Bleeding Green Nation
Adding depth to a team playing very well right now may be the wisest course of action.
What a difference two weeks make.
Coming off the bye, the 2-2 Eagles’ future was murky. They didn’t look particularly good in either of their two wins, and their two defeats were disheartening and ominous. The pass rush wasn’t getting home, the offense was uneven, they couldn’t score early and the defense was porous. It looked like Nick Sirianni’s tenure as head coach was in immediate jeopardy if things didn’t turn around.
But since their Week 6 win over Cleveland, the Eagles have suddenly looked like a far better version of themselves. Blowout victories against the lowly Giants and the still-competent Bengals suddenly have fans feeling more bullish on the 2024 Eagles.
The pass rush, suddenly is getting home. The addition of Cooper DeJean at slot corner has been revelatory. The offense is mixing in different schemes, Saquon Barkley is doing his thing, and Jalen Hurts is coming off one of the best performances of his career, the third straight game he did not commit a turnover.
Getting A.J. Brown back on the field after a three-game absence hasn’t hurt, either.
At 5-2, sitting a half-game behind the Commanders in the NFC East, the Eagles have the look of a Super Bowl contender again.
With the trade deadline coming up on Election Day (November 5), a number of deals have already gone down. Wide receivers have been flying off the shelves (Amari Cooper, Davante Adams, DeAndre Hopkins, and Diontae Johnson have changed uniforms, with linebacker Josh Uche and edge rusher Roy Robertson-Harris among the other big names to move thus far. Eagles GM Howie Roseman is among the more aggressive general managers during the trade deadline, and the NFL world is expecting him to do something over the next week.
He probably shouldn’t.
Roseman has made a number of trade deadline moves over the last few years, very few of which have had any real impact on the team. Last year he traded for Kevin Byard, who played a lot and, at the same time, played poorly. Not a great combination. In 2022 he dealt for defensive end Robert Quinn, who had absolutely nothing left in the tank despite the fanfare. In ‘17, he struck gold with Jay Ajayi, but the 2019 Golden Tate deal, despite the game-winning touchdown catch against the Bears in the wild card game, was less-than-impactful, and the Genard Avery deal was a bust.
It’s difficult for players to acclimate from one team to another in the middle of an NFL season, especially on offense. Unless that players is already familiar with the offensive coaching staff’s play calling language and tendencies, it takes too much time for a receiver to get up to speed to be effective. And usually, defensive players dealt at the deadline don’t have much left in the tank.
In short, as defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on Tuesday, mid-season trade acquisitions rarely have an impact....
