Eagles Trade Felix Jones For LB Adrian Robinson

The Eagles made a trade today, sending running back Felix Jones to the Steelers in exchange for linebacker Adrian Robinson.

The deal is pending physicals and was first reported by Adam Caplan.

Robinson (6-1, 250) played outside linebacker with Pittsburgh. The Eagles currently have Connor Barwin and Trent Cole at those spots, with Brandon Graham rotating in. The other outside linebackers fighting for roster spots are Chris McCoy, Everette Brown and Travis Long.

Robinson played his college ball at Temple, starting 38 games at defensive end. He signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent before last season and was active for 12 games as a rookie, but played only on special teams. According to Pro Football Focus, he did not register a special-teams tackle. And per SteelersDepot.com, Mike Tomlin called Robinson a “one-trick pony” last year:

If you heard the NBC broadcast of the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night game against the Indianapolis Colts, you likely heard Cris Collinsworth talk about what head coach Mike Tomlin told him about undrafted free agent linebacker Adrian Robinson.

Collinsworth said that when he asked Tomlin about Robinson, who had solid first preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Steelers coach described the Temple product as a one-trick pony that gets up the field, can rush the passer, but doesn’t play special teams and doesn’t drop.

As friend of the blog Sam Lynch points out, Robinson is not practice-squad eligible.

Going forward, don’t be surprised if the Eagles look at outside linebackers who get cut by other teams. This is still an area where they could look to add depth.

As for Jones, he was unimpressive in the first two preseason games and was unlikely to make the roster. The Eagles have their first three running back spots set with LeSean McCoy, Bryce Brown and Chris Polk. Undrafted free agent Matthew Tucker has a chance, but the Eagles could also add a running back from another team once more cuts are made.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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