Should the Philadelphia Eagles trade for Martavis Bryant?

With the Philadelphia Eagles at 6-1 and the NFC East division title in sight, should the team trade for the troubled, yet talented Martavis Bryant?

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, we don’t need a wide receiver, especially a crybaby, I can hear it all already, yet here I am, making my case that the Philadelphia Eagles should go out and trade for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant.

If you haven’t kept up with the Steelers’ latest drama, wide receiver Bryant wants to be traded, or he doesn’t, or he does? The story out of Pittsburgh is that after calling in sick on Monday, Bryant will be benched this week against the Lions on Sunday night, and reportedly spent the week practicing with Pittsburgh’s scout team. With the NFL trade deadline coming up on October 31st there have been rumors that Bryant could be moved and most likely at a huge discount.

Theoretically speaking, I would guess that a fourth or fifth round selection would be enough to steal the former Clemson Tiger.  While that may seem like a lot, the Eagles currently have three fourth-round draft picks and two fifth-round draft picks, so they do possess ample ammunition to get the job done if they believe that Bryant is worth the risk.

But is he?

Why should the Eagles trade for Bryant amid all his current antics? Well simple, there are very few players who possess Bryant’s elite skill level. This was just a few weeks ago when everyone was still hyping Bryant’s 15 touchdowns in just 23 regular season games.

While I don’t usually agree with a player airing out their grievances publicly, the Steelers current PR nightmare could allow the Eagles to buy-low on a potential Pro Bowl caliber receiver.

These are the type of low-risk, high-reward moves that playoff teams typically make to add some pop to an already humming roster, and in this case, the Eagles will be doing it for cheap. Bryant’s 2017 cap hit is only $724,805.00 and if the Eagles were to acquire him, he’ll only be signed through the 2018 season with a cap hit of $705,000, a perfect audition season for the Eagles management to see if Bryant can be a long-term piece going forward.

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The addition of Bryant would be a major addition to the Eagles receiving core, a unit that has been fairly lackluster this season. Alshon Jeffery, the team’s prized free agent acquisition, has done nothing to show that he is worth a long-term, big money, type deal after this season. Jeffery has played in all seven games so far this season but has only amassed  26 catches for 354 yards and two touchdowns, far from elite, number one receiver numbers. Unless he can pick up steam in the second half of the season, Jeffery could go down as a one-and-done in midnight green.

Nelson Agholor has finally shown some promise this year, which is nice, but, is there another receiver that double catches the football more than he does?

The Eagles also signed veteran wide receiver Torrey Smith this season to a three year, $15 million deal, but, looking closer it is looking more and more like a one-year deal. The Eagles can release Smith after this season with no cap penalty. Smith has had his moments this season but he doesn’t look like he’s worth $4.875 million as he has just 14 catches for 210 yards, another season where Smith looks to average just two catches a game, similar to his 2015 and 2016 season.

This would be the perfect time to bring in Bryant with veteran receivers around him to reign him in and acclimate him to the team’s culture. And the Eagles management would have an at least nine-game, plus the playoffs, to audition Bryant without having to be handcuffed to his contract to an exorbitant contract long term if things don’t work out.

Bryant has shown so much promise with the Steelers that the team was willing to hold onto him for a full year while he served his suspension, and so far it appears that Bryant has done everything necessary to get back from suspension in the hopes of helping Pittsburgh make another playoff run. In 2014 and 2015, Bryant posted great numbers opposite Antonio Brown, in just 21 games Bryant caught 76 passes for 1314 yards and was a touchdown monster snagging 14 TDs.

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Not only does Bryant give the Eagles extra wide receiver depth for their 2017 playoff run, but with a strong end of 2017 season and a wide receiving core that is going to look really different in 2018, Bryant could headline a young receiving core alongside Agholor and rookie Mack Hollins next season.