Report: Eagles willing to trade one of ‘recently drafted’ wide receivers

By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Philadelphia Eagles, they never have a dull moment. 

After a busy week last week that saw them release Connor Barwin and make Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith among their free-agent signings, the team reunited with former quarterback Nick Foles on a two-year deal Monday. That's expected to lead to the domino effect of Chase Daniel being released. 

The chain reactions don't stop there, however. 

According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, among other moves that executive president of football operations Howie Roseman is weighing is trading one of the team's "recently drafted receivers:"

The Eagles are still open to myriad trade possibilities. General manager Howie Roseman loves to make deals and while he’s parting with some players he’s already shopped (Connor Barwin, Chase Daniel), he’s still open to moving center Jason Kelce, linebacker Mychal Kendricks and one of his recently drafted receivers as well, league sources say, after adding Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith in free agency already.

"Recently drafted receivers" presumably refers to Nelson Agholor, who was a first-round pick in 2015, and Jordan Matthews, who was taken in the second round in the 2014 NFL Draft. 

Based simply off of their production, it would be crazy to retain Agholor over Matthews. It's a low bar, but Matthews has been the team's most consistent receiver since being drafted, as he has 225 catches for 2,673 yards in his first three seasons. Agholor, albeit in one less season than Matthews, has struggled to adjust to the NFL, as he has just 59 catches for 648 yards in two years. 

Things aren't that simple, however.

Matthews can be a free-agent after next season, and for as productive as he's been, the team may choose to allocate their money in a different way than signing Matthews long-term. Jeffery can be a free-agent next year, Jason Peters' career is winding down and holes remain defensively. Matthews would have a higher trade value than Agholor, so perhaps moving him would make more sense. If Agholor is able to figure things out with less pressure on him in 2017, he's still affordably under contract for 2018. 

Over the weekend, I penned a piece suggesting that both Dorial Green-Beckham and Bryce Treggs may not make the team in 2017 because of the increased depth that the team has at wide receiver after signing Jeffery and Smith. Perhaps Roseman would be comfortable with someone like Green-Beckham being the team's fifth option at receiver, which would free him up to make a trade. The NFL Draft also hasn't taken place yet, and it's a fairly good bet that the Eagles will take a receiver within the first four rounds. 

H/T John Barchard

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