Philadelphia Eagles: Is CeeDee Lamb rumor just a smokescreen?

While Eagles fans are giddy for draft-day with the new CeeDee Lamb rumors, there may not be as much to this story.

When the report surfaced from Penn Athletics’ and 97.3 FM’s Joe Tordy that Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles are aggressively pursuing a trade that will give them a higher selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, one that would help them into a position to land Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, Eagles fans were ready to throw another parade. To be honest, that’s completely understandable.

The Eagles have been in the market for a wide receiver for what seems like forever. Every year, the feeling among fans is adding a top-tier wide receiver is the missing link between Philly and another Super Bowl appearance. After all, it worked with Terrell Owens in 2004 and Alshon Jeffery in 2017.

Fast forward to 2020, and Jeffrey no longer fits that bill. It also seems as though the organization is ready to move on. Again, the Eagles are in the market for a wide receiver, and they’re almost guaranteed to come out of the draft with a new number one receiver for Carson Wentz. Then again, they could take two. Lamb and the Alabama Crimson Tide’s Jerry Jeudy are seen as the top two wide receivers in the draft.

Eagles fans may want to let some air out of the “Lamb-to-Philly” balloon though. So far, this has equated to nothing more than what feels like a rumor. Think about it. Why would the Eagles leak this information? It would seem as though any other team hoping to land a top receiving prospect could use this information in planning their draft strategy. Take the Denver Broncos for instance. They are also rumored to be in on the CeeDee Lamb sweepstakes.

Is it out of the realm of possibility that the Eagles are just using this as a smokescreen? They’ve never been very public about their draft strategy. Why now? Perhaps the theory is it puts other teams in need of wide receiver help in a position where they have to scramble and overpay to move up in the draft while the Eagles can either stay put, move up slightly, or trade back.

The Eagles should be able to land a high-quality receiver without giving up much. This draft is littered with a ton of talent at the position, and the Eagles aren’t what you’d consider being loaded with draft capital.

Here’s another theory. A trade that would place the Eagles in one of the top ten or 15 picks, possibly what they’d need to do to land Lamb might not be as easy as trading for a veteran like Odell Beckham Jr. Just use the DeAndre Hopkins trade as a reference. Might the Eagles be looking to add a veteran? It’s tough to rule anything out at this point.

This is Howie Roseman that we’re discussing. This is the man that worked the Eagles into the second-overall selection in 2016. You can never make any assumptions where he’s concerned. He’s capable of making the blockbuster deal at any moment. Trading for a veteran or trading up in the draft for a sure thing at wide receiver would be monumental for Carson Wentz. Just picture him finally having the best outside threat that he’s had in his career.

Sometimes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Whether that’s the case with these Lamb rumors remain to be seen, but here’s to those of you that are hoping that Lamb can find his way to the “City of Brotherly Love”.