Howie Roseman Must Consider 3 NFL Trade Deadline Options
The Philadelphia Eagles own the best record in the league, but will Howie Roseman look to improve the team before the NFL Trade Deadline on October 31? His work is never done.
“The trade deadline looms large. In the next 24 hours, I’m interested to see if the Eagles make a move to make the team even more ready to contend for a championship.” -Andrew DiCecco
Linebacker Depth
Andrew DiCecco of Inside the Birds spoke on The John Kincade Show about the linebacker position as a possible area of need.
“You need to see if there is another viable solution to linebacker that you can kind of plug in there and get a four-man rotation. I think that might be an area that teams are going to look to exploit as they move further into the season.” -DiCecco
He pointed to the game plan that helped Sam Howell and the Washington Commanders to 397 passing yards in Week 8. Eric Bieniemy and the Washington staff exploited Zach Cunningham as a weakness in Philadelphia’s pass coverage.
Nakobe Dean also had a few hiccups in the 38-31 victory.
Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow exceeded expectations early in the season. However, a team in Super Bowl contention shouldn’t sit comfortably if they fear a position of weakness.
Roseman could target Josey Jewell of the Denver Broncos. He looks like an affordable option in the final year of his contract in 2023. Sports Illustrated estimated that a mid- or late-round pick might get the deal done.
Derek Barnett
It’s not common for a Super Bowl contending GM like Howie Roseman to sell at the NFL Trade Deadline. However, it’s a real possibility that the Eagles move Derek Barnett for a late-round draft pick.
The former first-rounder and his agency have had permission to seek a trade since training camp. The percentage of his defensive snap counts has decreased in four consecutive games.
Barnett played seven defensive snaps in Week 8. He failed to generate any sort of push on a pass rush on one snap late in the third quarter. Instead of settling as a non-factor for one play, he recklessly charged at the ball carrier and risked a 15-yard personal foul with a hit that had very little impact on the play.
Regardless of how you feel about officiating, NFL players undoubtedly know to expect harsh (and probably overboard) enforcement of the rules.
A late-round draft pick won’t help the Eagles win Super Bowl LVIII. However, trading Barnett would remove the liability for a costly mistake without any real concern about losing a contributor.
Running Back
The Eagles added D’Andre Swift in April to sure up their running back room. However, their rotation in the backfield hasn’t met high preseason expectations.
Nick Sirianni should no longer look at Kenny Gainwell as a reliable player after his costly fumble against Washington in Week 8. Swift also has an injury history that the Eagles shouldn’t ignore.
Jeff McLane spoke on 97.5 The Fanatic about running back as a potential position to target if an opportunity presents itself for a reasonable cost.
Roseman showed his willingness to add to a strong running back room in 2017 when he swindled his way into acquiring Jay Ajayi for a fourth-round pick.
The Eagles have already added Julio Jones, Bradley Roby, and Kevin Byard since the season started. However, the league knows never to sleep on the shrewd Howie Roseman at the trade deadline.
“I do have one quality I can’t deny. That is I am relentless, freaking relentless… I’m so worried that someone’s going to be available that I don’t know about, and I see a trade or a move made, and I didn’t know about it.” –Howie Roseman (New Heights)
https://twitter.com/WordOnTheBirds/status/1718599306356130151
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10 Of The Best Trades Howie Roseman Has Ever Made
Trading Up For Devonta Smith
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
What is better than trading up to get a great player like Devonta Smith? Robbing your division rival of a chance to get the player. It’s a move he has made before when he jumped the Cowboys to take Dallas Goedert in 2018. But this time he worked with the Cowboys to steal Devonta Smith from the Giants. After years of very little talent at WR, the Eagles finally had someone with Star Power.
They just signed him to an extension, 2 years before they actually had to. He has proven to be a true WR1, even while sharing targets with AJ Brown.
Acquiring AJ Brown
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Even after getting Devonta Smith, the Eagles still had a big need at WR. Many people were projecting the Eagles to use one of their 3 1st round picks in 2022 to take yet another WR. Howie had a different plan. Why draft a young guy who may or may not be good when you can go out and get an established star at WR? Howie sent the Titans the 18th pick, and a 3rd round pick, and in return got one of the best WRs in the league.
They immediately signed him to a 4-year extension. This off-season they signed him to another extension. Now he is here for the long haul, and he has a chance to go down as the best WR in Eagles history. Meanwhile, the Titans have been a mess since he left.
