The Eagles Are Now Selecting No. 2 Overall in the NFL Draft. Details Here

It happened!

In a shocking move with eight days still to go until the NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Browns to move up to the No. 2 spot.

Here are the details.

#Eagles have agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Browns to acquire the second-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/SdJSegMy4m

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 20, 2016

“This trade was a decision we made with a great degree of research and conversations between our head coach, all of our scouts, our coaches and our owner,” Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said. “In the end, based on all of the evaluations over the last several weeks, even months, we decided that moving up to the second pick was the right move for our franchise.”

The price is STEEP!

“It’s a hard pill to swallow, we understand that, it’s a tough price to pay,” Roseman said. 

It’s the highest Philadelphia is drafting since 1999, when it selected Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 overall pick in Andy Reid’s first year as head coach. 

The Eagles are clearly content with whomever the Los Angeles Rams don’t choose between California’s Jared Goff and North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz at No. 1.

“That’s only way to make this trade is to be really comfortable with both of those guys,” Roseman said. “We spent a ton of time investigating these guys, looking as well as what’s out there moving forward. Looking at the quarterback market, not only this year but next year.”

With that being said, however, it is a bit hard to believe that the Eagles don’t know who the Rams prefer. Why make this deal with eight days to go until the draft if they didn’t? A report came out a few weeks ago that Eagles head coach Doug Pederson “loves” Wentz and Philadelphia was going to do all it could to obtain him. 

It did just that.

When meeting with reporters Monday, Pederson stated that Goff and Wentz are “pretty even” and there’s “not much separation” between the two.

“From all the physical tools, both of them are extremely gifted there,” he said. “They have good arm strength, mobility, obviously Carson is a little bigger, maybe a little better athlete right now.”

Pederson added, “I like him. He’s got everything you want in a quarterback at this level. You never know. Quarterback is a unique position at the National Football League level. Guys come in here and there’s an expectation level that they have, there’s an expectation level that we have as a coaching staff. I like him, I like his arm strength, his mobility, he’s a bigger kid. I think he’s got all the tools to be an NFL quarterback.”

Pederson has used the word “smart” a lot when asked about the traits he looks for in a quarterback this offseason. He wants one that wins, has the work ethic, intangibles and toughness. These are all characteristics NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said Wentz had. These are also traits that Alex Smith in Kansas City had. Smith is also sneaky athletic and ran for 498 yards in 2015, the fourth highest among quarterbacks. Pederson can take advantage of Wentz’s wheels just as he did Smith’s.

He fits what Pederson likes to do on offense.

The Eagles clearly have a lot of holes to fill, but Roseman explained that this is a “rare opportunity” that they are in. Quarterback is obviously the most important position in the NFL.

“It’s hard to be great if you don’t take some risks,” he said.  “You can’t invent one (franchise quarterback) … There’s not a large history of guys in the third, fourth, fifth round to end up being guys that have the ability to compete for championships.”

So what does this mean for Sam Bradford, who signed a two-year, $36 million extension last month.

“Let me be clear, Sam Bradford is our starting quarterback,” Roseman said.

That might be true for this year, especially if Wentz is taken at No. 2. He has just 23 starts and 612 pass attempts at the FCS level. I don’t expect him to see much action this season unless Bradford gets hurt, but then again, Pederson might elect to go with Chase Daniel.

Bradford is a cap hit of $12.5 million this season and the Eagles would save just $1.5 million in cap space if they traded him prior to June 1st. Next year the cap hit rises to $22.5 million with a $9.5 million dead money value. Philly would save $17 million in cap space if it traded him after the season and you’d think a potential trade partner would renegotiate his contract.

Maybe the Eagles can get a second or third round pick back for him.

This is another reason why Wentz feels like the guy at No. 2 because Goff is the more pro-ready prospect and might be able to start in Week 1. The Rams are also in a position to win now with Todd Gurley in tow at running back and a scary defensive front seven which includes defensive end Robert Quinn and defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

The Tennessee Titans dealt the top pick in the draft along with their fourth (No. 113) and sixth-round (177) picks to the Rams last week in exchange for their first-round (15), both of their second round (43 and 45) and third-round selection (76) in 2016 along with a first and a third next year.

As for the structure of the Eagles and Browns trade, the draft picks are spread out over three years instead of two.

“We still have some things that we want to do in this draft and it was hard for us to give away every pick on Friday because we saw some opportunities there. And when you look at a pick in 2018, you can prepare for that better,” Roseman said.

At least the trade rumors are over.

But the Eagles better make sure they get the pick right!