Philadelphia Eagles: Losing Josh Gordon to the Patriots is a cruel blow
Once considered the front-runners to land Josh Gordon, the Philadelphia Eagles will now have to watch the NFL’s YPC leader catch passes from Tom Brady.
The NFL giveth and the NFL taketh away.
When news broke earlier this afternoon that the Philadelphia Eagles were even-money favorites to steal Josh Gordon from the Cleveland Browns the sense of relief and cautious optimism was almost palpable across the 215.
With already mildly disappointing deep threat Mike Wallace potentially out for months with a fractured fibula, it looks like the Eagles were a phone call away from delivering Carson Wentz the best collection of weapons he’s ever had for his Week 3 debut against the Indianapolis Colts.
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Honestly an 11 personnel grouping of Gordon, Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, and Zach Ertz may be the most potent collection of weapons the Eagles have had in my lifetime. Seriously, how do you cover that?
So, when Ian Rapoport later broke the news that it was the New England Patriots, not the Eagles who traded a conditional fifth-round pick to secure Gordon’s rights, it was a bitter pill, to say the least.
For those keeping track of home, that’s two Eagles target wide receivers the Patriots have snatched away in less than a week.
How could Howie Roseman let this happen?
After finessing the Miami Dolphins for starting running back Jay Ajayi, the only rusher in NFL history to record 400 rushing yards on two different teams in the same season, this looked like another can’t miss opportunity to add a troubled yet super talented player to the roster for nothing more than a Day 3 selection. Two years of Gordon on a sub-million dollar per season deal is certainly more value than 95 percent of the players selected in the fifth round.
But now, not only will the Eagles wide receiving corps have to look elsewhere to replace Wallace, but they will also have a front row seat to watch a potential Super Bowl foe get a whole lot better for not much compensation.
While all of the Gordon-Moss comparisons may be a bit overblown, Gordon is without a doubt the best wide receiver Tom Brady has had at his disposal in close to a decade and could put up Patriot-esque Randy Moss numbers over the next four months.
The Eagles could have had two receivers of that caliber once Jeffrey returns cost controlled for the next two years, but now, they have none for the foreseeable future.
Next. Nick Foles is not a franchise quarterback. dark
Though we may never know how close the Eagles came to making a deal, or if Roseman even had any interest in making a trade in the first place, it looks like Philly fans will have a few more weeks of Agholor hauling in double-digit catches for double-digit yards while Josh Gordon lights it up as a member of the New England. But who knows, maybe the Eagles can sign Corey Coleman to a deal to serve as their developmental deep threat after the Patriots just released him? That would be one bittersweet consolation prize.