The NFL Trade Deadline is November 4th at 4pm, about 8 weeks away. It’s not nearly as active as in other sports, but the Eagles especially are always looking to make moves. Each week we are going to look at the worst teams in the league to see if there is anything worth pilfering.
After the Tank Bibsby trade, the Eagles have 10 picks in next year’s draft and about $13.5m to spend. I figure that the positions of most need are CB, S, and possibly EDGE because we love our pass rush depth. Let’s look at who could already be selling:
Cleveland Browns
Word out of Cleveland today is that the Browns restructured the contract of CB Denzel Ward, converting $13.5m of his base salary into a bonus. Why would they do this? Normally teams restructure in the offseason to get cap compliant or before they make a bigger move. The Browns already had about $10m in cap space, are really bad, and will continue being bad for the near future. They are probably not going to add anyone. So again, why do this? Are they setting up to trade him?
By restructuring his deal, an acquiring team would need much less salary cap space to take on his contract considering instead of around $14m he will only cost around $1.25m this season. Even though Cleveland will be responsible for more money in the long term, restructuring allows them to not only open the bidding to more teams but get a greater return as well. Ward is 28, led the league in passes defended last year, and has 4 Pro Bowls in 7 seasons. He also has concussion problems. An acquiring team would still be responsible for approximately $20m in each of the next 2 seasons, but none of that is guaranteed.
Other Browns who could be on the block are WR Jerry Jeudy, TE David Njoku, and CB Greg Newsome. None of these guys have been particularly good, but that could just be the Cleveland stink. Ward is the only one the Eagles should have any interest in.
Miami Dolphins
I don’t know if anyone subjected themselves to much of the Dolphins on Sunday but…damn. They didn’t do anything well. We had friends over and they said to me “at least the Colts are pretty good, right?” “Not even a little bit.” Oh well, at least Tyreek Hill was having a meltdown on the sideline and was just hit with another domestic violence lawsuit. I don’t know why anyone would want to be in the Tyreek Hill business, but I’m sure someone will. If the Dolphins can find a taker before the deadline, they have to make this move. As for the Eagles, I’m interested in their pass rushers:
- Bradley Chubb – After missing all of last season Chubb came back with a sack last week, one of the few times they actually stopped Indy. He renegotiated his contract in the offseason and while he still has 2 years and around $43m remaining, none of that is guaranteed. Plus, this year would be a minimal cap hit for an acquiring team.
- Jaelan Phillips – Phillips has shown promise in his career so far, but he can’t stop getting hurt. He is now in his 5th year option making a guaranteed $13.25m. That will not be an easy number to move, but if Phillips picks up some steam over the next few weeks, the Dolphins would be dumb not to pick up a mid-round draft pick for him.
- Chop Robinson – People are going to ask, but they shouldn’t move the 2nd year man out of Penn State unless they are really blown away. Oddly enough, this is more Howie’s style since he is a cheap, cost-controlled pass rusher.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints are marching into the top of the NFL Draft. With every loss, fans need to be happier and happier. If anyone even considers playing well on this roster, they need to be shipped out immediately. Chris Olave, take a gap year. Things will get better for you. Alvin Kamara, Brandin Cooks, Juwan Johnson keep your bags half packed after each road trip, just don’t plan on coming to the champs. Instead, we are probably looking at these guys:
- Chase Young – The Saints gave him way too much money in the offseason, but they should still look to move him. Young never lived up to his #2 pick pedigree, but he can get to the QB and is only 26. Trading him now would allow the Saints to maximize a return by eating his $17m signing bonus and leaving just the minimal base salary for the acquiring team. Year 2 of the deal is mostly guaranteed but he is only making around $14m. Year 3 goes up to $18m but he can be cut with no penalty.
- Justin Reid – Reid came over from the Chiefs on a 3/$31.5m deal in the offseason. I’m sure they just offered him the most money because no one goes to New Orleans to compete and he already has some rings. That being said, this year will have a minimal cap hit and next year is fully guaranteed at $9.25m. Not really Howie’s style, but if safety becomes a problem, keep an eye out. He will be available.
- Bryan Bresee – Bresee is only in his 3rd year in the league as a former 1st round pick so he is probably not someone they really want to sell, but his game makes it a possibility. What I mean is that he is a DT that sacks the QB, but can’t stop the run. That’s a problem. They will either view him as a future cornerstone or see him as flawed that no amount of polish will fix. Someone would likely pay quite a bit for him.
I’ll profile a new group each week unless we need to revisit any of these. Other teams who should be thinking SELL right now are the Panthers, Titans, and Bears (oh my!).
Philly Front Office 
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