Howie Roseman: First-Round Trades are Mapped Out in Advance

PHILADELPHIA - The perfect scenario for the Eagles in the first round of the NFL draft very well could be a trade up then a trade back.

Something like: Trade pick 15, a third-rounder (No. 83), and a fifth-rounder (154) to move up to No. 10 with the Jets and take Jordan Davis.

Then: Trade 18 to the Chicago Bears for two picks in the second round (39 and 49) and a third-round selection in 2023. That would give the Eagles three picks in the second round when their own 51st selection is added.

In a draft where the talent pool is deep beyond the first round, that would be a nice haul.

All just speculation, but you get the idea.

All of it of course is much easier said than done, for perfection is rarely achieved, if ever.

If general manager Howie Roseman can pull it off, what a coup it would be.

He may find two trade partners, or he could find himself begging his cell phone to ring or for someone to answer his call.

Whatever happens, the hope from a fan base that will be glued to the three-day draft that begins on April 28 would be that he spins gold from picks 15 and 18 from whatever deal he makes or doesn’t make.

“We have two picks,” said Roseman, seated beside head coach Nick Sirianni as the two held their pre-draft media news conference at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday.

“So, I think you're planning every scenario about who you would move up for, who you would be really comfortable staying, how many players you would be comfortable staying, and what are the tiers that you would move back for, and what you would take.

“Obviously, there's a price that doesn't make sense to move back, either. We're not going to move back 10 picks for a fifth-round pick. So, I think at the end of the day you kind of go through all those and you have a really good sense of what you want to do.”

Discussions have already begun to see just how feasible a trade would be once the draft begins.

“In the first round we've always found that it's helpful to have those trades mapped out beforehand,” said Roseman.

“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.”

Last year, the Eagles and Cowboys spoke leading up to the draft about the potential of swapping picks, and that’s what happened.

Philadelphia gave its NFC East rivals a third-round pick in order to move up two spots, going from 10 to 12 in order to take DeVonta Smith. The Cowboys landed defensive rookie of the year Micah Parsons.

“When we picked up the phone and called Dallas, we kind of knew what the trade was going to be and what the price was going to be and that we had discussed that,” Roseman said.

“I think that's the easier way to go in the first round so you're not in a situation where you guys are kind of scrambling because there's a lot to do when you're in the first round. You move up. You take a pick. Now you're on the clock. Now you kind of got to get situated. You got to call in the trade. You got to make sure your guy is there.

“So that's how we do it. My feeling is that's how a lot of teams do it just based on the conversations we've had throughout the years, and I think it makes it flow easier.”

Once the first round ends, all trade bets are off. They are more spontaneous and develop quickly.

“When you get into the second round, third round, and beyond, those things do happen on the clock because they're simpler,” said Roseman, “but when it gets into the first round, all those conversations will be had before the fact.”

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.

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