Adrian Fedkiw
The Philadelphia Eagles are in a pickle and have less than a week to decide whether they want to prioritize their present or future.
Losing Jason Peters and Jordan Hicks were devastating and not only were they significant, the Birds only have until Tuesday’s trade deadline to decide whether or not they want to upgrade the roster following these departures.
What works in their favor is left tackle Joe Staley will be in for a visit Sunday when the Eagles face off against the San Francisco 49ers. He’s the best, in my opinion, of a potential trade crop that also includes Duane Brown. The Eagles currently have $6.9 million of cap space to work with this season and just $6.1 next, which is the third fewest in the league. Staley headed into the year with a cap hit of $11.1 million, but that figure lowers to a manageable $7.75 million the next two seasons when he turns 34 and 35. Brown had been holding out looking for a restructure of his contract before recently reporting to the team. So who know’s what he’s looking for and coupled with the fact he’s not in game shape, Staley would be the obvious play here.
What’s it going to take to pry him from San Francisco, though?
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan stated during a press conference that it would take “a whole lot” to get him.
“You know, I haven’t really thought about what they would do. Joe’s a guy that I definitely want here, and definitely a guy I wouldn’t want to lose, by any means. i’m not gonna sit here and — I mean, if anybody called for any of our players, it’s not like you just hang up the phone. If you want to offer the world, you always gotta listen. You always gotta think, what’s gonna help your team, and make your team better. But to lose a guy like Joe Staley, that wouldn’t be something I’d be excited about, so that would have to take a whole lot.”
That’s a ploy to drive up Staley’s price tag, Shanahan wants to Sam Bradford the Eagles in similar fashion to when the Minnesota Vikings came calling Howie Roseman after Teddy Bridgewater went down with his gruesome injury. From a franchise perspective, there’s also some truth because the 49ers are a young team with a rookie quarterback in C.J. Beathard as their starter and potential franchise quarterback not even on the roster. The 49ers may want to keep Staley for that reason.
The Eagles need to be aggressive and smart here. Adding a piece like Staley, who has playoff and Super Bowl experience, would fill one immediate hole and a significant one, Carson Wentz’s bodyguard and blindside protector. Philadelphia’s draft resources are limited and that’s why it has to be careful, but there’s also an opportunity presenting itself here and the Eagles can’t be afraid to seize it.
For the right price, the Eagles should take a trip to Trader Joe’s!
If a scenario like this were to play out, it’d be interesting to see if Peters’ injury is a career-ender or not. He has one year left on his deal and if he were to play, having him kick inside wouldn’t be a bad idea. It’s an option Pederson has mentioned in the past, or maybe Staley would kick inside, either way the Eagles might not be strapped at the tackle spot if someone were willing to make a sacrifice.
If a trade for Staley can’t be made, staying put with Halapoulivaati Vaitai would be a wise decision. Other names like Brown, Kelvin Beachum and Cordy Glenn have been mentioned in trade speculation rumors, but those contracts are too bloated for my liking. Staley’s is a fair enough price warranting taking a chance. This will put Roseman in a bind at the end of the year with Alshon Jeffery, Nigel Bradham and Timmy Jernigan set to be free agents at the end of the year. Money will be needed to pay them too.
Here’s what Eagles head coach Doug Pederson had to say regarding the next man-up mentality Tuesday.
“I think one of the things that I’ve talked about, and hopefully you guys have seen it with the team and talking to the players, is it’s definitely the next-man-up [mentality]. And they rally around the guys that are hurt, number one, [and] support them.
“But at the same time, the bigger picture is: we still have a lot of football left. And we still have a game this Sunday and the season’s not over.
“And they continue to practice hard and play hard. And they rally around a guy like Big V [T Halapoulivaati Vaitai] now who, listen, he’s not a rookie. He’s not that spring chicken who is playing for the first time.
“He played significant time last year. He’s played this year already. So a lot of confidence in all the guys.
“Great group of leaders on this team and they’ll be ready to go.”
Pederson also addressed if Big V would play left tackle or have Lane Johnson switch over and Vaitai man the right side.
“Those are things myself and Stout [Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland] and [Offensive coordinator] Frank [Reich] we’ll get together later today [and] tomorrow morning and make that determination.
“[T] Lane [Johnson] is playing extremely well on the right side and Big V has been a swing tackle. We’ll take a lot of that into consideration this week before we step out on the field.”
Big V filled in admirably once Peters exited Monday night’s game against the Washington Redskins and played well following a slow start against the Carolina Panthers. He’s an average tackle in the NFL, so I believe there’s some talent there, but he’s not going to be able to combat with the league’s top pass rushers come playoff time.
Staley would, that’s the difference.
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