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If you thought the stove couldn’t get any hotter under the Philadelphia Eagles’ draft burner, you were wrong. Roughly 24 hours ahead of Round 1, a new report surfaced saying the team was “setting the groundwork” for a blockbuster trade.
No, it doesn’t involve Derrick Henry. Or Budda Baker. Or Austin Ekeler. Or DeAndre Hopkins. What it does entail is moving up the draft board from pick No. 10. The goal would be to get ahead of Chicago (No. 9), Atlanta (No. 8), Las Vegas (No. 7), or Detroit (No. 6).
According to Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline, the Eagles are interested in securing one of the top edge rushers in this year’s class. He doesn’t name any specific players, although it’s not hard to narrow down the list by the process of elimination. Jalen Carter (Georgia) — a guy already heavily linked to Philly — would be the first candidate. Other names to consider: Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama), Tyree Wilson (Texas Tech), and Lukas Van Ness (Iowa).
Meanwhile, Nolan Smith (Georgia) remains in play if they stay put or trade back. The Eagles have been hot on his trail for quite some time. NBC Sports’ Peter King pegged Smith to Philly in his latest mock draft, saying: “A GM who’s always smart when I do this exercise told me he knew the Eagles love Smith.” So, there’s that.
Jalen Carter Adds Fuel to Growing Speculation
Jalen Carter was destined to be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft until a poor showing at his pro day, combined with charges of reckless driving and racing from a deadly car crash that killed a teammate, plummeted his stock.
Either way, the 6-foot-3, 314-pounder has massive potential and the Eagles appear to be very interested. In fact, Carter told NFL Media’s Eric Edholm that he believes he’s not slipping past the Eagles at No. 10: “Yes, sir. I believe that.”
Carter’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, went on record saying that his client was only taking top-10 pre-draft visits. The Eagles were one of them. And Carter — teammates with Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis on Georgia’s national championship squad — himself revealed they basically told him they were taking him at No. 10 if he dropped.
“I believe so, it might have been something like that. Yes, sir,” Carter told NBC Sports’ John Clark. “It would be crazy [to go there] and then they got Nakobe Dean, too. He was one of the leaders on the 2021 group [at Georgia]. I look up to that guy a lot so just having him and Jordan Davis, that would be crazy.”
Eagles ‘Making Late Push’ for Jaxon Smith-Njigba?
The Eagles are also “making a late push” for Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, per Tony Pauline of Pto Football Network. This would be more of a luxury pick with DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown already rostered. However, Smith-Njigba would be an interesting candidate to replace Quez Watkins in the slot.
The Eagles could be leveraging this report as a smoke screen to get the New York Jets to move up from No. 15. They are also very interested in Smith-Njigba. as a shiny weapon for new quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
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