Philadelphia Eagles: 5 potential deadline day trade targets

David Njoku, TE

Current Team: Cleveland Browns

Doug Pederson and the Philadelphia Eagles are absolutely in love with 12-personnel (two tight end sets), and it’s hard to imagine them completely abandoning it just because Zach Ertz is injured at the moment. The offense has looked all sorts of wonky with Dallas Goedert and Ertz both missing games as of late, and a lot of that can likely be attested to the team’s lack of overall TE depth.

In the past, the offensive game-plan relied heavily on the idea that they had two reliable pass-catching tight ends. With Richard Rodgers and Jason Croom being the current backup TEs, the team can’t really employ those same sets.

David Njoku has repeatedly begged for a trade out of Cleveland, as the Browns have moved onto Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant as their starting tight ends of the future. Philadelphia has been pinned as a potential landing spot for Njoku due to their reliance on 12-personnel, and the thought process checks out.

Not only could Njoku slide alongside Goedert over the next couple of weeks as the “Zach Ertz replacement”, but he could also serve as the team’s TE2 in 2021. He has a fifth-year option at just $6 million, which is a fairly cheap price to pay for someone who would effectively be an every-down starter.

With Ertz likely on the move in the offseason, acquiring Njoku would be good business for both the short-term and the long-term.

There’s absolutely zero guarantee that Howie Roseman pulls the trigger on any sort of trade today, especially given the state of the current team. With that in mind, Roseman did shoot away a fourth-round pick for a backup DE last year (Genard Avery), so you honestly just never know.