Eagles News: ESPN analyst argues Philadelphia was wrong to trade up to No. 13

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

NFL draft 2022: Ranking the best in-draft trades and why the Eagles should not have traded up to No. 13 - ESPN
T-1. Houston Texans-Philadelphia Eagles. The trade: Eagles receive pick No. 13; Texans receive picks Nos. 15, 124, 162, 166. Value winner: Texans (acquired 7.2 chart points, gave up 4.9). Surplus value: Late second-round pick. Philadelphia paid a steep price to move up two spots and take Jordan Davis at No. 13. It only cost three Day 3 picks, but the difference between what you get at 13 and 15 is tiny, and so the Eagles paid three picks for almost nothing. In fact, according to our Draft Day Predictor there was a 55% chance before pick No. 13 that Davis would still be available at pick No. 15, so there was about a coin flip’s shot they literally traded those three picks for nothing. I’m somewhat sympathetic to the argument that there was a talent drop-off after 14 in this draft — and you could argue that’s a knock against Houston’s side of things — though they also could have traded down again. That theory could also ease the burden of the Eagles’ trade up, though I’m skeptical of any player whose primary strength coming in the run game — like Davis — being considered in an elite tier of prospects. Regardless, though: this deal was not close — Houston came out ahead.

New candidates to join the Eagles’ front office emerge - BGN
Brandon Hunt is interviewing for a “high ranking front office job” in Philly this weekend, according to Geoff Mosher. Hunt is the Steelers’ pro scouting coordinator, a position he’s held since joining the team full-time in 2010. The Eagles previously interviewed him for a role in their organization during the 2016 offseason. Hunt also interviewed for the Las Vegas Raiders GM job earlier this offseason. He’s believed to be a candidate to replace retiring Steelers GM Kevin Colbert, so it’s possible he stays in Pittsburgh.

FROM THE SB NATION NFL SHOW: The Eagles won the draft by a landslide - BGN Radio
[BLG Note: In which Stats and I talk about why the Eagles were some of the biggest winners of the 2022 NFL Draft.]

2022 NFL Draft: Execs unfiltered on all 32 classes — Jets display urgency, Saints ‘destroyed’ value - The Athletic
The Eagles traded up in the first round for a defensive tackle who played limited snaps in college. They selected only five players, none at premium positions. They also traded a first-round pick with its cost-controlled contract for the right to pay a veteran receiver $25 million per year at a time when colleges are producing more pro-ready wideouts than ever. The Eagles did all these things, and the league applauded. Thank you, Saints. “Just by doing the trade with New Orleans where they got the future one and two, and the three this year, that by itself made their draft a win,” an exec said. Acquiring 24-year-old receiver A.J. Brown from Tennessee was generally seen as another win because the guarantee structure was relatively favorable, the Eagles have struggled to draft wideouts in the first round and the team enjoys greater salary-cap flexibility than many others while functioning without a highly paid quarterback. “I’ll be honest, if (GM) Howie (Roseman) takes another first-round receiver to go with Reagor and Smith and they still struggle to pass the ball?” an exec said. “I think it’s a lot easier for them to get a known commodity, a guy who has proven he works well off play-action, that has a connection with the quarterback, whose new head coach has seen up-close from his own days coaching the AFC South.”

One UDFA Likely to Make Every NFL Team - The 33rd Team
Philadelphia Eagles. Player: Carson Strong QB, Nevada. While the Eagles have committed to Jalen Hurts for this year at QB and also have Gardner Minshew on the roster, the opportunity to add a low risk signing of a higher ceiling player in Carson Strong was too hard to pass up on. Strong’s knee concerns are why he went undrafted, but his arm talent is undeniable.

PPR #389: BGN’s Brandon Lee Gowton on Eagles’ Draft, Sixers-Heat - Philly Pressbox Radio
[BLG Note: Here’s a link to my interview with Bill and Chet.]

TABLE TALK: Eagles Post-Draft Analysis - Philadelphia Sports Table
This week on TABLE TALK, Jeff sat down with Brandon Lee Gowton, better known as BLG, (@brandongowton) from BleedingGreenNation.com and the BGN Radio podcast to analyze the Philadelphia Eagles recent draft picks and where this team is now heading with some new talent.

The NFL Draft Prospects to Watch In the 2023 Class - The Ringer
Young and Stroud both enter the 2022 season looking like consummate NFL pros, with skills beyond their years, desirable physical traits, and winning pedigrees. Young does have one notable wart that Stroud doesn’t: his size. Alabama currently lists Young at 6-feet and 194 pounds, which makes him a remarkably small NFL quarterback. Only 12 quarterbacks in MockDraftable’s database have entered the NFL combine under 200 pounds; none were drafted in the first round, and only West Virginia’s Pat White—one of the greatest rushing quarterbacks in college football history—was selected in the first three rounds. NFL personnel will have questions about size for Young that Stroud (6-foot-3, 218 pounds) will not have to endure.

Even if Colts had made playoffs, Carson Wentz may not have been back - PFT
It’s easy to assume that if the Colts had simply beaten the Jaguars in Week 18 of the 2021 season and qualified for the playoffs, the Colts would have kept quarterback Carson Wentz. That assumption quite possibly would be incorrect. “I think we still would’ve had some hard discussions,” G.M. Chris Ballard said during a Wednesday visit to #PFTPM. “Just the way we played down the stretch, and we knew we needed to make some improvements in that area. The one thing I think [owner] Jim [Irsay] and I and [coach] Frank [Reich] are when we know something’s not a good fit, don’t just try to justify it. Let’s move forward. We all knew we were going to get egg on our face. That is what it is, but at the end of the day it’s about doing the right thing for the organization. I think even if we would’ve ended up in the playoffs, we would’ve had some hard discussions going forward.”

Cowboys trading away Amari Cooper named one of the worst moves of the offseason - Blogging The Boys
Even after bringing back Michael Gallup, and adding James Washington and Jalen Tolbert to their receiving corps, the Cowboys are still worse today at the receiver position than they were one year ago. It’s not like Dallas spent big in free agency with the money saved by trading Cooper, so they simply could have let Gallup walk, kept Cooper and still added a young wideout in the draft. The Amari Cooper trade might go down as one of the most puzzling moves in Cowboys’ history. The Cowboys better hope their new additions at the receiver position can replicate Cooper’s production because if not, this move could haunt them for years to come.

Post-draft free agent options who could help the Giants - Big Blue View
Landon Collins, SAF. The Giants need safety help after Peppers and Ryan’s departure - could there be a reunion? Jerry Reese and the Giants traded up to the top of the second round of the 2015 draft to select Collins. He played four admirable seasons in New York and almost won defensive player of the year after an eight interception season in 2016. His contract expired at the end of 2018, and the former regime allowed him to pursue a lucrative deal from Washington - which was the right move by Dave Gettleman, in my opinion. Collins signed a six-year, $84 million deal that was supposed to last through 2024, but he’s now available. The three-time Pro Bowler struggled with injuries in Washington; the now 28-year-old tore his Achilles to end his 2020 season. He returned in 2021 and played adequately before suffering a foot injury in week 15 that landed him on injured reserve. He played 675 snaps in 2021 with 30 STOPs, 58 tackles, two picks, and two sacks. Collins was never an uber athlete at safety, but a physical presence who can impose his will at the line of scrimmage. Martindale uses a lot of multi-safety looks and likes to align them near the line of scrimmage. Rookie Dane Belton can do that effectively, but I don’t hate the idea of adding Collins as a rotational piece in a now thin safety room. Collins quibbled with Eli Apple while they were both in New York. Collins was one of the young leaders on the team, and he did call Apple a locker room cancer. I can’t speak to Collins’ leadership, but I haven’t heard many criticisms of Collins’ inability to mesh into a locker room. If he fits the Giants’ new culture, I would give him a shot to return to blue and earn snaps on a defense that uses various looks and body types.

Commanders fans feel good about the trade back from #11 during last week’s draft - Hogs Haven
The biggest argument against the trade is that Washington’s eventual first round selection, Jahan Dotson, was over-drafted. He was seen as a guy who would go in the latter part of the 1st round or even in the early 2nd round. But that was before the NFL adjusted to the explosion in wide receiver salaries. Six wide receivers came off the board between Pick #8 and Pick #18. No top tier receiver would have been left for Washington to select if the Commanders hadn’t pulled the trigger when they did. The next wide receiver wasn’t taken until the Packers, known to be hungry for a receiver, took Christian Watson with the second pick in the 2nd round — and they passed up on Watson at #22 and #28, where they selected a pair of defensive players. In fact, that figure of 6 wide receivers acquired in the span of 11 picks rises to 7 receivers if you include the Eagles trade for veteran AJ Brown — a player drafted in 2019 whose production on his rookie contract has been comparable to that of Terry McLaurin, who was taken in the 3rd round of that same draft. The need for receivers is so great across the league at the moment that the Eagles traded Pick #18 and gave Brown a $25m per year contract extension! Now that’s an expensive acquisition.

Why no one wants Baker Mayfield - SB Nation
Baker Mayfield is still available. Despite an abundance of rumors a deal was close, the Browns quarterback was not traded during the NFL Draft. Now, as teams progress and begin planning for the regular season we’re facing a scenario where the No. 1 pick from the 2019 NFL Draft will either be dealt for peanuts, or ultimately cut before training camp. It’s left a lot of people wondering why. It wasn’t long ago that Mayfield was seen as the savior as Cleveland, the franchise quarterback who broke the drought and finally returned the Browns to prominence — now he’s being tossed out. We know this was simply a case of the team finding someone better, and taking the risk to trade for Deshaun Watson, but that doesn’t mean another QB-needy team wouldn’t benefit from Mayfield, right? Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. There are numerous levels to the Mayfield situation that extend far beyond on-field play that are impacting the willingness for teams to trade for him. It’s why, when my team the Panthers drafted Matt Corral in the third round after being linked to a trade for Baker, I said this.

The Look Ahead #87: Stories that aren’t finished yet this offseason - The SB Nation NFL Show
Rob “Stats” Guerrera and RJ Ochoa pick out the stories on which we’re still waiting for a resolution this offseason. Deebo Samuel and the 49ers (6:01). RJ thinks teams trading for a big name WR all lost (9:10). The Cardinals and Kyler Murray (18:15). How do things end between Kyler and the Cards? (25:00). Sean Payton getting a studio or analyst job (29:28). Urban Meyer getting his side of the Jaguars story out there (37:35). Big Ben talking about a comeback (49:11).

...

Social Media Information:

BGN Facebook Page: Click here to like our page

BGN Twitter: Follow @BleedingGreen

BGN Instagram: Follow @BleedingGreenInsta

BGN Manager: Brandon Lee Gowton: Follow @BrandonGowton

BGN Radio Twitter: Follow @BGN_Radio

BGN Cameo: Click here for a personalized video message