Howie Roseman and Ryan Grigson are using their connection to tweak their respective rosters.
The Eagles Thursday dealt linebackers Moise Fokou and Greg Lloyd to Indianapolis for cornerback Kevin Thomas and a conditional seventh-round pick in 2013. Thomas was a third-round pick out of USC in 2010. He appeared in nine games (starting in five) last season and played 70.9 percent of the defensive snaps during that time.
The 6-foot, 192-pound California native did not play his rookie season after tearing his ACL.
“He’s a big corner, he can run,” said Roseman. “He’s played a lot of Cover 2. We think he can go press, and he’s instinctive.
“It was just about value. The trade made sense — they were looking for some linebackers and we want to see more of our young linebackers. We just felt like it was a win-win situation for us and the Colts, and that’s a position — corners and linemen — that we’ll always be on the look-out for.”
Grigson was the Eagles Director Of Player Personnel before being names the Colts GM this offseason. The Eagles acquired defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu from Indy for cornerback D.J. Johnson back on July 22 as well.
“You get someone there who you talk to every day and you just try and figure things out,” said Roseman, who is close friends with Grigson and forecast more deals between the two parties to come eventually.
There is a rule in the new collective bargaining agreement that free-agent pick-ups must wait three days before being able to practice. That takes away the ability to plug someone in when a short-term injuries occur. Roseman predicts that there will be a lot more player-for-player trades as a result, because all a transferring player needs to do is pass a physical before being eligible.
Thomas had 33 tackles and three passes defensed last season. He is thought of as an outside corner.
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