Albert Okwuegbunam trade: Eagles acquire tight end from Broncos

We all knew that Howie Roseman wasn’t going to let the NFL roster cuts deadline pass without making at least one trade, right?

As it turns out, the Philadelphia Eagles made a deal with the Denver Broncos on Tuesday afternoon. Terms via Adam Schefter:

EAGLES RECEIVE: TE Albert Okwuegbunam, 2025 seventh-round pick

BRONCOS RECEIVE: 2025 sixth-round pick

It was previously reported that the Broncos planned on cutting Albert O but the move wasn’t made official. The Eagles decided to avoid hoping he made it through the waiver wire process (where they rank 31st out of 32 teams) and paid a relatively small price to secure his services to improve their tight end depth.

Albert O, who turned 25 in April, is an intriguing player. He was originally selected by the Broncos with a fourth-round pick (No. 118 overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft. Part of the appeal to his profile coming out of Missouri, where he logged 23 touchdowns on 98 total catches, was his combination of size and speed. This is a big and fast man:

Albert O failed to really produce in Denver, however. Things got off to a bad start considering he tore his ACL as a rookie. Working with uninspiring quarterback options over three years, he saw 73 targets for 54 receptions, 546 yards (10.1 average), and 4 touchdowns. He only had 10 grabs for 95 yards and one score in 2022.

Two head coaching changes during Albert O’s tenure may have done him no favors. Expectations also figure to be much lower for him in Philly since he likely enters the fray as a third or fourth option behind at least Dallas Goedert and Jack Stoll.

Adding Albert O to the mix makes sense with Grant Calcaterra failing to stand out this summer. In fairness to Calcaterra, he did not benefit from having to deal with a struggling Marcus Mariota throwing his way. Still, one would’ve hoped to see more from the 2022 sixth-round pick who is only 223 days younger than Okwuegbunam.