Instant analysis: Eagles trade Matt Pryor to Colts for draft capital

NFL: DEC 22 Cowboys at Eagles
PHILADELPHIA, PA – DECEMBER 22: Philadelphia Eagles Offensive Guard Matt Pryor (69) heads to the locker room during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagle on December 22, 2019, at Lincoln Financial Filed in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire)

According to an official announcement from the Philadelphia Eagles, the team have traded offensive lineman, Matt Pryor, to the Indianapolis Colts.

The Eagles and Colts swapped late-round picks in the trade, giving the Eagles an extra sixth-rounder in next year’s NFL Draft and dropping a seventh.

This is a great move for the Eagles, who were likely going to be waiving Pryor anyway and stashing him on the practice squad.

Drafted in the sixth-round back in 2018, Pryor has 10 starts under his belt, all of which came last season. He saw playing time in 2019 as well and brought a lot of versatility to the table, as someone who was a Swiss-army knife during his time at TCU. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to take that next step in his development and the Eagles found some players with higher upside elsewhere.

Nate Herbig might not be a solid option at center just yet, but he performed admirably at guard last year, while the surge of growth from Jordan Mailata, and drafting of Jack Driscoll fortified the tackle spot. The Eagles love versatile linemen, but Pryor became a jack of all trades, master of none.

Being able to turn a seventh-rounder into a sixth-rounder by trading a player who wasn’t likely to make the roster anyway is huge…and they spent a sixth-rounder on him to begin with, meaning he’s retained his value since being drafted.

Pryor is the next name to come off of the team’s roster cutdown list, with the final-53 being confirmed by 4PM EST. I wonder if there are any other moves on the horizon…

Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire