Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Agree to Blockbuster Draft Trade

Eagles Perspective:

What does this trade accomplish for the Eagles? Well, the fact remains that the Eagles, despite talks of acquiring a big-name quarterback, stuck by Jalen Hurts. Hurts still needs to improve as a passer to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. We have seen him seek out noted quarterback developer Tom House to help him with his mechanics, anticipation, and accuracy. He is also heading into year two of an offense he had never seen before prior to his first season as the full-time starter.

With all this being said the Eagles knew they needed to hedge their bets, and make sure they had enough insurance in the future should they need to make a move to get a premier quarterback in 2023. This swap of picks, and the fact they acquired a 2023 first-round pick, and a 2024 2^nd round pick actually gives Howie Roseman a bunch of ammo to move around as needed or just further build the team around Hurts should he cement his status as the starter in 2023. Regardless this is a masterful move by Howie Roseman to not only acquire picks down the road, but still allow himself plenty of flexibility in this year’s draft by retaining two first-round picks.

Saints Perspective:

New Orleans, in turn, gains the ammo they need to speed up a rebuild. It is no secret that the Saints have watched several prominent players leave in recent seasons. With leaders like Drew Brees and Marcus Williams leaving, the Saints need to rebuild their roster with cheaper contracts to make up for the cap moves the Saints had to make this offseason.

Heading into the offseason the Saints were nearing $80 million over the cap, that’s when Mickey Loomis went to work restructuring several contracts, not only getting under the cap but allowing him the flexibility to bring back Jameis Winston, and sign Andy Dalton. With Winston, and Dalton in the fold, the Saints know their short-term future is solid at quarterback. This allows them to instead target the other positions and fill holes opened by their tendency to “kick the can down the road”.

Ultimately this is the side effect of two general managers not afraid to take a risk to build their rosters as they see fit. Roseman is setting himself up for the future, while Loomis is attempting to build for the present. It will be interesting to see the future of the draft picks in this trade. Make sure to tune into Last Word on the NFL to get the breakdown of the winners and losers of this trade following the 2022 NFL draft.