October 30, 2017
The NFL's trade deadline is Tuesday (Halloween) at 4:00 p.m., and according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, the Philadelphia Eagles are expected to be "very aggressive" over the next two days in trying to improve their roster.
During FOX's television broadcast on Sunday, Glazer said that the Eagles would be targeting an offensive tackle (h/t to Brandon Gowton of BGN for the transcription):
“Actually, for the Philadelphia Eagles as he was just talking about, yeah, they’re already calling around about offensive tackles. And they’re going to be one of the most aggressive teams out there because they know what their window is. So expect them to call every team to see if they can upgrade that roster.”
Then later in the day, Glazer doubled down on his earlier report (again via BGN).
“The Philadelphia Eagles are going to be very aggressive this week. The trade deadline is on Tuesday. They are the top team in the league right now, record wise. Expect them to be very aggressive this week and try and upgrade before the deadline.”
After the Eagles lost Jason Peters for the season with a torn ACL and MCL, they inserted Halapoulivaati Vaitai into the starting lineup at left tackle. They then signed Taylor Hart off the street to serve as depth. Trading for an offensive tackle certainly makes sense, as doing so would, in theory, upgrade the starting left tackle spot, as well as tackle depth with Vaitai returning to his swing tackle role.
The NFL lacks abundance in quality offensive tackles, so if the Eagles do indeed intend on making a move for one, they likely won't come cheap, or they will have significant flaws.
A few offensive tackles around the league have been mentioned recently as being on the trading block.
Last week the San Francisco 49ers acknowledged that they would listen to offers for Staley (translation: they're begging for them), as Kyle Shanahan said it would take a "whole lot" for them to deal him, via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.
“Joe is a guy that I definitely want here and definitely a guy I wouldn’t want to lose by any means,” Shanahan said. “I’m not going to sit here – if anybody called for any one of our players, it’s not like you just hang up the phone. If people want to offer the world, you’ve always got to listen. You’ve got to always try to think what’s going to help your team and make your team better.”
Staley is 33 years old. He's in decline, and now after Sunday's matchup against the Eagles, he has a fracture in his orbital bone.
49ers OT Joe Staley fractured his orbital bone, no stitches by eye. As tough as injury is, not a season ender. Staley expects to play again.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 30, 2017
We can probably rule that one out.
Brown held out for the first six weeks of the season, reportedly because he has no guaranteed money left on the two remaining years on his contract. He likely only returned a couple weeks ago to get credit for an accrued season.
Like Staley above, Brown is old for an offensive tackle, at 32 years of age. Trading for Brown would be a major risk, as the Eagles would have limited knowledge Brown's conditioning and readiness to play after missing the entirety of training camp and the first half of the season.
Trading a valuable asset as well as taking on a player who is (A) already making a lot of money and (B) wants more, feels like a bad bet for a team like the Eagles who don't have a lot of salary cap space and don't have time to wait for a player to get into playing shape.
The Bills have good depth at tackle, and they have already been rumored to have talked to the Seattle Seahawks about trading Glenn. The 28-year old Glenn is in his prime, and is a good starting left tackle.
If the Eagles believe that Peters is unlikely to return to football, as in ever, then trading for Glenn as a long-term solution at left tackle would make sense, but he wouldn't come cheap, either in the way of trade compensation, or in terms of his cap cost.
Last week, former agent Joel Corry of CBS wondered about a trade of Henderson to the Eagles:
The Bills have a surplus of offensive tackles. Moving one makes sense especially with Henderson just finishing the 10 game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy he started serving last season. A trade centered around Bills offensive tackle Cordy Glenn and Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham was an alternative. The Bills dealing a Pro Bowl caliber offensive tackle in his prime for a tight end on an expiring contract and draft picks seemed less plausible. It may have been a different story if Bills tight end Charles Clay wasn't expected to return later in the season from the knee injury he suffered in early October.
The Eagles and Bills have already demonstrated they can work together this year with the preseason trade involving cornerback Ronald Darby and wide receiver Jordan Matthews. Losing left tackle Jason Peters for the season on Monday night to a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee is a big blow. Halapoulivaati Vaitai wasn't up to the task after Peters got hurt or filling in for right tackle Lane Johnson earlier this season or last year. Henderson started 26 games for the Bills during the 2014 and 2015 seasons prior to his battle with Crohn's disease and two substance abuse suspensions.
This option, by far, in my view, is the most realistic scenario if the Eagles were to make a move for an offensive tackle. Corry believes that the cost could be something along the lines of a 2019 seventh-round pick, that could escalate to as high as a fifth-round pick if Henderson met playing time benchmarks.
Interestingly, the Eagles removed Henderson from their draft board back in 2014:
Per a source, Miami OT Seantrel Henderson was removed from the Eagles' draft board.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) January 21, 2014
That was because Chip Kelly did not like the way his interview with Henderson went during a meeting at the 2014 Senior Bowl. That would have little-to-no impact on the Eagles' willingness to acquire him now.
We're not going there.
Update: We lied. We went there.
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