Three What-If Scenarios: A Trade, a Second-Round WR, and a QB

As the NFL draft quickly approaches on April 28, let’s take a look at three what-if scenarios for the Eagles.

WHAT IF…

Ahmad Gardner is still on the board after the Panthers make the sixth pick?

That puts the New York Giants on the clock at No. 7, and it’s been speculated in some circles that new NY GM Joe Schoen wouldn’t mind trading back, perhaps for picks in the 2023 draft.

Of course, New York may want the Cincinnati cornerback with James Bradberry on borrowed time in New York, but if not, Eagles GM Howie Roseman may want to call Schoen to offer him the 15th pick and something next year.

Schoen will want a No, 1 pick in 2023, and the Eagles have two.

Dealing that first-round pick next year they got from the Saints would foil Roseman’s plan of trying to move up to address the QB spot if Jalen Hurts falters, but maybe landing Gardner would be worth it to him.

The Eagles liked the two corners who went eight and nine last year, Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain, but couldn’t get ahead of the Panthers and Broncos to find a way to get one of them.

Maybe this year, they find a way to land Gardner or Derek Stingley - without giving up a first-round pick next year.

On Tuesday, SiriusXM draft analyst Mark Dominik gave his thoughts on both Gardner and Stingley. He said he likes Stingley better adding that “Gardner has a better floor, but Stingley has a better ceiling.”

Even if the price is right there’s always the taboo of trading within the division, but, hey, the Eagles and Cowboys pulled off trades during each of the last two drafts.

The last time Philly and New York made a deal was April 26, 2009, when the Eagles traded a third-round pick that the Giants used to take WR Ramses Barden for a third-round pick, which was later dealt to the Seahawks, and a fifth-round pick, which was later dealt to the Saints.

WHAT IF...

Eagles don’t take a receiver in the first round?

That means they more than likely take one on the second day probably. Maybe even the second round, but there are two good ones who Dominik said could be there in the third round. Now, whether either one will be there in the third round when the Eagles hit the clock with the 83rd and 101st overall picks remains to be seen of course.

So maybe they grab one with the 51st overall selection

George Pickens will be gone.

Two who Dominik like a lot are South Alabama’s Jalen Tolbert and North Dakota State’s Christian Watson. Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore could also be a possibility.

Of Tolbert, Dominik said: “Jalen is a guy I like a lot. You see some big plays out of him. the beautiful thing about him is he’s a kid who has improved every year at South Alabama, statistically and production-wise. I like the fact that he can contort his body well, make the difficult catch with adjustments, and I think he has the top-end speed where he can be a vertical threat. He can play outside; you could put him inside in the slot. He has a lot of potential and may go a little higher than people think.”

Of Watson, the SiriusXM analyst said: “(He) is ridiculously fast at least when I’ve seen him. He has such explosiveness in his routes, so you have to respect the underneath stuff but he can get you over the top.

"You can see in his career, he has really good high-end production. Last year he didn’t have quite the yards per catch but certainly, his production doubled in terms of opportunities from the previous season.

“I really like the way he competes and fights for the football. The only thing you get a little nervous on is he sometimes has concertation drops. I don’t think he has bad hands; I think it’s concertation drops you have to work through with him.”

WHAT IF…

Eagles take a quarterback at No. 18?

For starters, the fan base would riot.

The only way it happens is if the Eagles do trade that first-round pick in 2023 to the Giants or somebody else in order to move up for Gardner or Stingley and scrap looking for QB in 2023 if Jalen Hurts falters. In that scenario, they could entertain taking a QB at 18 this year to develop right along with Hurts.

Not likely but felt the need to mention it as a what-if proposition.

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.