The Eagles have already traded away two veterans — Zach Ertz and Joe Flacco — recently and they might not be done. Especially if they lose to the winless Lions on Sunday.
The latest tidbit comes from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who says teams have been calling the Eagles about Fletcher Cox:
“Teams have been contacting the Eagles about Cox, figuring they could take a run at him to see if they could get him for a mid- to late-round pick. On the heels of Cox airing grievances about the defense, teams have reacted. Cox is one of the core veterans GM Howie Roseman wants around, so he's unlikely to part with him for anything less than a high pick.”
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It makes some sense that teams would see some blood in the water after Cox’s public frustration leaked out last week and would at least kick the tires. But the Eagles renegotiated Cox’s contract in a very complex manner in September, which would make this trade much trickier.
The Eagles would take on a significant dead money figure if they traded Cox, which is another reason the Eagles would likely require higher compensation than most teams are probably going to be willing to cough up for a declining 30-year-old interior lineman.
Cox this season has just 11 tackles and 1 sack in 7 games and publicly voiced his frustration about his usage after the loss in Las Vegas last week.
It seems like the Eagles will listen to these calls (and they should) but it’s hard to imagine that a team will be willing to give up what it would take for the Eagles to pull the trigger on trading another one of their all-time great players. It is, at the very least, noteworthy that we’re hearing Cox’s name in this cycle at all.
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But that doesn’t mean the Eagles won’t pull off another trade before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. Even though Roseman said the Eagles weren’t going to be sellers, they ought to be listening to offers for just about everyone.
The most obvious trade candidate is offensive tackle Andre Dillard.
Because Jordan Mailata won the left tackle job and because the Eagles are financially tied to Lane Johnson for the next couple years, the 26-year-old Dillard doesn’t have a starting spot. And the first-round pick has at least shown some competence this year, so teams will likely be interested.
And CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reports that teams are indeed calling about Dillard in addition to Cox.
“But this is not a fire sale, sources said, the likes of which is going on in Houston with most of the roster available for trade,” La Canfora wrote, “and the Eagles will be judicious about not just dumping salary of players who could still help them in 2022 and beyond.”
What would it take for the Eagles to trade Dillard? Well, if they only get a Day 3 pick, they might hold on to him as a decent backup tackle option. But if they get a Day 2 pick (second or third round) it would likely be hard to pass up.
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