedHams: What’s the absolute craziest thing you can come up for the Eagles that is still technically feasible whether trade(s), weird signing after cuts, etc. also punter news?

The single most wild thing that could happen for the Eagles this offseason is trading for Nick Foles, who would return to Philly for his third stint with the team. The Eagles decide to keep Jalen Hurts in this scenario too, bracing for a training camp battle that’s Hurts’ to lose with Foles in a more mentor-like role.

A wrench gets thrown into the Eagles’ plans when they fall in love with a quarterback from North Dakota State once again, trading their pick, a second-round pick, and the third-round selection they got from the Colts to the Falcons for the right to draft Trey Lance.

Heading into the summer with Foles AND Hurts AND Trey Lance would be a media member’s dream and a fan’s worst nightmare.

@alex252: Between Nelson Agholor and Jalen Mills, how far will the Patriots go in reuniting the 2017 Eagles?

Just wait until they swing a trade for Foles and have a QB completion in camp between BDN, Cam Newton, and Jarrett Stidham...

@AngeGold: Which NFL trend will the Eagles chase - likely a year or two too late - in this year’s draft? i.e. Cross-trainable players under Chip, college production under Doug, speed last year etc...

I’m not sure if this would specifically be considered an overcorrection, but there’s a chance they stop going full galaxy brain with their picks. The Justin Jefferson pick will come to haunt them. They got a little too cute drafting Jalen Reagor for speed (is he even that fast?) and projection when Jefferson was staring them in the face. Sometimes, you just have to take a guy who's a great football player right now.

It makes me think that they’d lean DeVonta Smith over Jaylen Waddle when in years past, Waddle fits their profile more even with his season-ending injury as part of the equation. Maybe, they can get their heads out of their asses and take a guy who won the Heisman Trophy.

@Mismatchsports: Out of Ja’Marr Chase, Kyle Pitts, and deVonta Smith, who do you want the most? Also, who do you think is the most likely to be taken at 6??

My choices in order between the skill position guys would be Ja’Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, and then Kyle Pitts. I’ve gotten some heat on Twitter for not being all-in on Pitts, but the argument that he’s essentially a receiver doesn’t sit right with me. He’s a tight end. If he was actually a receiver, he’d just play receiver! All this talk of him being an X receiver at the next level doesn’t really immediately click with me when he played just 59 snaps while lined up wide in 2020, per PFF. Some receivers have that many in a single game!

As for the most likely pick, I think they’d grab Chase if he was there, but the pessimist in me is increasingly worried he won’t be. A trade down might be in the cards if not and they’d take their pick of what’s left between Smith, Pitts, and Waddle at the eighth or ninth pick. Carolina and Denver seem prime trade up candidates given their need at QB.