5 most disappointing trades in Philadelphia Eagles history

3. The Philadelphia Eagles trade Sonny Jurgensen to Washington.

Some might argue that the Philadelphia Eagles could do a whole lot worse than shipping Sonny Jurgensen off and getting Norm Snead in return, and they did (as we’ll discuss later). Still, anytime you ship off a future Hall of Fame inductee that can still play for a very good quarterback whose best days are behind him, you have to imagine that will be one of those things that might be talked about forever.

Snead had some great moments as a member of the Eagles. He made the Pro Bowl in 1965. He tossed 29 touchdown passes in 1967, including a four-touchdown performance versus the Pittsburgh Steelers that season, but things fell apart after that.

He led the NFL in interceptions in 1968, and from 1968 to 1970, with Snead under center, the team went 9-26-2, forcing the Birds to part ways with Snead in 1971.

Meanwhile, during Jurgensen’s 11 years in the nation’s capital (1964-1974), he made four Pro Bowls (1964, 1966, 1967, 1969), and he was a Second-team All-Pro three times (1966, 1967, 1969). Not only that, but he also led the NFL in passing yards three times (1966, 1967, 1969), and those 27 touchdown passes that were thrown by Snead that we mentioned earlier trailed only one man. Guess who that man was.

If you named Sony Jurgensen as your answer, give yourself a gold star. Jurgensen threw 31 touchdown passes that season. Most of us weren’t born yet when Philly shipped Sonny off to Washington, but many years later, this is still one of the worst trades in franchise history (and always will be).