Are Philadelphia Eagles trying to get a leg up in NFC East NFL Draft order?

April 27, 2021 | News | No Comments

The Giants can’t take the Eagles’ bait.

Philly GM Howie Roseman is back in the news as rumor is that the Eagles, who already traded back from No. 6 to No. 12, are considering a move ahead of the Giants at No. 11.

Know how the Giants should react to that?

The answer is they should not react at all.

I believe the Eagles have no idea what the Giants are planning to do at No. 11. I think Philly is trying to flush the answer out.

The belief around the league is that the Eagles want one of the top receivers. The Giants might take a wideout, too. The Eagles know that’s possible, and they’re trying to nail that down for sure and figure out which receiver it is.

They’re trying to get the Giants to react.

This is why there have been numerous reminders in national media the last few days that Roseman might not be done moving around the board, that he should never be counted out.

I don’t doubt for a second that Roseman is pursuing all options. It’s his job. The Athletic reported that the Eagles are exploring a move back into the top 10, and I’m sure Roseman has made calls.

But the Giants shouldn’t worry or let these rumors impact them at all.

This isn’t the 2016 draft, when the Giants held the No. 10 pick, and had high grades on Michigan OT Jack Conklin and Georgia OLB Leonard Floyd, but watched the Titans and Bears trade over them to take both players before selecting Ohio State corner Eli Apple.

This year’s draft is setting up to drop a sure contributor in the Giants’ laps no matter what. If anything, the projected early run of quarterbacks would justify a Giants trade down, not up, to acquire more assets and still land a solid player.

The Giants might not even be planning to take a receiver at No. 11. They can address the offensive line or their defense, too.

Even if the Giants take a wideout at No. 11, though, there is still a good chance that one of the Alabama speedsters, either DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, would fall to the Eagles at No. 12.

Even if Philly covets one of those players over the other, I don’t see a large enough difference in speed, explosiveness and talent between Smith and Waddle to warrant a trade up for one over the other.

There are scenarios that could see the top four receivers go in the top 10, including Florida TE Kyle Pitts and LSU wideout Ja’Marr Chase, if at least one of the quarterbacks falls.

In that scenario, maybe the Eagles want one of those players badly enough to move back up the board. But if they do, where are they going?

They’re not trading with Dallas at No. 10. The Denver Broncos at No. 9 are more likely to trade up for a QB than they are to trade down. That only leaves the Detroit Lions at No. 7 and the Carolina Panthers at No. 8, but the Eagles just traded out of the No. 6 slot.

How much are they going to spend to go nearly all the way back to their original pick when several quality players are going to fall to them at No. 12 anyway?

Let’s not forget, either, that the Eagles are more than just one playmaker away. They need players all over their roster. They aren’t the deep and enviable Super Bowl team of a few years back. They are rebuilding.

There is something undeniably intriguing about the Cowboys, Giants and Eagles picking back-to-back-to-back at No. 10 through No. 12 and the ramifications of each team’s decision on the others’.

Dallas looks as if it will go corner or offensive line. The Giants could go receiver, pass rusher, offensive line or corner. Then the Eagles are waiting at the back end, and back at No. 19, Washington lurks with eyes on the quarterbacks and best players available.

This certainly adds an interesting NFC East twist to the Giants’ decision at No. 11. They won’t just be picking their own player when they’re on the clock; they’ll also be picking who they are willing to face twice a year in division by whom they allow to fall to the Eagles.

Is it possible this pushes the Giants even harder to take a receiver like Smith or Waddle, knowing that it not only means he’ll be on their team but they won’t have to cover him?

No question it’s all part of the equation. But what the Giants can’t do right now is tip their hand to the Eagles or allow Philly’s plans to dictate their own.

Last month in free agency, Adoree Jackson was in New Jersey visiting the Giants, and it was leaked that he was planning to visit the Eagles in South Philadelphia next.

Not long after, the Giants gave Jackson a stunning three-year, $39 million contract with $26.5 million guaranteed, a deal that was widely considered by league sources to be a steep overpay.

How much did the Eagles’ reported interest, plans and pressure dictate the Giants’ actions? No one knows for sure. But one thing is certain as the NFL Draft approaches: whatever noise Roseman makes down the stretch, Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge can’t react.

They have to prepare to make their own noise at No. 11.

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