Eagles Day 3 Draft Recap: Trades Galore, a QB, Another Georgia Defender & D'Andre Swift
PHILADELPHIA - Trader Howie was up to his old tricks, just as expected.
Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman entered the 2023 NFL Draft with five picks but ended up making seven with six different trades and is a big reason there were a record number of trades in this year's draft with 41 over three days.
At one point in the dizzying day of deals, he held nine picks, but finding more picks was the expectation from a GM who tries to maximize every pick he has during a draft.
It all added up to what, someday, may be viewed as one of the best drafts Roseman ever had.
It prompted ESPN’s Mike Greenberg to tweet: “The AFC may be more loaded up than any conference has ever been at any time. But after this weekend, the Eagles are the best team in the NFL and it isn’t close.”
The Eagles put the finishing touches on a weekend that delivered defensive tackle Jalen Carter and edge rusher Nolan Smith in the first round, offensive lineman Tyler Steen and safety Sydney Brown in the third, cornerback Kelee Ringo in the fourth, quarterback Tanner McKee in the sixth, and defensive lineman Moro Ojomo.
McKee joins Jalen Hurts, Marcus Mariota, and Ian Book in the QB room.
“This isn’t anything about them,” said Roseman. “This was about what we think is a really important position. We had a guy who was highly graded on the board and so we took him. It’s no reflection of anyone else.
"You can go back to the championship and the 49ers were playing their fourth-string quarterback. You look at that, and these guys are hard to find. If you like one enough, you better take one.”
Added Sirianni about McKee: “In talking to him, he’s really intelligent, really knows his offense and makes good, quick decision with the football. So, we think he’s a great decision-maker, we think he has a big arm, and we think he’s accurate.”
On Ojomo, Roseman said: “You’re trying to just balance the traits that (Ojomo) has in his body and what you see on tape and the character. He has traits in his body – 34-inch arms, went to Texas as a 16-year-old, tremendous testing, he has position versatility, he’s standing out on our board. We’re excited to get him in the seventh round.”
In addition to Ringo (105 overall), McKee (188), and Ojomo (249) arriving on Saturday, Detroit Lions running back D’Andre Swift did, too.
Roseman sent a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft to acquire Swift, the 2020 second-round pick of the Detroit Lions. The two teams also exchanged seventh-rounders in this year’s draft.
Four of Roseman’s deals came on Saturday, the final day of the draft, and he wasted little time getting started.
Minutes before the fourth round began, he shipped a third-round pick to the Houston Texans for an early fourth-rounder, No. 105 overall. Roseman selected Ringo there.
The Eagles and Texans made three different deals during the three days, including two trades on Saturday.
“I think a lot of times you go overnight and you sit there, and you look at who’s standing out on your board, and Kelee stood out for us,” Roseman told ESPN during the draft. “We had him much higher than where he was at this time, so we went and tried to get him.
“He’s in a situation here, we have phenomenal outside corners, starting with (Darius) Slay and James Bradberry, Pro Bowl guys, Pro Bowl people, and he doesn’t have to come in and be Superman.”
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
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