Philadelphia Eagles parlay past trades into future options with Saints trade

The Philadelphia Eagles turn one of three 2022 first-round picks into multiple future picks, opening up their options for 2023 in deal with the Saints.

The Philadelphia Eagles and general manager, Howie Roseman, are always wheeling and dealing, particularly when it centers around the NFL Draft. After turning former quarterback, Carson Wentz, into a first-round pick last offseason and trading down in last year’s draft with the Miami Dolphins, the Philadelphia Eagles were armed with THREE first-round draft picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. Not anymore.

As many thought the team would do, Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles utilized a couple of those first-round draft picks this year to acquire an additional first-rounder for 2023 as well. Philly gave up picks 16 and 19, but got New Orleans’ pick 18 back in the deal.

Not only did the Eagles get a 2023 first-round pick from the New Orleans Saints, they grabbed a third-rounder this year, as well as a second-round pick in 2024 (the teams also swapped late-round picks this year).

So what does this move mean for the Philadelphia Eagles? Well… a couple of things. The obvious answer that everyone has been quick to point out, is that it gives the team more draft capital in what is supposed to be a much better 2023 NFL Draft quarterback class in case Jalen Hurts struggles this year and the teams decides to go in a different direction and move up for a quarterback.

While that is certainly a possibility and allows the team to cover their bases just in case, I really think that the Philadelphia Eagles are making this move with Jalen Hurts as their quarterback of the future in mind. It still allows the team to possibly come away with two top talents at a variety of different positions in each of the next two drafts, and still gives them the flexibility that they love to be able to trade up or trade down in either one as they see fit.

As NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport explained, it also allows the Philadelphia Eagles a bit a cap flexibility moving forward. The contracts of first-round picks are guaranteed, so not latching themselves onto three different players from this year’s class could help them down the road if one or more were to not pan out.

This move makes sense for both parties involved. The Philadelphia Eagles continue to look ahead, and load up for an unpredictable future, while the New Orleans Saints jump ahead of a team in the Los Angeles Chargers that have similar needs to them (tackle and wide receiver) and also gain enough capital in this draft to go up and get a quarterback towards the top of the draft if they like one enough (Malik Willis or Kenny Pickett).

For the Eagles, they could make a run at C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young in next year’s draft if they feel they need to, but have the opportunity and flexibility to find very talented players now and in the future at other valuable positions as well.