Eagles Could be Exploring Jump into Top 10 of NFL Draft

What would a deal with the Panthers or Giants look like and who would they target, after Ian Rapoport reports that the Eagles are interested in moving up?

The Eagles would have loved to have had either South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn or Alabama’s Patrick Surtain in last year’s draft.

They missed out on the two best cornerbacks because they couldn’t get up high enough to get in front of the Panthers at 8 and the Broncos at 9 to make it happen. As it turned out, Carolina grabbed Horn and Denver snagged Surtain.

DeVonta Smith was a solid consolation prize after the Eagles did find a way to move up from 12 to 10 with the Cowboys and pluck the Heisman Trophy winner.

He was one of five players the team had on their must-get list along with the two corners, Kyle Pitts, and Jaylen Waddle.

It appears perhaps that they don’t want that to happen again this year with the two highest graded cornerbacks in Cincinnati’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and LSU’s Derek Stingley, Jr., with news out of Las Vegas, from NFL insider Ian Rapoport, that the Eagles have begun exploring ways to trade up in Thursday night’s first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Two teams looking to trade down, per Rapoport are the Giants at 5 and the Panthers at 6.

From NFL Now: Who is considering coming up and who is considering trading back a few days out? pic.twitter.com/3Rex1hCkHr

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 26, 2022

So, let’s go there.

There is the belief that teams moving down may not get the value they want since there isn’t as much interest in teams coming down that far, so bear that in mind when it comes to compensation.

What could a deal look like?

MOVING TO 6 WITH CAROLINA

The NFL trade chart values the sixth pick at 1,600 points and the 15th selection at 1,050 points, so the Eagles would have to make up a 550-point difference, in theory.

Keep in mind the Panthers don’t own any second- or third-round choices.

The Eagles’ second-round pick at 51 carries a value of 390 points. Their two-third round choices are worth 271 points combined - 175 points for pick 83 and 96 for pick 101.

With that in mind, the Eagles could swap picks in the first round, throw in their second-rounder and add Andre Dillard.

That sounds like a lot, so maybe they try to give the Panthers the pick at 83 and Dillard.

That may not be enough.

So, let’s say the Eagles offer their two third-rounders and Dillard.

MOVING TO 7 WITH GIANTS

The Eagles have traded with Dallas in the past two drafts and Washington last year, so why not the other NFC East resident? 

The Giants' pick at 7 is worth 1,500 points, so the Eagles have to make up 450 points.

It would like cost Philadelphia at least their second-round pick to do it. With a value of 390 points attached to that pick, that may not quite be enough, so the Eagles would have to probably throw in one of their three fifth-round choices.

Both deals are steep, so the target would have to be worth it.

The caveat is that Roseman, ever the wheeler-dealer, could look to recoup some of the picks he sends away to try to move back from 18.

POTENTIAL TARGETS

The Eagles really like both corners, so Gardner or Stingley would probably be the top choices.

An edge rusher could not be overlooked, either, and they really like Jermaine Johnson and perhaps Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Either deal, if one can be struck, wouldn’t happen until the draft begins to unfold.

The tracks, though, are being put down now, if not weeks ago.

“In the first round, we've always found that it's helpful to have those trades mapped out beforehand," said Roseman last week. "The way that goes isn't like, ‘Hey, we're definitely doing this.' 

"It's if we're moving up, hey, if there's a player that we want that falls to that spot, here's what we would do; are we good on the trade compensation, so that you pick up the phone and I say ‘Hey, the guy's still there; you guys good?’ (They say) ‘Yeah’. Trade is done.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.