Ranking Eagles best trade options at wide receiver during NFL offseason

[time2rock]

Ranking Eagles best trade options at wide receiver during NFL offseason

It never ends. Are we still talking about the Philadelphia Eagles‘ need for a wide receiver? Don’t we do this every offseason?

Nevermind! Don’t answer that. All that’s going to do is make all of us angry. Then again, we can’t ignore the elephant in the room either. DeVonta Smith is the best wideout on this team. Quez Watkins is a decent second option and Philly’s best deep threat. Once we get past those two, things get tricky.

Greg Ward has shown that he can make plays, but the Eagles have shown that they’re never going to stop looking for his replacement. Jalen Reagor and JJ Arcega-Whiteside… How do we say this nicely?

Okay, there’s no way to say this nicely AND be honest. They can’t play. So, who’s left? KeeSean Johnson? Deon Cain? John Hightower? It appears that we’ve answered the original question. The Eagles must, again, go out and find a legitimate NFL wide receiver (or two). That leads us to a secondary question. How do they go about finding one?

Several draft pundits have attached a wideout to the Birds in their mock drafts. Others have gone another route in their mocks. Sure, they sent a wideout to Philly too, but things only got worse as, in their scenarios, the Birds wound up reaching.

Now, let’s say they ignore the wide receiver position in the draft (or they take one late). There are still other options. They can spend a little cash on one in free agency. They can explore some trade options. Let’s focus on that trade idea for a second.

Trades rarely happen in the NFL, especially ahead of free agency, but they do occur. It’s time to get creative. Here’s a ranking of four trade options that could make sense. Expect this list to change once or twice before we get to the scouting combine.

D.J. Moore isn’t someone the Eagles are eyeing, but he should be.

Okay, as tempting as it is to daydream about an Eagles spending spree with all of the new financial freedom they’ve found, it isn’t wise to go blowing money like an 18-year-old that just got his or her first credit card. We’ve all been there. We also remember what it was like when we got that first credit card bill.

To maintain Philly’s ability to remain competitive in offseasons that will follow the one they navigate through in 2022, they’ll need to do a better job of managing their coins than they’ve done in the past. That means they’ll need to ‘ball on a budget’. Better yet, they should find budget-friendly ballers, and D.J. Moore definitely falls in that category.

Whenever the top young wide receivers in the game are mentioned, D.J.’s name does not come up. Some of that is the result of playing in a small television market. Some of that stems from the fact that he’s had a lot of balls thrown in his direction from a broken-down Cam Newton, Teddy Bridgewater, and a disappointing Sam Darnold. Make no mistake about it though. This guy is the real deal.

This must be said. We’ve never heard Moore’s name mentioned in conjunction with Philadelphia, but even if it never is, he’s the type of guy the Birds need.

He’s a veteran presence. He’s cost-effective. D.J. Moore isn’t a popular name when mentioned in topics like these, but it should be. His addition would also allow the Eagles to shed a cap-hogger or two seeing as how there’s this unique history of former Eagles winding up in Carolina.

A desperate Washington team could clear the books, and that could be good news for the Eagles.

Well, how’s this for getting creative? At the time of this story being written and published, there’s seemingly no trade market for someone like Kansas City Chiefs star Mecole Hardman. Washington Commanders star Terry McLaurin could be another story, but before teams explore that option, they could look to the next free-agent class.

Everyone’s charged up about the list of impending free agents that are set to hit the market in 2022, and that will, no doubt, be the most interesting topic of discussion as we near March. Just look at some of these names that are expected to hit free agency’s pool: Allen Robinson, T.Y. Hilton, Chris Godwin, Davante Adams, Will Fuller, Odell Beckham Jr.

Snagging one of those guys seems easy enough. As is the case every offseason, however, there’s always the possibility that teams who are looking to move on from guys that are nearing the ends of their deals will listen to offers.

It never hurts to see if those guys can be dangled out in front of the other 31 NFL franchises to see if there are any bites, and for a Kansas City Chiefs team, one that’s loaded on talent but staring at the possibility of two of their best players hitting the market in 2023 (Tyreek Hill and Hardman), one can make the argument that they may not pay top-dollar to keep both, especially seeing as how they’re loaded on the offensive side of the ball.

Washington always seems to be in a salary-cap prison of their own making, and they may be a little more desperate. Teams don’t always ship talent off to a division rival, so a trade with the Commanders seems like a longshot, but the Birds have had an interest in McLaurin for a while.

No Eagles fan would have any issue with seeing him trade a burgundy and gold jersey in for one that’s midnight green in color.

Here’s a rumor that Eagles enthusiasts keep hearing (and discussing).

You didn’t think Calvin Ridley would be left off of the list, did you? We’ve been talking about this one for a while, and even though we shifted our attention to other matters that were more pressing and watched the rumors of an Alabama reunion die down if you think this one won’t pick up steam again very early in the offseason, you’re fooling yourselves.

