Eagles Trade For WR Arrelious Benn

The Eagles announced today that they’ve acquired wide receiver Arrelious Benn and a seventh-round pick from the Bucs in exchange for a sixth-rounder and a conditional pick in 2014.

Benn (6-2, 220) was originally a second-round pick out of Illinois in 2010. In three NFL seasons (37 games), he has 59 catches for 862 yards and five touchdowns. Benn has also gotten some action out of the backfield with 15 carries for 44 yards.

He only played in eight games last year before landing on injured reserve. Benn suffered an MCL sprain in training camp and also battled a shoulder injury.

Benn’s most productive season was 2011 when he caught 30 balls for 441 yards and three touchdowns. But he had a major issue with drops. According to Pro Football Focus, Benn dropped eight of 38 catchable balls, or 21.05 percent. That was the second-worst drop rate in the NFL. He also suffered a torn ACL in Week 16 that year.

Benn is only 24 and has a pedigree. He was a 5-star recruit out of Dunbar in Washington, D.C. before playing his college ball at Illinois. As a sophomore, he caught 67 balls for 1,055 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 101 yards and a pair of scores.

He does have some red-zone ability. Benn has nine catches for 66 yards and three touchdowns inside the opponents’ 20.

According to PFF, Benn is an outstanding blocker, something Chip Kelly is known to value.

As for where he’ll line up, who knows? DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are the starters. The Eagles also have Jason Avant, Riley Cooper and Damaris Johnson under contract.

Benn has some experience in the slot. Per PFF, 16 of his 59 catches, or 27.1 percent, have come in the slot.

And one other thing he has going for him in terms of making the roster is special-teams ability. Per PFF, Benn had five special-teams tackles last year and eight as a rookie.  He also served as Tampa’s kickoff returner, averaging 23.5 yards per return in 2012.