Philadelphia Eagles: Could Brandon Brooks be on the move?

When the name “Landon Dickerson” flashed up on the screen for the Philadelphia Eagles at pick 37, it wasn’t a particularly surprising selection. The Eagles had been linked to centers in this year’s draft class all offseason long, due to the assumption that Jason Kelce is set to finally retire after the 2021 season.

Taking into account’s Dickerson’s extensive injury history, the general assumption was that the former Alabama center would be “redshirting” his rookie season, taking a year to learn/get healthy behind Kelce and the rest of the Eagles offensive linemen.

However, that might not actually be the case.

Right off the bat, Howie Roseman was quick to shoot down the notion that Dickerson would be spending his entire rookie season as a backup – a strategy that they employed with Andre Dillard in 2019. And during a recent (rather odd?) twitter video from NFL Insider Brian Baldinger, he referred to Dickerson as a player who would be lining up at right guard for the Eagles in 2021.

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Maybe Baldinger misspoke, or maybe he was just referencing the fact that Dickerson wouldn’t really be playing center this season due to Kelce’s presence – or may he knows something that the rest of us don’t. After all, there was quite a bit of smoke surrounding Brandon Brooks‘ name and potential trade discussions earlier in the offseason.

Back in early April, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer quite blatantly reported that the Philadelphia Eagles had had real conversation in regards to moving the former Pro Bowler:

"“Eagles G Brandon Brooks: Among the NFL’s best guards before he got hurt, a torn Achilles cost him the 2020 season. But he was healthy enough to practice before the end of the year, and the 31-year-old is under contract the next four years for a reasonable $53.2 million, and just $10.5 million this year. There have been trade discussions here.”"

While the initial response to the concept of moving off Brooks might be that of confusion, it would actually make quite a bit of sense when looking at the Eagles from a more longterm point of view. The team isn’t going to be ready to compete anytime soon, Brooks is being paid a ton of money, Brooks hasn’t been able to stay healthy, he’s aging, and the Eagles now have a 22 year old lineman who’s looking for a spot on the offensive line.

If Brooks wasn’t such a fan-favorite amongst the Philly faithful, this is a move that most people would probably be in support of.

Could the Philadelphia Eagles trade Brandon Brooks to make way for Landon Dickerson?

While Brooks has obviously been a dominant guard in the past, the biggest roadblock here is likely not on the Eagles’ side of things. Even with Brooks set to be healthy again this season, it’d be rather challenging to find a team willing to take on his rather large 2021 salary. Teams all around the NFL have been cutting above average players this offseason due to cap purposes.

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While it’s never wise to purposefully weaken your O-Line, this could be a situation where Howie Roseman just really wants to get Dickerson some playing time during his rookie season. If Brooks isn’t traded over the following week, I’d still expect Roseman and Nick Sirianni to get somewhat creative in their attempt to get their second-round pick on the field in 2021.

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