Philly Front Office

It is trade deadline season in the NBA. Instead of watching Josh Harris pinch pennies across the street, let’s take a look back at how Howie Roseman put the finishing touches on this Super Bowl roster.

How the Eagles Were Built Part 1: The Draft – Offense

How the Eagles Were Built Part 2: The Draft – Defense

How the Eagles Were Built Part 3: Free Agency

WR1 – AJ Brown

AJ Brown burst on to the scene as a rookie 2nd round pick for the Titans. Despite having terrible QBs throwing to him, Brown put up solid numbers. Anyone could see that he was the only good thing going for the Tennessee offense. Well, not anyone apparently. After his third season when it came time for an extension, the Titans balked. Brown wanted to be paid like the top receiver everyone knew he was, but the Titans made it clear that wasn’t happening.

When the Eagles handed the keys to the kingdom over to Jalen Hurts in 2021, they likely agreed that he needed weapons. Carson Wentz’s top receivers in his last year were Travis Fulgham and Jalen Reagor (WTF). The first thing they did was trade Carson Wentz for a 2022 first round pick and a 2021 third from the Colts. Then they traded down to #12 in the ’21 draft, picking up another 2022 first rounder from the Dolphins. They used the third rounder from the Wentz trade to move up to #10 where they drafted DeVonta Smith.

The Eagles entered the 2022 Draft season with 3 first rounders: #15 from Miami, #16 from Indy, and our own at #19. However, before the draft, #16 and #19 were consolidated for #18 from New Orleans as well as a 2023 first rounder and a 2024 second rounder. Now we only had #15 and #18. The Eagles moved up to #13 to draft Jordan Davis. A few picks later, instead of the Eagles logo displaying on the bottom of the screen, it was the Tennessee Titans. In exchange for the rights to select WR Treylon Burks, AJ Brown was an Eagle.

The internet went nuts as longtime friends Jalen Hurts and Brown were recorded facetiming. Since then, the pair are now in their second Super Bowl and Brown has been basically unstoppable. He even whipped up on the Titans so bad that they fired the guy who traded him. Burks isn’t out of the league yet, but injuries and ineffectiveness have made this one of the most lopsided trades in recent memory. The Eagles resigned Brown and have already extended him as the then highest paid receiver in football.

QB2 – Kenny Pickett

Did we need to swap a 3rd for a 4th to get Kenny Pickett from the Steelers just to be Jalen’s primary backup ahead of Tanner McKee? Before you answer, did you know that every Super Bowl winning Eagles team has had a guy from Central Jersey on the roster (Vinny Curry – Neptune)? Well wouldn’t you know it, Kenny Pickett just happens to be from Ocean Township, NJ! Simply by being there, he could be the very person we superstitiously need for victory on Sunday. There isn’t much else to say about Kenny, but just like Curry in 2017, it would be cool as hell for a lifelong Eagles fan to win a championship.

WR3 – Jahan Dotson

Dotson looked like a receiver in need of a quarterback these last 2 years in Washington. Howie thought so too, sending a 3rd round pick over for at least two years of his services. While he has not done anything too memorable in his first season, I need to remind you of something. This. LOOK AT IT!!! For too long the Eagles just figured their WR3 problem was either not a big deal or would fix itself. That’s not good enough when the goal is to win a Super Bowl. Whether Dotson comes up big on Sunday or not, at least Hurts won’t be wasting bullets like 2 years ago.

CB2 – Darius Slay

The 2019 Eagles were coming off an annoying season that saw Carson Wentz finally get to the playoffs after a late season rally. After 4 plays Wentz got hit in the head, knocked out of the game, and the Eagles lost 17-9 in about as boring a playoff game you could imagine. With some optimism surrounding Wentz, the Eagles traded for a top cornerback, if not THE top cornerback, Darius Slay. Slay wanted a new contract and middling Detroit wasn’t about to give it to him. The Eagles sent a 3rd and a 5th round pick to the Lions and quickly made Slay the highest paid corner in the league.

The 2020 Eagles fell flat and the Slay trade looked like a bust. He had 1 pick and didn’t make the Pro Bowl for the first time in 3 years. We had an expensive, 30-year-old corner on a 4-11-1 team. Funny thing happened on the way to the ’21 season though, Slay looked rejuvenated. He housed 2 fumbles, picked off 3 passes, and looked like a #1 corner again. The next season, week 2 against the Vikings, he absolutely wrecked the game and shut down Justin Jefferson. He had 2 picks, but it could have been 4 as he was in on everything that night. He shut him down again the following year. The reality is that in 2024, Slay isn’t CB1 anymore, but he is the smartest CB out there and still has the physical tools to be a high-end CB2 this week. Look for him to be all over DeAndre Hopkins Sunday.

What About Those Two Picks From the Saints?

Well, the Saints weren’t too good in 2023. For a while it looked like this could be a top 5 pick, but it ended up at 10. Jalen Carter free fell down draft boards that year due to a horrible off field incident and subsequent horrible pro-days. With a short trade up (that the Bears used on a punter) the Eagles took Carter at #9. He will be the Defensive Player of the Year next season.

The Saints were merely average the next year with that other second round pick landing at #50. The Eagles also held their own 2nd round pick, #53. The Eagles packaged these two picks to move up to #40 (and also received other picks that turned into Jalyx Hunt and more) to select Cooper DeJean who was the best defender in the class along with teammate Quinyon Mitchell.

For those scoring at home, the Eagles turned their own picks and Carson Wentz into: DeVonta Smith, AJ Brown, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Jalyx Hunt, and Cooper DeJean (and more).