Would the Philadelphia Eagles trade Dallas Goedert for J.C. Jackson?

Just how valuable is Dallas Goedert to the Philadelphia Eagles?

The Philadelphia Eagles have two of the best tight ends in 2020.

Granted, that’s not a particularly hard feat to accomplish, as the league has arguably the least talented crop of tight ends in its 100-year history as the position continues to evolve from its blocking roots. Still, it’s virtually unheard of to draft two tight ends in the second round five years apart and have both end up being home runs- I mean touchdowns.

But here’s a question to ponder: Can you have too much of a good thing?

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In 2019, Carson Wentz completed 40 percent of his passes to tight ends (155/388). That’s a lot of completions, and more than the number of balls completed to wide receivers (146). Is it possible for a team’s best two pass catchers to be tight ends? Obviously so, but so far this century, no team has had two tight ends record 1,000-yard campaigns during the same season, and barring a ground-up transformation of how the NFL builds their offenses, that probably won’t change anytime soon.

There just aren’t enough high-quality, pass-catching tight ends to go around, and even fewer head coaches willing to feed a pair of tight ends at a clip needed to even sniff 1,000 yards.

So, at least in theory, if a team has two legit tight ends and needs across the rest of their roster, it’s at least worth pondering what some other team would be willing to give up to procure one of those player’s services, right? There are no lives sports at the moment save WWE, AEW, and… Nascar(?), so why not?

Alright, so first things first, if the Eagles were to consider trading one of their tight ends it would probably be Dallas Goedert. Sure, Zach Ertz is older (29), less dynamic, and a way worse blocker, but he’s also quite possibly the best pass-catching tight end in franchise history and Wentz’s favorite target year-in and year-out.

Goedert, by contrast, will probably never fully leave Ertz’s shadow while the duo are teammates and thus will probably leave the team in free agency when his current contract expires after the 2021 season.

Okay, cool. But the Eagles obviously aren’t going to unload a player of Goedert’s caliber for free. What kind of package could the team realistically expect to receive for the 25-year-old’s services? How about third-year New England Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson?

Measuring in at 6-foot-1,198 pounds, Jackson is a near-prototypical man-press cornerback tailor-made for the modern-day NFL. He’s long, aggressive, and most importantly of all, the kind of ballhawk Jim Schwartz craves in his defensive secondary. Over his first two years in the NFL since going undrafted out of Maryland in 2018 (more on that here) Jackson has picked off eight passes and defensed 16 more while allowing a sub-40 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks throwing his way.

Just for context, a quarterback record gets a 39.6 passer rating when they throw the ball into the dirt. Jackson’s 35.6 rating in 2019 on 681 defensive snaps is absolutely astonishing.

So, why on earth would Bill Belichick trade a 24-year-old cornerback with legit lockdown potential? Well, like Goedert, Jackson is a part-time outside starter who may never earn a starting role before his rookie contract – a three-year rookie contract since he went undrafted – expires.

Would it make sense to start Jackson over Jason McCourty across from Stephon Gilmore in 2020? Maybe so, but like the Eagles with Ertz, it would appear the Patriots are all about fielding an uber-experienced secondary to compensate for their new sophomore starting quarterback. The Pats drafted Joejuan Williams in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, so they are probably good on that front. By contrast, even after drafting a pair of tight ends in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Goedert would immediately be the Patriots’ best tight end, and the best tight end they’ve employed since that other guy for the team from 2010-18.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d assume the Patriots would love to swap out a part-time player for a borderline-Pro Bowl-caliber tight end to help move along their young quarterback’s development – not to mention a team’s playoff hopes.

And as for the Philadelphia Eagles? Well, it’s really the same idea.

Even with players like Rasul Douglas, Avonte Maddox, and Sidney Jones under contract in 2020, Jackson would instantly enter the fray as the Eagles’ top cornerback option opposite Darius Slay. Like Slay, Jackson ran a sub-4.5 40, has great hands, and can travel with his man both on the perimeter and in the slot. Having one of those players is nice, but having two turns one of the team’s biggest question marks into an unquestionable strength.

Sure, losing Goedert would be a blow to the team’s two tight end sets, but Jackson’s impact on the game at a much more valuable position should help to mitigate any minor offensive inconveniences. With eight legitimately talented wide receivers who deserve a spot on the active roster this fall, transitioning to a more receiver-focused offense while improving the secondary could considerably improve all aspects of the team moving forward.

Most view cornerback as one of the two-to-three most important positions on an NFL team. By contrast, tight end is one of the least valuable positions both in average pay-per-position and in their respective WAR. If a team was willing to give up a cornerback for a tight end, it would be really, really hard to turn such a deal down.

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This trade won’t happen. Could it? I mean, from my perspective, it’s a pretty even swap for all parties involved from a value-added standpoint, but I have no insider information on the subject. All I wanted to examine was what sort of asset Dallas Goedert is for the Philadelphia Eagles, and whether or not that value could be exchanged for something more impactful at a more pressing position of need. Isn’t that why the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts? To accrue assets that can be swapped out down the line for better fitting pieces from needy teams?

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