After having to endure Chip Kelly’s Wild Ride last offseason, I figured the Philadelphia Eagles would be content with making more quiet moves this offseason. I was very wrong.
Last week the Eagles agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Browns. That gave them the second overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. The trade puts the team in position to draft one of the top quarterback prospects, Carson Wentz or Jared Goff.
The blockbuster trade came as a shock, because quarterback didn’t seem to be an immediate need for the team, and up until last week, the Eagles didn’t seem to think that either. In March, the Eagles signed last years starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, to a 2-year, $36 million deal. A deal that many felt was excessive for a quarterback who has a reputation for being injury prone and currently holds a record of 25-36-1.
Howie Roseman, executive VP of football operations for the Eagles defended the contract by stating, “When you're talking about a quarterback, there is no level that you won't pay for a high performance for a quarterback.”
They even signed former Kansas City Chiefs backup QB, Chase Daniels, to give him a chance to compete for the starting spot. Daniels is believed to have been brought in because of his connections to Head Coach Doug Pederson, who was the Chiefs Offensive Coordinator last season.
"I think Chase, given an opportunity, yes, I think he can be (a starting quarterback)," Pederson told reporters earlier this year.
Now, I understand the need for a franchise quarterback. Most teams are struggling to find theirs, so they aren’t exactly easy to find. And the Eagles clearly don’t feel they have “their guy” yet. However, to gamble this much on a prospect who is such an unknown is crazy.
As a fan, I obviously hope this trade pans out and we get our franchise quarterback. However, history tells us that the odds aren’t great. Just 4 years ago, the Washington Redskins traded away a bunch of picks to the then St. Louis Rams for the 2nd pick of the draft to draft quarterback Robert Griffin III. After a great rookie campaign, Griffin was plagued by injuries and was never able to get back into his rookie form. He was released by the team in March and recently signed with the Browns. The trade clearly didn’t work out for the Redskins and Griffin was given much higher praise from scouts.
Even after letting the move sink in and taking all information into account, this move still leaves me uneasy at best. However, I understand teams sometimes need to make that gamble to push them into that upper division of elite teams. Only time will tell whether or not the trade pans out but hopefully, this ultimately ends up with a Lombardi Trophy in Philadelphia. Fly eagles fly.
