Since Howie Roseman regained his general manager status in 2016, he has been a buyer at the NFL trade deadline during four seasons, debatably five. With the Eagles sitting at 4-2 and a half game back in the NFC East, it’s a pretty good bet that he’ll make a deal at the trade deadline once again this season. It should be noted, however, that Roseman’s record at the trade deadline has not been good:
• 2023: The Eagles were buyers, trading S Terrell Edmonds along with fifth- and sixth-round picks for S Kevin Byard.
• 2022: The Eagles were buyers, trading a fourth-round pick for DE Robert Quinn.• 2021: The Eagles were kinda-sorta sellers, as they traded TE Zach Ertz to the Cardinals after a loss to the Buccaneers brought their record to 2-4. They also traded QB Joe Flacco to the Jets to make way for Gardner Minshew to become the No. 2, and they traded a late pick for CB Kary Vincent Jr.• 2020: No deadline trades, which made sense for a 3-4-1 team at the time of the deadline.• 2019: The Eagles were kinda-sorta buyers, trading a fourth-round pick for EDGE Genard Avery. I say “kinda-sorta buyers” because Roseman said that the Eagles were hopeful Avery would make an impact in 2020 and beyond, and not necessarily have to step in and contribute immediately in 2019. (He never contributed positively to the Eagles at any point, obviously.)• 2018: The Eagles were buyers, trading a third-round pick for WR Golden Tate.• 2017: The Eagles were buyers, trading a fourth-round pick for RB Jay Ajayi.• 2016: No deadline trades.They basically lit draft picks on fire for Byard, Quinn, Vincent, Avery, and Tate. Ajayi was the lone good “buyer” trade.So what positions could be in play for Roseman and the Eagles this year? Let’s rank them.
1) Edge rusher
A couple weeks ago, edge rusher felt like the most clear need at the trade deadline, but over the last two games the Eagles have gotten more positive production out of Josh Sweat, Bryce Huff, and Nolan Smith than they had in their first four games. Add in Brandon Graham’s steady play and the possibility for Jalyx Hunt to begin contributing more regularly at some point, and the Eagles don’t lack for depth on the edge.
The Eagles don’t need another rotational body for the defensive line, which is essentially what they traded for in Robert Quinn two years ago after losing Derek Barnett for the season with an injury.
The one thing they do lack is a true impact player, like Haason Reddick was for them in 2022. So if one those becomes available, like a Myles Garrett or a Maxx Crosby (I think the Browns and Raiders would be stupid to trade either of them, personally), then sure, go pay a high price for either of them.
2) Wide receiver
Even with A.J. Brown missing three games and DeVonta Smith missing one, all the other wide receivers on the Eagles’ roster have 114 combined receiving yards, and none have more than 35.
| Eagles WR | Targets | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| Jahan Dotson | 13 | 6 | 35 | 5.8 | 0 |
| Britain Covey | 7 | 7 | 34 | 4.9 | 0 |
| Parris Campbell | 7 | 6 | 30 | 5.0 | 1 |
| Johnny Wilson | 6 | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 |
| John Ross | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 35 | 21 | 114 | 5.4 | 1 |
From an outsiders’ perspective, the Eagles need another wide receiver, but more likely, Roseman isn’t going to trade for another receiver after giving up a third-round pick for Dotson a couple months ago. He’s going to want to see Dotson succeed.
3) Linebacker
The Eagles signed two low-cost linebackers this offseason in Devin White and Zack Baun. They whiffed on White, but Baun has panned out nicely. At the other spot, Nakobe Dean has had his nice moments, particularly as a blitzer, but he has also missed his share of tackles. The backups are Oren Burks and Jeremiah Trotter, who have combined to play 22 defensive snaps this season, almost exclusively in garbage time.
Maybe the Eagles would be wise to bring in some added depth at linebacker after releasing White?
4) Tight end
Dallas Goedert misses a handful of games every season, and he’s currently on the shelf with a hamstring injury. Grant Calcaterra had a nice game against the Browns as a receiver, but he’s not much of a blocker. Jack Stoll is a decent blocker, but the Eagles may as well just put a sixth offensive lineman on the field instead because Stoll is wholly unthreatening as a receiver. And then there’s Albert Okwuegbunam, who could be returning soon from IR.
The Eagles have run their share of two-TE sets of late. They could use a well-rounded backup tight end who isn’t as one-dimensional as the current backups.
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