Carson Wentz trade opens door for Dolphins trade, but with a catch
Ask and you shall receive, apparently. Yesterday, we profiled the Philadelphia Eagles as an emerging trade candidate in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft for the Miami Dolphins. But if and only if the Eagles agreed upon a trade to ship away veteran quarterback Carson Wentz.
No less than a few hours later, the deed was done. Wentz will be an Indianapolis Colt in 2021 and the Philadelphia Eagles are now presumably staring at another quarterback decision this offseason despite the selection of Jalen Hurts in the 2nd-round of the 2020 NFL Draft. And the Miami Dolphins can absolutely be of service in Philadelphia’s bid to secure a top quarterback.
But it won’t come as easy as we proposed it could yesterday.
Because as we outlined in exploring the dynamics of a possible Eagles & Dolphins trade to flip picks No. 3 and 6 in this April’s NFL Draft, the obvious parallel to draw was to the Colts and Jets trade in 2018 for Sam Darnold. That deal saw the Jets send two 2nd-round picks from that same year and another from the following year to Indianapolis to flip picks. But the Philadelphia Eagles, based on the terms of the trade of Wentz to the Colts, don’t have two 2nd-round picks this year. Because the Colts refused to send a 2nd-round pick to Philadelphia in 2021 for Wentz.
The Eagles acquired the 85th overall pick in 2021 and a conditional 2nd-round pick in 2022 that may become a 1st-round pick depending on Wentz’s performance in Indianapolis — which throws some cold water on our initial proposal from yesterday:
“After the Eagles move Wentz, the team could theoretically send the following package to move up three spots:
This may seem like a high price to pay, but remember that the Jets did this exact same trade with the Colts in 2018. That deal sent picks No. 37 & 49 of the 2018 NFL Draft and a 2019 2nd-round pick (No. 34 overall).” – Dolphins Wire
The best the Eagles could do now based on this line of thinking is send one 2nd-round pick in 2021 and two in 2022; and even then they may not have two second round picks if Wentz meets the conditions to graduate the Colts pick to a 1st-rounder.
This now gets complicated because the Eagles can’t guarantee they have the picks needed to replicate the Darnold trade. And Miami should rightfully want a better payout for 2021 to move out of No. 3 overall than just adding one 2nd-round pick. So this possibility isn’t dead; not by a long shot. But the Eagles’ desperation to get a top-3 quarterback will define if Miami can swing this deal or not; because the Dolphins aren’t going to be giving Philadelphia a discount just because they got a poor immediate return for Wentz.
