The NFL Trade Deadline is seven days away and teams are scurrying to make any last-minute moves that will either strengthen their roster, or chances of doing so this offseason. The Eagles could easily be both buyers and sellers this year, but what assets outside of capital do the team have to offer potential trade partners?
*Note: It doesn’t help that names who would clearly be involved in trade discussions are currently injured so this list isn’t spicy hot!
Derek Barnett
The Eagles made the decision to go all-in on their former 1st-round pick, picking up his fifth-year option next year. That’s all well and good, but the 24-year-old hasn’t really done enough to justify the $10M cap hit he’ll cost next season and the Eagles need to find a lot of money to avoid being over the cap.
Barnett has arguably taken a step forward this season, flashing a new spin-move and rallying to 3.5 sacks. What doesn’t help is that Brandon Graham is clearly the EDGE1 and Josh Sweat has been the more visible presence, even if he has 0.5 less sacks to his name. Sweat’s PFF grade (66) is 2 higher than Barnett’s.
The Eagles have Vinny Curry back to full health and could always lean on Genard Avery in an EDGE4 role if they do move on from Barnett, hitting the reset button next season and maybe investing heavy at the position again.
Barnett is still extremely young and would probably re-sign to a cheaper deal with a new team who were willing to trade some assets for him and allow the Tennessee product time to develop. He may be the team’s most valuable trade asset at this time.
Alshon Jeffery
This is probably the most obvious name on the list, but finding a team willing to swallow a $15M cap hit isn’t exactly going to be easy, no matter how hard Howie Roseman tries. Jeffery hasn’t played in over a year, has been the subject of plenty of character-based criticism, and costs a metric ton.
But if the Eagles can find a team craving wide receiving help who needed to offload talent at a position of need, then who knows?
Nate Sudfeld
Injuries are getting bad this year, especially in the team’s own division. Take the Cowboys for example, who crave QB help. While trading them Jalen Hurts would be a death wish, Nate Sudfeld would provide a capable backup arm who has seen minimal regular season action, but been around an NFL locker room for 4 years.
Sudfeld isn’t a starting QB and you could even argue a viable QB2, but Sudfeld would at least provide an improvement over *checks notes* Ben DiNucci.
J.J Arcega-Whiteside
If the Eagles can’t shift Alshon, then maybe parting ways with JJAW is a possibility. Arcega-Whiteside is somehow playing a reserve role behind Travis Fulgham, a fifth-round pick baring a very similar skillset and breaking out in explosive fashion. That makes 3 jump-ball wideouts on this roster and with Alshon nearing full health, if the team can cash in on a young wideout who really isn’t adding too much, then they can get help at areas of need.
JJAW isn’t the most appealing trade target in the world, but he’s only in year two of his career. All it takes is one front office who was high on him in the draft process to float some much lighter assets and the Eagles could find themselves dealing him sooner than you think.
Genard Avery
This one would be beyond frustrating for fans. The Eagles gave up a fourth-round pick in order to acquire Avery this time last year and he’s been used sporadically since. A week 4 breakout was beyond encouraging, but his snaps have decreased in each of the last 4 weeks and he didn’t even feature against the Giants.
If the Eagles don’t move on from Barnett, Avery could well be the less valuable option for some depth relief in other areas.
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire
