Philadelphia Eagles: Rasul Douglas could facilitate a first round trade up

If the Philadelphia Eagles are serious about moving up in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Rasul Douglas could help facilitate a swap with the San Francisco 49ers.

It’s here; it’s finally here. After 365 days of waiting, the NFL Draft officially starts tomorrow, and you know what that means Philadelphia Eagles fans….. draft day trades.

I know, I know, no one goes into the draft thinking ‘I can’t wait to see which veterans players get traded’, but it happens. The Eagles did so last spring when they flipped their sixth and final selection in the 2019 NFL Draft for Hassan Ridgeway, who appeared in seven games with five starts before landing on IR with an October ankle injury.

Is that good value for a sixth-round pick? I mean, it’s not a Jason Kelce-level steal, but landing a three-time All-Pro in the sixth-round is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Clearly Howie Roseman was happy the move, as he extended Ridgeway for an extra season even with Malik Jackson under contract and Javon Hargrave on the horizon.

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So while the Eagles will surely be looking to flex their draft capital to move up, move back, and accrue additional assets down the line, they may also be able to add – or subtract – current NFL players in exchange for picks.

And if your friends over at Heavy are to be believed, it looks like Eagles may have already had conversations on that very topic.

Per Mike Greger, the San Francisco 49ers have reached out to the Eagles about making a move for fourth-year cornerback Rasul Douglas. On paper, this makes sense, as Pro Football Talk mentioned Douglas as a potential trade candidate last month after the team surrendered a 2020 third and fifth-round pick to acquire franchise cornerback Darius Slay, but what’s really interesting is the player Kyle Shanahan and company are reportedly willing to surrender for his services: wide receiver Dante Pettis.

Who is Dante Pettis? Well, I’m glad you asked.

Measuring in at 6-foot-1, 191-pounds, Pettis was a four-year contributor for the Univerity of Washington from 2014-17. While he never quite elevated his game enough to become a surefire number one receiver either on the outside or in the slot for the Huskies, Pettis finished out his career with 2,256 yards and 24 touchdowns on 163 catches as Jake Browning‘s most consistent target. Factor in 1,274 more yards on 90 career kick returns and Pettis surpassed the all-purpose century mark in each of his final two seasons in Seattle.

No wonder the 49ers opted to draft Pettis in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft – he can do a little bit of everything.

Well, at least that was the idea.

After finishing out his rookie season with the third-most receiving yards on the 49ers behind All-World tight end George Kittle and Shanahan stalwart Kendrick Bourne, Pettis looked primed for a big sophomore season where he could potentially develop into the team’s legit number one wide receiver in 2020.

Spoiler alert: That didn’t happen.

Despite getting back their starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, after missing the final 13 games of the 2019 season with a torn ACL, Pettis struggled to see the field thanks to the additions of Deebo Samuel and Emmanuel Sanders and finished out his sophomore season with only 11 catches on 24 targets for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns – the 11th highest mark on the team.

If the Niners can flip an underachieving wide receiver for a potential starting cornerback in their zone-heavy defense – where he could learn from and eventually replace Richard Sherman as the team’s supersized ballhawk – John Lynch would look like a straight-up genius. But do you really think Roseman would let that happen?

No, if the 49ers want to trade for Douglas, they’ll have to surrender something Philly wants: Better draft positioning.

Now it’s no secret that the Eagles have interest in moving up in the 2020 NFL Draft. If recent rumors are to be believed, the Birds have their eyes set on a specific wide receiver – reportedly CeeDee Lamb – who likely won’t be on the board when they pick 21st overall. However, said player may still be there at 13, where the 49ers are picking thanks to a trade with the Indianapolis Colts. If the Niners are serious about moving back in the first round to accrue more talent – and more draft picks – a package centered around Douglas, the 21st overall pick, a third and fourth-round pick could probably get a deal done.

Alternatively, if the Eagles wanted to move back into the first round to select a player who definitely won’t be around at 53 – Jeff Gladney, anyone – the Eagles could probably pull off a similar deal involving Douglas, their second-round pick, and maybe one of their compensatory fourth-round picks.

Heck, for the right price, the Niners could even throw in Pettis if they are serious about washing their hands of the 24-year-old second-generation athlete. I still like his talent and I’m sure the Eagles wouldn’t mind taking him off their hands.

In 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles flipped the 74th overall pick in the draft to the Baltimore Ravens for Timmy Jernigan and the 99th overall pick – which they fittingly used to select Rasul Douglas. If the San Francisco 49ers feel the same way about Douglas going into the 2020 NFL Draft, I couldn’t think of a more serendipitous way to trade up for a top-tier number one wide receiver.