On Friday night, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported that the Eagles are one of a handful of teams that has "expressed interest in trading up" to Cleveland's No. 4 spot in the upcoming draft, which is just 12 days away.
There are a lot of layers to this.
Could the Eagles have contacted the Browns to ask what it would take? Why? The top two quarterbacks - Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III - are expected to go No. 1 to Indianapolis and No. 2 to Washington. Minnesota holds the No. 3 spot. A team looking to acquire the player considered the third-best quarterback - Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill - could move to No. 3.
If that happens, the Eagles might look at getting the best non-quarterback in the draft. Who would that be? Well, that depends on the Eagles draft board but it could include offensive tackle Matt Kalil, cornerback Morris Claiborne, wide receiver Justin Blackmon or running back Trent Richardson among others.
The Eagles own three of the top 51 picks in the draft. Their first-round pick is No. 15 overall. The Eagles have an extra second-round pick thanks to the Kevin Kolb trade to Arizona last year. Those second-round picks are No. 46 and No. 51 overall. Needless to say, the Eagles have the ammo to move up if they so desire.
The Eagles could simply be doing the Browns a favor. The Eagles-Browns connections appear to be endless. Head coach Andy Reid worked under Browns president Mike Holmgren in Green Bay. Browns general manager Tom Heckert was the former GM in Philly. A number of former Eagles coaches are now in Cleveland led by head coach Pat Shurmur. The Browns might be looking to trade the pick and need to get the word out that there is a competitive market.
There will be a lot of rumors and poker playing over the next two weeks. The Eagles could have been simply doing due diligence to see what it would take to move up and use that as a base for negotiating with other teams. The Eagles could want to see who is there at No. 4 and be ready to pounce. The Eagles may have no interest in moving up, but want to scare teams who are truly interested.
It's a fun time and will just get better leading up to the NFL Draft.
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