Eagles Go All In

Was this a bad trade?  Really depends on your perspective.

The last time I was on 94.1 WIP I spent nearly 3 hours discussing how poor of a General Manager Howard Roseman is.  That hasn't changed one bit.  He's still not good, and probably the worst.

BUT...I also discussed how some aspects of the job aren't difficult, and giving away a lot of picks for a better pick is one of those scenarios.

You hire a new coach, so you want to give him every opportunity to prove he can succeed from the ground up.  Drafting a top quarterback is doing just that.  You'll know soon enough if ex-QB and now Head Coach Doug Pederson can design an offense and run a team with players of his choosing.

Looking at it from this perspective, it's a good move.

As for having highly paid QBs Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel on your team already, well that's just a one-year scenario.  This is why the NFL players demand free agency comes before the draft - so guys like Bradford and Daniel can get a lot more money.

Bradford will not be with the Eagles this time next year.  If he succeeds, you have someone worth trading, and maybe you get picks back.  If he doesn't?  Well, he's gone anyway.  In the short-term it's a waste of money, but over time and within the grand scheme of your franchise, it's pretty irrelevant.  Besides, it's not Howie or Doug's money.  Or yours.

I have to assume Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie was head over heals with both Jared Goff and Carson Wentz because after he just laid out money for 2 other QBs, there's no way this gets done unless he is firmly on board.  Considering Roseman's penchant for sucking up to the owner it would be a safe bet to say Lurie was in agreement.  Neither Pederson nor Roseman jumps into the water until Lurie dips his toes in first, right?  Of course.

Now lets say it doesn't work out for the QB they drafted,  Well, what's the difference?  It's not going to workout for Bradford, and no position matters more than QB.  Chase Daniel?  Come on.  Is Alex Smith that good?  He can't beat out that guy.  Did you watch him at Missouri?  I did.  He's average.  If the QB they take fails it doesn't change the trajectory of where the team is today all that much.

You have to get a quarterback in order to win, especially when you consider that 3 of the 4 remaining QBs in the 2015 playoffs were #1 overall picks.

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Lets look at this from a different perspective.

Had the Eagles done this last year they would now have Marcus Mariota as a starting QB (who I personally don't like).  Would Eagles fans be satisfied today if they had Mariota as a starter moving into this upcoming season?  Yet were minus guys like Jordan Hicks, Nelson Agholor, Gabe Wright (DET), and this year's first and second round picks?

I don't think the fans complain much.

The anticipation alone of having a full season with a Mariota at the helm, Eagles fans would be pumped up.  Plus the team would have had money from losing Bradford, and the draft would have been secondary to them.  Maybe they add Alshon Jeffrey and/or Danny Trevathan to go with Mariota, etc?

Personally, I wouldn't be happy with the scenario because as I mentioned, I don't love Mariota, but that's just me.  However, I think both Goff and Wentz are going to be very good, especially Goff, so in this scenario I'm fine with it.

If I want my team to have an actual future, a chance to win it all, and not just kind of meander around as a team with no real chance of holding significant hardware, then I like this trade.

If I am one of those lost souls who believes Bradford is the long-term answer, and that this team is going in the right direction, then I'm upset.  Believe me though, it's not going in the right direction.

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Finally, and least discussed of all, the point about NEXT YEAR'S QB class.

Let me be the first to say that short of a miraculous transformation of his abilities, Clemons's DeShaun Watson is not going to be a great QB.  Miami's Brad Kaaya and Ole Miss's Chad Kelly, I wouldn't count on them either.

There's a very good chance the price of paying to get Watson next season will be even greater than it is for the #2 pick this year.  And the Eagles will need a quarterback going into 2017.  That being the case, why not start the process a year early with a QB you can draft now; one you believe will both be better than anyone in next year's crop?

It actually makes sense when you step back and think about it.

Yeah, Howie Roseman is not a great GM, and this may not work out.  But it only fails if the QB fails, and that's a risk worth taking.

I'm firmly on record of believing Jared Goff is going to be excellent.  Which, of course, is why the Eagles will get Wentz.  I like him too though, so we'll see.

Not the worst day to be an Eagles fan, relatively speaking.