Eagles Want to Be Bold; Can't Find the Path

The Eagles have wanted to make some major moves this offseason but are finding the era of player empowerment difficult to navigate

Philadelphia sports is a fascinating case study of fear right now with a mantra that has taken the city's faithful hostage: "We're not ready."

Another superstar in the NFL became available on Wednesday and faster than a Tyreek Hill 40-time, he was gone.

Ironically, that player was Hill himself, the 28-year-old four-time All-Pro who just might be the most dynamic playmaker in the league, the rare non-quarterback who changes the way opposing defenses play with an ability to stretch the field both vertically and horizontally.

You've had your deep threats like Randy Moss and DeSean Jackson and your jet-sweep headaches like Deebo Samuel is currently, but few if any other players offer both traits, coupled with a rare ability to track the football at a high level like Hill, who's already got one All-Decade Team on his resume.

The disconnect with Kansas City and Hill came after Davante Adams' monster deal with Las Vegas caused Hill to press pause and reassess his value, something which turned a near-certain extension with the Chiefs into a trade to Miami.

The Dolphins ended up sending five draft picks to Kansas City: a 2022 first-round pick (No. 29), a 2022 second-round pick (No. 50), and a 2022 fourth-round pick, plus fourth- and sixth-round picks in the 2023 draft. Miami also worked out a four-year, $120 million extension, including $72.2 million guaranteed with Hill.

A league source told SI.com's Eagles Today that Philadelphia showed little interest in trading for Hill which came as no surprise considering the haul of assets and money it took to the Dolphins to get the player, but the bigger reason for the Eagles' laissez-faire attitude was Hill's steering of the process toward South Florida.

Although Hill didn't have a no-trade clause like quarterbacks Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson, his contract demands almost served as one.

Despite little success, the Eagles have tried to bolster their WR corps with potential trades (Calvin Ridley and Robert Woods) and free-agent acquisitions (Christian Kirk and Allen Robinson) but had come up empty for reasons as varied as suspension, over-spending, and fit before landing on Nick Sirianni-favorite Zach Pascal, a role player.

The bigger issue is nearly every Eagles' miss in the offseason with the exception of Ridley has been about player empowerment.

The Dolphins and the runner-up New York Jets were among a small group able to make a run at a player like Hill with both possessing cost-effective young quarterbacks on rookie deals and plenty of draft capital. Miami had the advantage of a better ready-made supporting cast with a near-playoff roster and the Jets ultimately served as little more than a bargaining chip.

The Eagles, of course, have the same favorable QB situation from a financial standpoint and the draft assets in place plus they actually made the playoffs, but the mantra of "we're not ready" still stands for so many.

The fearful can always rest assured that they're probably correct because technically 31 of 32 teams every season can realistically claim they weren't ready in hindsight and that will almost surely define the Dolphins, Jets, and Eagles in 2022.

Of course, who had Philadelphia making the run toward Super Bowl LII in the summer of 2017?

Fortune favors the bold for a reason and Howie Roseman knows it.

"It’s hard to be that last team standing," Roseman admitted when talking with the Eagles website last month. "You need so many things to go right. And, so, if you just do things that are down the middle, the way the league kinda sets this up, yeah, you may win 10 games, you may make the playoffs. But it’s hard to be world champions. It’s hard for the confetti to fall on your head when you do things like that.

"So, you have to be willing to at least be out of the box, put yourself out there. And if you do that, yeah, there’s some risk involved in that, but there’s also a tremendous upside."

The Eagles want to be bold. They just need the path to show it.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today 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 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