Eagles lineman Andre Dillard mentioned as part of potential trade package

By now, even if you entered the Philadelphia Eagles‘ 2021 season with both unrelenting enthusiasm and optimism, you’ve probably allowed yourself to acquiesce and join the club that most of us have been attending for quite some time. This clearly isn’t a team that’s ready to compete for the second Vince Lombardi Trophy in franchise history, and many of the players that they had high hopes for, Andre Dillard for instance, don’t seem to be a part of this team’s plans for the future.

Raise your hand if you knew that coming into the season. Give the nearest Eagles fan a nod if you knew this to be the case last season.

Heading into Week 8, we’re all past theories that the boat has sprung a leak or two. We’re way beyond that. People are looking for life jackets and flotation devices. This ship isn’t just sinking. It has tipped over, and if this team loses to a winless Detroit Lions team, which is a very real possibility, there may be a mutiny in Eagles country.

What’s that? You think Detroit represents an easy win? Let’s look at the numbers. Philadelphia has lost three in a row to the Lions. They’ve lost four of the last five meetings. The hot topics around Eagles circles are those potential three first-round picks in 2022, how much more of Jalen Hurts we need to see, and whether or not this team should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. Enter Andre Dillard.

Might Andre Dillard be on his way out?

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. When the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Andre Dillard with the 22nd-overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, he was seen as one of the top two offensive tackles in the selection meeting by quite a few draft pundits. He was definitely one of the top three in most of our minds.

Dillard was brought to the City of Brotherly Love to eventually take over for a legend, Jason Peters. Let’s just say that it hasn’t worked out that way.

His toughness has been questioned. He hasn’t developed to the level that most would have hoped that he would. Jordan Mailata, a seventh-round draft choice, beat him out for the starting job.

So here we are. Dillard has been mentioned as a possible trade piece more often than we thought he would have been, and as we near the NFL’s trade deadline (November 2nd), rumors involving his name are, again, beginning to pick up, including one from The Ringer‘s Ben Solak, who recently penned a story on seven trades he’d like to see before the trade deadline.

In it, Dillard finds his way to the Carolina Panthers. Here’s some of Solak’s reason for saying so:

"Eagles GM Howie Roseman has long proved to be an aggressive player at the trade deadline… Speaking of aggressive general managers, first-time GM Scott Fitterer is not shying from the trade market early in his Carolina tenure. The Panthers have also made two trades during the regular season, both of them acquisitions: Stephon Gilmore from the New England Patriots and C.J. Henderson from the Jacksonville Jaguars, but I imagine they’ll stay aggressive, and the biggest weakness on the team is clearly the offensive line."

Here’s more:

"Carolina is fourth-worst in pass-block win rate this year, having somehow talked themselves into starting Cameron Erving at left tackle. With Erving struggling mightily and both Brady Christensen and Dennis Daley on the guard depth chart following the injury to John Miller, an immediate improvement and potential long-term starter at tackle would be a welcome sight.Andre Dillard probably isn’t all that—but he could be! …  I wouldn’t be surprised if this conversation opens back up. Dillard has two years left of a rookie contract (including his fifth-year option) and no avenue to starting in Philadelphia. The Eagles should get what they can for him now, when his stock has seen a bump following his adequate play."

Throw Dillard in the conversation with Derek Barnett and JJ Arcega-Whiteside, players the Eagles had high hopes for who have been disappointments. These are all guys that other NFL franchises might have an interest in.

If this truly is a rebuilding year, the Birds have to realize that this team won’t win as constructed and they need to explore every option that they have to improve. With the trade deadline nearing, they have several chess pieces that can put them in a position for a brighter future, and following the Eagles’ recent decision to extend Jordan Mailata, Andre Dillard has seemingly become expendable.