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Howie Roseman’s Big Trade Is Just the Splash the Eagles Needed
Remember how exciting 1999 was, when every Eagles fan knew they'd be taking a franchise quarterback in the draft? This is just like that.
Carson Wentz. (USA Today Sports)
In a past life, I could never have sanctioned a hefty priced trade up the draft board to select a quarterback who played at the FCS level, or what we have known all these years as Division I-AA.
But I too am carried away by the splash.
In Philadelphia, we haven’t had many splashes lately, so the bold move by Eagles general manager Howie Roseman to trade what amounts to be a first, second and third round pick, spread out over a couple of years, has refreshment written all over it.
Roseman obtained the number two pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Think about the excitement of that. Think about 1999 when the Eagles were in a similar situation and every fan knew they’d be taking a franchise quarterback and how we wouldn’t have to worry about who was playing that position for at least the next 10 years and how the only thing that separated the Eagles from a Super Bowl was building enough around that quarterback.
I’m pretty sure Roseman is playing fantasy football here with this franchise – I’ll never know if he actually knows anything about the game – but at this time I’m not going to belabor that point. I think the Eagles right now have the perfect scenario. They have a competent starting quarterback with Sam Bradford and Bradford just may be able to win enough games this year to get the Birds in the playoffs as a division winner in a weak conference. They have a backup (Chase Daniel) whom the coach thinks is a much better player than the previous backup (Mark Sanchez), and they’ll have the soon-to-be-groomed franchise quarterback, Carson Wentz, the I-AA kid.
Can Wentz play at this level? The experts say yes. But we won’t even have to think about that for at least one year as the plan is for the Eagles to cover Wentz in bubble wrap and have him not see an NFL field except for practice. I am skeptical about Wentz’s abilities, no matter how much Mike Mayock slobbers over the kid. It’s a much bigger window to throw through in I-AA than the NFL. But I want some excitement in this town for a change.
The only thing that can scuttle these perfect plans now is Bradford, who is making unhappy noises about the trade. Essentially, Bradford is being used like an escort service. He’s supposed to play one good season for the Eagles before they boot his Oklahoma butt out the front door of the Nova Care center. He’s not wanted and he knows it. It’s easy for us to tell Sammy Sleeves to put on his big boy pants and play, since he’s going to cash a $22 million check even if he’s cut after this year. But knowing you are not part of the future of your current employer has to weigh on your soul.
And, in fact, reports out there say that Bradford is so upset with this development that he has told his agent he wants to be traded — and he’d take a pay cut to make that happen. Money for Sam is not an object — he has already culled about $80 million in NFL salary in his mediocre career, making him one of the biggest thieves in league history.
Aside from that, Wentz is going to be an Eagle unless … the Rams pull a fast one on draft night, succumb to public pressure that Jared Goff is not the best choice they can make, and call the name of Carson Wentz.
Don’t count on that happening. Goff and Wentz are represented by the same agent. The Rams have already told the agent they’re taking Goff. I think.
