Philadelphia Eagles: Clinton-Dix to the Redskins could spell trouble
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix has officially been traded to the NFC East, only he will now be joining the Washington Redskins, not the Philadelphia Eagles.
Boy, when people predicted this year’s NFL trade deadline would be busy, they weren’t joking.
With five deals going down over the last 24 hours, a score of players will be looking for new homes in new cities, including one, Golden Tate, who’s now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles (more on that here).
However, the Eagles weren’t the only team to get in on the action today.
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No, roughly the week after the Dallas Cowboys flipped their first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders for Amari Cooper, the Washington Redskins have also made a deal for a potential playoff push, sending a fourth-round pick to the Green Bay Packers for safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
Clinton-Dix, a 2016 Pro Bowler who I previously profiled here, was considered the premier player at his position on the trade market, and with the Packers all but guaranteed to not extend his contract this fall, it appeared almost certain that he’d be playing for a new team in Week 10.
Unfortunately, that team will be Washington.
After already fielding one of the better defenses in the entire league, this move not only makes Washington better right now, but practically hand delivers the team their starting safety for the next half-decade-plus.
I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say that Haha Clinton-Dix is the best safety the Redskins have had since the late great Sean Taylor, and he will now get to terrorize the Eagles twice a year for the foreseeable future.
That’s some pretty incredible value for a fourth-round pick, especially when you consider that the Eagles’ current starting free safety, Avonte Maddox, was also selected using a fourth-round pick.
The Redskins now have the two best safeties in the league in D.J. Swearinger and Clinton-Dix, whereas Maddox is among the 15 worst safeties in the league according to Pro Football Focus.
Now granted, the situations aren’t exactly the same, as the Redskins will now have to give Clinton-Dix a big contract to retain his services next season and beyond, but it’s never that tough to swallow paying an elite player his fair market value, especially at a position that’s been consistently devalued over the last few years like safety.
It’s entirely possible that Clinton-Dix could sign a deal that pays him less than $10 million a year next summer while being the best player in the Redskins’ defensive backfield (sorry Josh Norman).
And granted, it’s not like the Redskins stole Clinton-Dix out from under the Eagles, as there’s no evidence the team even inquired about his services, but for the low, low price of a fourth-round pick, I would much rather see the 26-year-old Pro Bowler suit up in midnight green as opposed to red and yellow moving forward.
Next. 3 reasons acquiring Golden Tate in trade makes Eagles stronger contenders. dark
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