All it takes is for someone to type up a tweet and we’d be diving head-first into the rumor mill again.

It appears that the Atlanta Falcons and former Crimson Tide star Calvin Ridley are content in going their separate ways. Ridley, like everyone else on this list, is signed through the 2022 season, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2023. That means that the Falcons can handle this in one of two ways.

One, they can work things out with the 26th-overall selection of the 2018 NFL Draft, and both sides can endure 17 more games together. That would mean that Ridley leaves in 2023 and Atlanta gets nothing.

The second option is simple. They can see what they can get for a man that was a Second-Team All-Pro in 2020 and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie Team two years prior. That makes more sense for a team in desperate need of upgrading most of their roster.

Ridley isn’t the perfect choice. He might be a better ‘Robin’ than ‘Batman’, but at only 27 years of age, he has more tread on the tire than Marvin Jones, Jarvis Landry, and Brandin Cooks, three guys who are also expected to hit the free-agent market in 2023.

Maybe the Eagles have been fawning over the wrong Seahawks star.

It seems like it’s been forever since it happened. Once upon a time, the Eagles, with the 57th-overall selection of the 2019 NFL Draft, took JJ Arcega-Whiteside over D.K. Metcalf who the Seattle Seahawks took seven draft spots later at 64.

At the time, it made a little sense. JJAW was described as the second-coming of Alshon Jeffery. D.K. was coming off of a neck injury, so several teams were backing off.

Unfortunately, it’s hindsight, not foresight that’s always seen in 20-20 vision, and not only is JJAW so far from being the second coming of Alshon Jeffery but the argument can also be made that Jeffrey Lurie could be as productive on the field as Arcega-Whiteside is.

We’re teasing of course (sort of), but missing on D.K. was such a gross error in judgment that its effect has carried over to make other bad decisions by the Eagles’ brain trust seem even worse than they are.

Taking Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson was another of Philadelphia’s draft-day snafus, but it’s more agonizing because both Metcalf and Jefferson are stars while JJAW and Reagor continue to struggle.

Hre’s where the rubber meets the road. Philly could make all of this right. If they moved on from JJAW by finding anyone willing to take him off of their hands, that would assist in creating room for a potential trade with Seattle to add a wideout that should have been a part of the Eagles’ nest in the first place.

Can you imagine the battles he and Slay would have at practice? Can you imagine how that would take both of their games to the next level? We’ve talked ourselves into it. Hopefully, you feel the same way. Someone get Howie Roseman on the line immediately.

https://insidetheiggles.com/2022/02/07/eagles-trade-options-wide-receiver-nfl/

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I'd be good with Ridley as long as it wasn't for a first round pick. I'd also be good with Moore for the right price. 

[Outlaw]

On 2/12/2022 at 4:35 PM, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I'd be good with Ridley as long as it wasn't for a first round pick. I'd also be good with Moore for the right price. 

No to Ridley. Too risky. I’d be up for Moore for sure. Metcalf may be too pricy for my liking. 

[Cheesteakitis]

1 hour ago, Outlaw said:

No to Ridley. Too risky. I’d be up for Moore for sure. Metcalf may be too pricy for my liking. 

i guess if moore would somehow be available i don’t see it think the article is grasping at stays the the only two that could even be dealt are ridley and metcalf 

[time2rock]

8 hours ago, Outlaw said:

No to Ridley. Too risky. I’d be up for Moore for sure. Metcalf may be too pricy for my liking. 

Any deal for Ridley would have to take into account the risk ...  I would never consider a 1st rd pick and most likely would be out on a day 2 pick (unless it is a late day 3 then maybe).  But still have a stronger preference for someone in free agency like Chark, JuJu, Kirk, or Robinson - then no draft picks involved.  

[pallidrone]

I am probably the only person that would not want Metcalf anywhere near this team. I think he is a product of Russell Wilson and I think he would fail miserably here at a high price tag.

I think Ridley would do well but I think I would rather go the FA route as most of those guys are on par or right below anyone they had to trade for.

 

[Outlaw]

4 hours ago, time2rock said:

Any deal for Ridley would have to take into account the risk ...  I would never consider a 1st rd pick and most likely would be out on a day 2 pick (unless it is a late day 3 then maybe).  But still have a stronger preference for someone in free agency like Chark, JuJu, Kirk, or Robinson - then no draft picks involved.  

Agreed. I think a Christian Kirk or DJ Chark signing plus an Alec Pierce in the draft gives us a nice diverse group of pass catchers that can be moved around the formation.

[time2rock]

Can cross Ridley off this list.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/falcons-calvin-ridley-suspended-indefinitely-at-least-through-2022-season-for-betting-on-nfl-games/?fbclid=IwAR0gOtbhgHPAm1DF1qeAZJz84zQa7AOKWQxY51E61I1T7rUHFnDUuizarGI