5 most disappointing trades in Philadelphia Eagles history

1. Philadelphia Eagles give up three draft picks for a QB that never suited up.

Ask any Philadelphia Eagles fan about the worst trade in the team’s history, and you’re probably going to hear Mike Mamula’s name. Yes, just to restate, it was a bad move. It wasn’t just a bad trade. The pick wound up being awful, so it’s almost like being beaten up twice.

Every time any Eagles fan looks at Warren Sapp, you have to wonder what could have been, but here’s the thing. Philly didn’t get much from Mamula, but, at least they got something. They didn’t get anything at all from Greg Barton, and it’s for that reason that the Eagles’ decision to trade three draft picks for his services winds up topping this list of the greatest trade snafus in franchise history.

In 1971, on January 28th, Philadelphia traded the 30th-overall selection in that year’s draft (a second-round selection at the time) along with a second-round and third-round selection in 1972 for Greg Barton. He played a grand total of zero snaps in an Eagles jersey, electing instead to exercise an option in his 1969 contract and sign with the Canadian League’s Toronto Argonauts.

He played there for two seasons before finishing his playing career with the World Football League’s Portland Storm… Yikes…

By the way, Detroit used two of those draft picks the Eagles gave them to select Dave Thompson, an offensive lineman, and defensive end Ken Sanders. Thompson played 35 games in a Lions jersey and 56 games total over the course of five seasons. Sanders appeared in 100 games with the Lions and 78 starts and racked up 38.5 sacks for his career.

The 40th-overall selection wound up with the Atlanta Falcons, and they used that pick to land quarterback Pat Sullivan. He remained on their roster for four seasons, starting four games and throwing five touchdowns versus 16 interceptions over that time, but hey, at least Atlanta got something. We mentioned that Barton played zero snaps in an Eagles jersey right?