At the risk of giving any or too much credit to that so-called ‘America’s Team’ in Texas (just saying it makes the stomach turn), there’s a part of their story that’s actually quite interesting. As sick as it makes most Philadelphia Eagles fans to utter the words “Dallas Cowboys”, just try and hang in there for a second. There’s a story that needs to be told and a point that needs to be made here.
Once upon a time, Jimmy Johnson had the unenviable job of replacing the legendary Tom Landry and walking into and rebuilding a bad Cowboys team, but it was one of his first moves that changed the fortunes of the franchise.
Here’s a walk down memory lane that some Philadelphia Eagles fans won’t like.
Johnson, knowing that he had a ton of holes to fill, began looking for guys that he could mortgage to other franchises and found one in one of the best players on his team. That led to perhaps the most famous trade of that era, one that involved the Minnesota Vikings and one of Dallas’ best players, one that was possibly the only thing the Cowboys had that was worth leveraging, Herschel Walker.
Through a strange turn of events, and in the largest trade in league history (a little less than 20 players wound up being involved), Walker and three of Dallas’ draft choices wound up with the Vikings. Dallas ended up landing five of Minnesota’s players and three more draft picks.
There was also a stipulation that said if any of those guys Dallas got from Minnesota were cut before February 1st of 1990, the Cowboys would then be granted conditional picks. Dallas had pulled one of the greatest heists in league history as they used the collateral they had acquired to land some of the guys that helped them win three Super Bowls. The Vikings, on the other hand, are still looking for their first Vince Lombardi Trophy.
There’s a lesson to be learned in this if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan, maybe.
What does this have to do with the Philadelphia Eagles you ask? It’s simple. This has become a franchise that elects to move off of teams a year too late as opposed to a year too early. Just think about Nelson Agholor, Alshon Jeffery, Mack Hollins, Darren Sproles, or Jason Peters if you need an example.
Philly, if they are truly looking to build a winner, may want to consider moving one of these older chess pieces in an attempt to build for the future. Think of it as addition by subtraction.
Will they pull off a Dallas-type coup? They probably won’t. Still, with so many older players on the roster who are expensive and still good but clearly on the downward turn of great careers, serious questions need to be asked. The Birds are never going to get more for some of these guys than they’d get for them right now, and it’s time to start thinking outside of the box.
Whenever the thought of something like this comes up, there’s always resistance. No one wants to part ways with fan favorites or the best players on the team. No one wants to say “what if we traded Darius Slay” or “what could we get for Fletcher Cox”, but no one wants to see a repeat of the way DeSean Jackson‘s career in Philly ended either.
It’s time that the Philadelphia Eagles explore all of their team-building options, and if they have a ‘Herschel Walker’ on their own roster, they need to ask themselves tough questions. If they have someone that could spark the interest of another franchise and help them get less expensive (and we all know that they do), they may want to speak with potential trade partners and see what kind of return they can get.
It doesn’t help them immediately, but this isn’t a team that will compete during the 2021-2022 season for a Super Bowl anyway. It’s time to think about possibly adding pieces that will help them later. It’s time to build for 2022 and beyond. Sometimes you have to take a step backward to take two steps forward.