Eagles: Don’t Believe Every Rumor You Hear Leading up to NFL Draft
I probably shouldn’t have to tell you this, but don’t believe every Philadelphia Eagles-related rumor you hear.
Why do I feel the need to mention this? Well, mainly because too many people still fall for every single rumor thrown around the league in this awful period between free agency and the NFL Draft. It’s the deadest part of the entire season, as nothing actually happens beyond a bunch of agents, analysts and “experts” bouncing around so many different draft day possibilities for every NFL team that by the end, they’re sure to have predicted every possible outcome. It’s just silly.
Let’s take a look at last year as an example. So many rumors were flying around tying the Eagles to Marcus Mariota that people truly believed Chip Kelly would be able to pull off a deal of a lifetime to move to the No. 2 pick and snag the Oregon sensation. I’ll admit, about 24 hours until the first round was set to start, I fell for it. I truly believed he would get it done and Mariota would be an Eagle. But I learned from it.
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Never. Believe. Everything. You. Hear.
It’s safe to say last year’s draft made me a cynic when it comes to rumors related to who the Eagles will select. It’s easier to just not believe anything until the pick is actually made and the round is over (never rule out the post-pick draft day trade, like the Eli Manning/Philip Rivers trade). It’s even more annoying that there are rumors that the Titans are possibly interested in trading the No. 1 overall pick this year because it just seems too easy to connect them with the Eagles again. If the Eagles couldn’t get their franchise quarterback last year, could they be doing it this year?
It’s pretty much set in stone that the Eagles will be selecting a quarterback at some point in the draft, but all of the rumors suggesting the Eagles are going to trade up to select either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz likely have no actual backing to them. It’s important to pay attention to the “source” or writer that’s giving these reports. Is the reporter a writer for a site/publication that reports any rumor they see? Or is it a more reputable source that just displays the facts and lets the readers connect the dots if they so choose. The latter of those is what real journalism is about, not spewing rumors to get clicks and Twitter followers.
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However, every site/publication serves a different purpose, so I’m not here to judge too much. Still, just realize everyone has some sort of bias or agenda in what information they’re putting out there, especially agents and team representatives. As I mentioned before, the Eagles have made it clear they’re going to be drafting a QB at some point this year, but it’s in their best interest to not show huge interest in just one guy. If they did, it would give away who they want to draft as well as their leverage. With agents, they obviously want to generate buzz about the players they represent to try to increase their draft stocks and subsequently their rookie contracts. It’s just how it works.
And with social media and the 24-hour news cycle, it makes it even easier for information to gain speed quickly and spiral out of control without taking a second to comprehend what it means. There have been mock drafts that have the Eagles taking probably 10-15 different players in the first round, including situations where they trade up, stay at No. 8 or trade down. Obviously only one of these reports (at most) can be true, so don’t get too riled up by them. Because as soon as the draft starts, everything can change based on how other teams decide to draft.