Top draft analyst on possible Eagles draft trades, trade-up candidates

Top draft analyst on possible Eagles draft trades, trade-up candidates

With less than a month to go before the NFL Draft, the Eagles are sitting pretty with three first-rounders at Nos, 15, 16 and 19.

Will they really stick there and pick three players?

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah doesn’t think so. Jeremiah, one of the top draft experts in the country, was on Takeoff with John Clark and tried to express just how much he doesn’t expect Howie Roseman to sit still.

"No chance. Zero chance,” Jeremiah said. "I would say I’d be shocked but that wouldn’t even come close to describing how surprised I would be. We’ve kind of said, OK, do they trade back once? I’m sitting here going, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if they trade back with a couple of these picks.’ I don’t anticipate they’ll stay there.

"I’d also anticipate they try to get assets in next year’s draft. It just makes sense from a timeline standpoint. You can build around Jalen Hurts this year but also accumulate some assets for next year and you feel like after this year, you’ve got a good feeling. Is he the guy or not? And if for some reason he doesn’t take the necessary steps, then you’d be loaded up next year.”

Jeremiah also pointed out that the quarterback-needy Pittsburgh Steelers are currently sitting at pick No. 20, which puts the Eagles in a great position. The Steelers haven’t tried to hide the fact that they’re looking for a QB so if a team wants to get one that might still be available in the teens, they might try to jump in front of Pittsburgh. The Eagles would be happy to oblige.

"Howie likes the juice,” Jeremiah said. "He likes to move around and get some excitement and he’s positioned better than anybody else in this particular draft.”

It might be more likely that the Eagles trade back to acquire future assets but there’s also a chance they could trade up. What if a couple quarterbacks come off the board in the top 10 and it pushes some really talented players down?

In that case, maybe the Eagles would be willing to pull off a modest trade-up to get a player they covet. They did it last year when they traded up from 12 to 10 to draft DeVonta Smith.

Who might be a trade-up target this year?

"There are a couple. I look at who would kind of drop a little bit, slide a little bit,” Jeremiah said. "Garrett Wilson would be one for me. I think he’s the best receiver in the draft. I think he’d be an awesome guy to pair up with DeVonta (Smith) going forward and let those guys play together. That would be one I would consider. Drake London is another wideout that I’m real high on. I don’t think he gets to 15. That might be one where you don’t have to move up that far but maybe up a little bit just to ensure you get your guy if you really like him.

"You look at the edge rushers, I know they’ve been active in the edge rusher market in bringing over Haason Reddick, but I could definitely see if one of those guys starts to drift a little bit, you could go and get him. Jermaine Johnson would probably be the greatest chance you’d have at one of those top four guys. That one you might have to pay a little more for. I don’t know if they’ll do that.”

In their conversation, Clark and Jeremiah talk about the most likely positions for the Eagles in the first round, why Roseman got an extension and Jeremiah’s memories of working for Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie around draft time.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/nfl-draft-2022-eagles-trade-candidates-daniel-jeremiah