It’s not often that a team can win a division and clinch the top seed in the conference while also helping themselves earn a better first-round pick at the same time, but that’s the spot the Eagles find themselves in this week.
The Eagles traded two 2022 first-round picks and a sixth-rounder to the Saints ahead of this year’s draft in exchange for 2022 first-, third-, and seventh-round picks. They also acquired New Orleans’ 2023 first-round pick and 2024 second-round pick, so beating the Saints this Sunday would result in a trifecta of positive outcomes for Philadelphia.
At his Monday press conference, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said that “our motivation is to win the division and to get the first-round bye” while noting that a victory would make General Manager Howie Roseman’s trade look all the better come April.
“I’m just worried about this game,” Sirianni said. “Well, this game directly affects both of those things and the draft status. So sure, but we are focused on right now in the season. It will be sweet if we can go out there and get this win, and then once we’re making the draft pick later we can say to ourselves, well, that really did help us out. That’s our goal though, is just to win this game. As far as your question about my mindset or what I kind of was thinking right there, I don’t know. I mean, since I’ve been here and how much trust I have in Howie, it was like, hey, great trade. We will get our draft pick next year and pick up on extra one? Cool. I’m into that. Whatever we think we have to do to make this team better.”
The Saints’ pick would be No. 10 overall if the season ended today, so the Eagles have every reason to be happy about Roseman’s offseason moves. A pick in that spot would bring a strong prospect to Philly or it could be used as bait for a deal that keeps the team larded with premium selections to support continued contention for years to come.