Bringing in "Big Play" Slay
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Similar to WR, the Eagles had been desperately searching for a star-caliber CB for a while. Even that Super Bowl year, they were not exactly stocked in the secondary besides Malcolm Jenkins at Safety. They won with guys like Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby. It quickly caught up to them in the following years. So when Slay was trying to get out of Detroit due to a spat with then-head Coach Matt Patricia, Howie pounced.
The Eagles got an All-Pro Caliber Corner, and all they had to give up was a 3rd and 5th-round pick. Even now at an older age, he is still going up with guys like Ja’marr Chase and looking pretty good while doing so.
Trading Down With the Dolphins in 2021
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Sometimes Howie’s great moves have nothing to do with acquiring talent. Like in the 2021 draft. Howie traded down from pick 6 to pick 12 with the Dolphins, getting the Dolphins 1st round pick the following year. It’s the pick that would eventually turn into Jordan Davis. A move we do not have clear answers about. But the trade-down itself was a genius move.
Even after trading down from 6 to 12, they still got a guy, Devonta Smith, who everyone would have been happy with at pick 6. Well done Howie.
Howie Rips Off The Saints
(Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
This trade was weird, and I still don’t fully understand what the Saints got out of this. At one point the Eagles had 3 picks in the first round of the 2022 draft. But they wound up with 2 after they swapped a ton of picks with the Saints. The Saints wound up having two 1st round picks in 2022, but they gave up a lot to get that. There were a lot of moving parts, but here is what each team got back.
Eagles: No. 18 pick, pick 101, Pick 237, 2023 1st round pick (10), and a 2024 2nd round pick
Saints: Pick 16, Pick 19, Pick 194
The Eagles pretty much just gave up one 1st and moved a few picks down with another. And in return, they got Jalen Carter, and that 2nd round pick turned into Cooper DeJean. The Saints were trying to bet on themselves and failed. They ended up taking the bad end of the deal giving up two 1st round picks far more valuable than the two picks they got back, and throwing in a 2nd round pick for good measure.
Acquiring CJ Gardner Johnson
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Yes, it wound up being only a rental, and then he came back a year later. But that rental was a huge boost in the 2022 season. CJ Gardner Johnson was a playmaking machine that season having a league-leading 6 interceptions despite missing time. he was such a huge part of that defense that helped them get to the Super Bowl.
Acquiring Jay Ajayi
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Ajayi is not a star like Brown or Slay. But his addition brought an extra element to the team that finally won the first Super Bowl in Eagles history. Would they have won it without him? Who knows. But the Eagles needed some help at RB, and Howie was not shy about going out to get it. He sent a 4th round pick to the Dolphins and got back a guy who put over 400 yards for them the rest of the way.
Getting a 1st Round Pick For Sam Bradford
(Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images)
Somehow, someway, the Eagles both offloaded an angry Sam Bradford and got a 1st and 4th round pick back in 2016. The Vikings were desperate for QB help after Tedd Bridgewater suffered a season-ending injury, and Howie cashed in. In one fell swoop he replaced one of the 1st round picks they used to trade up for Carson Wentz and opened up the starting spot for Carson Wentz by getting rid of Sam Bradford.
He did go on to waste that pick on Derek Barnett. But the 4th round pick turned into Josh Sweat who turned out very well for them.
Getting a First Round Pick For Carson Wentz
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
That is not the only example of Howie getting a lot back for a QB they didn’t even want. When Wentz’s time had run its course in Philly, there was not a lot of optimism Howie would get much back. But he worked his magic and got a conditional 1st round pick. Thankfully, those conditions were satisfied, and he turned into one of the 3 1st rounders they had in 2022.
They sent that pick to the Saints, and got a haul. They made a lot of other trades with the picks they got back, which makes what they got back for Wentz a bit complicated. Going through all the eventual trades would take a whole article of its own. But all of these players were acquired with picks connected to that original trade of Wentz.
- DeVonta Smith
- A.J. Brown
- Kyron Johnson
- Jalen Carter
- Cooper DeJean
- Jalyx Hunt
- Jeremiah Trotter Jr
- 2025 fourth-round pick
- 2025 fifth-round pick
Pretty good haul for a guy who is now a backup in the league.
Moving Up With Dolphins in 2016 Draft
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Before the Eagles moved up to pick 2 to get Carson Wentz, they made another move to get from 13 to 8. What did they have to give up to get there? Two players they were already trying to get rid of. Kiko Alonso and Byron Maxwell. It not only moved them 5 picks up in the draft but got rid of the bad contract they had just given Byron Maxwell. Not sure what the Dolphins were thinking.
To go from 8 down to 13 and only get two struggling overpaid veterans back. But thank you Dolphins, and thank you Howie.
