‘It’s tough, for real’: The trade deadline looms for a spiraling Eagles team that could look different after the bye week
The hours leading up to Tuesday's NFL trade deadline figure to be tense for the Eagles. Here's who could be on the move.
Dallas Goedert wore a hat with the word “Loyal” written across its front as he faced reporters after the Eagles lost their seventh consecutive game Sunday, this time a 19-11 defeat to the New York Giants that saw the Eagles net just 220 yards of offense.
The Eagles hit their bye week at 2-7, and change is in the air. Coach Nick Sirianni wouldn’t rule out staff changes as the offense, marred by injuries and beset by an ineffective scheme, flounders. But personnel changes could happen, too, with Tuesday’s trade deadline looming.
It is the part of the NFL calendar where loyalty needn’t be considered. The hackneyed phrase “this is a business” is for times like the coming days.
Goedert, the tight end who has played his entire career with the Eagles since being drafted in 2018, said he “always dreamt” of retiring with the Eagles. But he is among a handful of players on expiring contracts that could be moved before the 4 p.m. Tuesday deadline, though salary cap implications — he would count $18.2 million in dead money next season instead of $9.6 million — make him a less likely candidate than others.
» READ MORE: The Eagles could lead the NFL in dead salary cap money in 2027. Would a trade-deadline fire sale make things worse?
Still, Goedert, 31, knows “anything can change.” He spoke to general manager Howie Roseman “a couple weeks ago.”
“For the right price obviously everybody is available,” Goedert said. “We’ll see what happens. I’m not too worried about it.”
Asked how he planned to spend the next two days with the uncertainty hanging over him, Goedert, who had five catches for 50 yards Sunday, said: “Hang out with my son.”
There is a human element in all of this. Even for players who could be on the market who haven’t been in Philadelphia close to as long as Goedert has.
“It’s tough, for real,” said cornerback Riq Woolen, who signed with the Eagles on a one-year contract last offseason. “It [stinks] as a human when you don’t know the unknown, but you want to know the unknown.”
Woolen was dangled at the deadline last year by the eventual champion Seattle Seahawks, though he acknowledged Sunday that the circumstances are different this time around. He said he preferred to stay out of it and let his agent and the Eagles talk about the subject.
Asked if he preferred to stay with the Eagles or go to a contender, Woolen said he wanted to stay.
“If you woke up every day with some of your close friends and y’all worked hard as hell every day and you just up and disappeared when stuff got hard … it would seem kind of weird," he said.
“I’ve worked hard with these guys and I would love to be here and stay here with them.”
That part, though, is out of his control.
“Whatever lies ahead, lies ahead,” he said. “But my heart is here, my heart is with this team and with the guys I’ve been working with.”
» READ MORE: Sielski: The Eagles are so bad that all you can do is laugh through the seven-game losing streak
What players could the Eagles trade?
Goedert and Woolen aren’t the only two players on expiring contracts who Roseman might be shopping before the deadline.
Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo seems unlikely to be signed by the Eagles in the offseason after the team signed Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis to extensions. Ojomo could fetch the Eagles a compensatory pick if he leaves in free agency, but a contending team in need of defensive line help might make trading him now more valuable than letting him walk.
A visibly frustrated Ojomo declined to be interviewed after the game Sunday and said he was on his way to a random NFL-ordered drug test.
Other players on expiring contracts who could be dealt for draft capital — even a late Day 3 pick — include receiver Hollywood Brown, linebacker Byron Young, defensive lineman A.J. Epenesa, and perhaps even guard Tyler Steen, who is a candidate to be re-signed in the offseason.
Could Roseman move on from a longer-term player? It’s possible.
Saquon Barkley, responding last week to an ESPN report that said he wasn’t going to be traded before the deadline, said “I plan on being here.”
But as Goedert said, there’s a price for everyone. Could the Eagles get an offer for linebacker Zack Baun they can’t refuse? Would a playoff team in need of a boost at running back overpay for Barkley? Has left guard Landon Dickerson put anything on film that could coax a draft pick out of a team looking for interior offensive line help? Does linebacker Nolan Smith Jr.’s relatively team-friendly contract through 2027 make him a valuable asset?
Can you rule out a blockbuster?
Roseman surely will be busy on the phones. The Eagles fell to five games behind the first-place Giants in the loss column with eight games to go. They have two more losses than third-place Washington.
What happened the last time the Eagles were deadline sellers?
The Eagles have been active at the deadline, but most recently they have been buyers during their sustained run of success.
Roseman has made at least one deadline deal in seven of the last nine years. But the last time the Eagles were sellers was in 2021, Sirianni’s first season. They sent Zach Ertz and his expiring contract to Arizona for cornerback Tay Gowan and a fifth-round pick. They also traded Joe Flacco to the Jets for a sixth-round pick.
The 2021 team ended up turning its season around and making a run to the playoffs. That seems much less likely this time around. The Eagles have too many issues. Which puts everything on the table this week.
Has the thought crossed Goedert’s mind, that his time with the Eagles was nearing its end?
“No, not really,” he said. “Obviously there’s always a chance in this league. … I got enough problems for today, I try not to worry about tomorrow.”
That’s Roseman’s job.
With the Eagles’ season gradually going up in flames, there’s been plenty of external fingerpointing. The offense, specifically the line, has drawn considerable ire, especially in light of the Eagles parting ways with longtime, beloved assistant coach Jeff Stoutland. Stoutland’s track record on the offensive line is Hall of Fame-worthy. This year, with Chris Kuper as Stoutland’s replacement, the line has regressed.
Should Kuper shoulder most of the blame? What really happened between Stoutland and the Eagles that caused their relationship to fall apart? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane dives deeper into one of the biggest “what ifs” from a frustrating season, framing Stoutland’s exit around four key questions. Listen here.
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