The Eagles ended up standing pat on Tuesday during the NFL trade deadline. That doesn’t mean they didn’t field phone calls on certain players. Will Parks was mentioned late last week as possible trade bait and apparently, there was at least one nibble for the do-it-all “Swiss Army Knife” safety.
According to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, the Vikings had “preliminary discussions” about a deal for Parks. Minnesota had also flirted with signing the 26-year-old utility defensive back in free agency. Parks is only on a one-year contract in Philadelphia so keep an eye on him possibly exiting in 2021. He spent his first four years in Denver and racked up 149 total tackles, one sack, 13 passes defensed, four interceptions in 62 games. He has only seen 84 defensive snaps in Philly since returning from a nagging hamstring injury.
Parks, who serves as the “Big Nickel” safety, is a Philly native who came home to win a Super Bowl. He made that very clear during his media availability at Eagles training camp, plus he’s been an inspirational leader in the community. His Twitter handle is “Philly Will” after all. He made a gracious overture to Eagles superfan Giovanni Hamilton on Tuesday and promised to be a guest on his new podcast. Standup guy, explosive player.
“I’ll probably have a lot on my plate,” Parks said at camp. “I’m a guy who likes challenges so I wouldn’t want them to want me to be here if I didn’t want that role. I’m here for a championship.”
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Rodney McLeod, Teammates Ride ‘Election Bus’
The Eagles have been all-in on getting the word out on the 2020 presidential election, including turning Lincoln Financial Field into a drive-thru ballot drop-off site. Safety Rodney McLeod and his wife, Erica, also led a double-decker bus through the city to encourage people to vote.
McLeod and several Eagles players — Jalen Hurts, Darius Slay, Jalen Mills, Dallas Goedert, Jordan Mailata, Avonte Maddox, Greg Ward, Grayland Arnold, Elijah Riley — spoke to city residents over mega-phones to encourage civic engagement and voting. They also provided free shuttle service to polling locations in North Philadelphia and provided meals to volunteer poll workers, according to the Associated Press.
“It has been amazing to see how excited and prideful everyone is about voting,” McLeod said. “When they see the bus and give us a thumbs-up that they voted, we are confident that change is going to come.”
Eagles Enjoying Bye Week, Getting Healthy
Doug Pederson told reporters that he is making players report to the practice facility on Wednesday to review game film and discuss the first half of the season. The Eagles are on bye this week but he stressed the importance of going over what went wrong and what went right. They will use the rest of the week to rest and heal up. Players aren’t not allowed to leave Philly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I love having the bye week in week eight, nine or ten in the season,” Pederson said. “I think it’s a good time because then you kind of focus and get healthy for the second half of your season. Right now, too, I think with COVID and the fact that we have to test every day, it keeps our team here.”
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Eagles, Vikings Discussed Trade for ‘Swiss Army Knife’: Report