One Trade the Eagles Should Still Be Pushing After the Draft

There's a few items the Philadelphia Eagles need to cross off on their shopping list now that the draft is concluded. The 90-man roster is essentially taking shape with picks and undrafted free agents, but the Eagles can certainly make more moves to upgrade their roster.

Safety is the primary target for the Eagles going forward. The Eagles did draft Cole Wisniewski in the seventh round, but will a late-round pick make an instant impact? The Eagles are hoping Wisniewski can be the next Reed Blankenship, but Blankenship didn't even earn regular playing time until late in his rookie season.

Philadelphia could go with Marcus Epps opposite of Andrew Mukuba, or have a internal competition between Epps, Wisniewski, Micahel Carter, and J.T. Gray. That doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the other starting safety spot, as the $5.2 million the Eagles spend on safety is the lowest in the NFL.

The Eagles could use some help at safety -- adding a veteran to piar with Mukuba. Whether they pursue that veteran or not is another story, but they're looking.

"At every position, we have to see what we have," said Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. "If we went in the draft and filled every hole, we probably wouldn’t have had a good draft. It remains to be seen if we even had a good draft. We’ll see. We have time to judge. We understood that we couldn’t get everything we wanted at every position."

Who could the Eagles pursue at safety? And can they afford that player?

The salary cap situation

The Eagles do have the salary cap space to add a proven safety via trade. Over the Cap has the Eagles at $27.9 million available to spend, which isn't counting the draft picks and undrfated free agents (the majority of those contracts have been signed).

For intensive purposes, the Eagles have over $20 million in salary cap space available. How much cash are they willing to spend on a safety and do they want to have the salary cap space available run under $5 million?

The could be a major addition to be made at safety, or adding a compitent veteran to pair with Mukuba. There's a player that could be available that fills both those requirements.

The Browns have a surplus at safety

There's a candidate -- or two -- that could be available in Cleveland.

The Browns did draft Emmanuel McNeil-Warren in the second round, an addition to Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman to their roster. Are all three safeties going to play under new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg? How different is the scheme from Jim Schwartz?

Perhaps the Eagles can scheme something up with the Browns to get Delpit, who is in the final year of a three-year, $36 million deal. Delpit's cap hit is only $8 million too.

Delpit fits what the Eagles could be seeking. Proven starter in the NFL in the final year of his contract, and he's 27 years old. The Eagles could allow Delpit to play out his deal or give him a short-term extension like they did when acquiring Dontayvion Wicks. Just to give Delpit that job security and a starting spot on lock for the next few years.

If the Eagles want a proven starter at safety, Delpit may be the player. He had a 69.7 rating in coverage with one interception. He finished with 80 tackles and 3.0 sacks.

Epps is a good veteran to have around, but this isn't the 2022 version of Marcus Epps anymore. The Eagles could improve here if they so choose, as Epps is just a placeholder for a younger player down the line.

Why not acquire a proven starter like Delpit, who's younger and provides long-term stability with Mukuba?

Delpit is just one option, but the thought process remains the same. The Eagles could always look to improve at safety -- and have multiple months to find that player.

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