Are the Eagles in the Running to Trade for No. 1 Pick?

Not this again.

A year after failing to manufacture a trade with the Tennessee Titans in an attempt to land the No. 2 pick and draft Marcus Mariota, it appears the Philadelphia Eagles might be back at it once more.

And with the Titans.

AGAIN!

The Eagles are rumored to be one of four teams in the running for Tennessee’s top pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

According to Robert Klemko of the MMQB, the Eagles are in the mix with the Cleveland Browns (No. 2 selection), San Francisco 49ers (No. 7) and Los Angeles Rams (No. 15) as the contenders to shoot up to the coveted No. 1 spot.

At the moment, there are four teams in play to trade up to the No. 1 spot: Cleveland (as insurance against losing their preference of Goff or Wentz), San Francisco (No. 7), Philadelphia (No. 13) and Los Angeles (No. 15). And I don’t believe it will take the “king’s ransom” Titans GM Jon Robinson says a team will have to give up to move to No. 1. (Robinson later clarified his remarks, saying he did not want to give the impression the Titans were unwilling to move down). My hunch is that the deal will land somewhere south of the legitimate king’s ransom Washington paid for the right to draft Robert Griffin III—basically, three first-rounders and a second-round pick

The speculation comes a day after Lance Zierlein reported that an NFC Executive said Philadelphia might move up in the draft in an attempt to select North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz.

“Don’t be surprised if a team like the Eagles makes a really strong move up the board to get Carson Wentz. I don’t think he’s worth it, but I think they do. Everyone thinks you have to move ahead of Cleveland, but (Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta) will want to get as many picks as possible out of this draft. It wouldn’t surprise me if a team moved directly to Cleveland’s spot for Wentz.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hc71jjBY7U

Even if the rumor about a potential deal with Tennessee was true, I don’t see how the Eagles could win a bidding war with three other teams and less ammunition than what Cleveland, San Francisco and St. Louis could potentially offer. 

According to the NFL Draft trade chart, the No. 1 pick is worth 3,000 points, while the Eagles’ eighth selection is 1,400. I also don’t think they’ll be picking in the top 10 again next year. Let’s say they finish in the middle of the pack next season, the 16th pick is 1,000 points. Obviously Philadelphia doesn’t have a second-rounder in this draft (thanks Chip), so to get to about 3,000 it would take either its second-round pick next year or both of its thirds (205 and 195 points) this year to reach that number.

So to recap, that’s two firsts and a second or two firsts and two thirds. That’s just to get to 3,000, but with three other teams in play it’s going to take a lot more.

It’s not worth it.

Not with all the holes the Eagles still need to plug along the offensive line, in the secondary, and linebacker. Head coach Doug Pederson has also expressed that he’d like to add an edge rusher as well.

Wentz, in my opinion, is also not a can’t-miss prospect like Jameis Winston and Mariota were last year. I was all for trading up to No. 2 until I saw the rumor that Fletcher Cox would’ve been part of the swap. That’s when I crossed the line.

With that being said, I’m very high on Wentz and think he’s the best of a very weak quarterback class. If he were in last year’s class he would’ve been the third signal-caller taken, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a top 10 talent. I don’t believe in the notion that if he were in that draft he wouldn’t have been taken in the first round.

Somebody would’ve pounced on him within the first 32 picks.

The scenario I’d trade up for Wentz if still available is with the Baltimore Ravens, who hold the No. 6 selection. One of the two Eagles’ third rounders might’ve done the trick to jump in front of San Francisco. That, I would’ve done.

But this ridiculousness of tussling with three other teams to land the No. 1 pick.

Hell no!