Eagles Trade Matt Pryor to Colts
The Eagles dipped into their offensive line depth in advance of Tuesday's cutdown to gain position late in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Philadelphia traded OL Matt Pryor, along with a 2022 seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2022 sixth-round pick. the deal gives them back a sixth-round pick, something they had been without for 48 hours after sending their sixth to Jacksonville on Sunday to acquire backup quarterback Gardner Minshew.
The end game to that is GM Howie Roseman essentially moving up one draft choice from the seventh-round to the sixth for Pryor, a versatile veteran player who the Eagles weren't likely to keep on their 53-man roster.
Originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, the 6-foot-7, 332-pound Pryor played in 27 games during his three seasons in Philadelphia, starting 10 of them in 2020 when the Eagles' OL was decimated by injuries.
Pryor's is best suited on the right side at guard or tackle but he also filled in at left tackle as well and that ability to move around is always valued around the NFL when it comes to a backup offensive lineman.
Of Pryor's 10 starts last season, he started six at right tackle, three at right guard, and one at left tackle. He played in 773 offensive snaps (69 percent of the team's total), the third-most on the team behind Jason Kelce and Nate Herbig.
The Eagles' starting offensive line this season from left to right is expected to be Jordan Mailata, Isaac Seumalo, Kelce, Brandon Brooks, and Lane Johnson.
From there the team needs 53-man roster spots for 2021 second-round pick Landon Dickerson, former first-round pick Andre Dillard, as well as Herbig and Jack Driscoll. Up and comers Brett Toth and Sua Opeta are also liked by OL coach Jeff Stoutland and the organization.
The Colts, meanwhile, needed help on the OL after losing OT Sam Tevi to a torn ACL.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
