The Philadelphia Eagles Should Make a Big Trade

The Philadelphia Eagles have a roster loaded with offensive talent. This past year, the Eagles were second in the NFL with nine players go to the Pro Bowl. This offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles should make a big trade using their talented but aging players.

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Two of the players that the Eagles should at least consider trading are Eagles offensive guard Evan Mathis and Eagles running back LeSean McCoy. Both were Pro Bowl players this past year, but both could reach their expiration date sooner rather than later.

McCoy, one of the NFL’s most talented running backs, will be 27 years old by the start of next season. By society’s standards, McCoy would still be young. For running backs, he’s reaching retirement age, especially a running back whose game is predicated on agility and mobility. He may have already peaked in the 2013-2014 season, a season in which he led the NFL in rushing yards. That, in addition to his high salary, makes him a prime candidate to be traded.

Mathis, a former NFL journeyman has been among the best linemen in the NFL since he joined the Eagles in 2011. Last year, he made the Pro Bowl and was a first team All-Pro selection. That doesn’t, however, change the fact that he’ll turn 34 this November. He has played his best football the last couple years, but at some point he’s going to regress due to age. We might as well cash in while the offers are higher.

I’d like to state at this point that I love both these guys. In an ideal world, they would both retire as Eagles. However, this is not an ideal world and we are chasing our first Super Bowl.

This year could be one of the best running back draft classes ever. I won’t get into specifics but if you would like to see some, click here. If the Eagles scout well, they could end up with a decent replacement for McCoy, assuming he’s traded.

Now some of you reading this might be clamoring for my head expecting this entire article to build up to a “draft Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota” argument. Nay. I believe we have too many other needs–both starting talent and depth at various positions–to even think about trading draft picks and possibly players for one rookie whose game may or may not transition well into the NFL.

So once again I will reiterate: I don’t think we should make a big trade for Mariota. I do, however, think we should trade some of our aging talent to a more needy team to garner more draft picks. Draft picks are the future of this franchise, 27 year old running backs and 34 year old guards are not.

Fly Eagles Fly.

Next: Five Ways to Fix the Philadelphia Eagles Secondary

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