Philadelphia Eagles: Andre Dillard’s ceiling and floor in 2021

Floor: Andre Dillard is a reserve left tackle… on another team.

Allow me to pontificate for a moment. In theory, Andre Dillard’s floor in 2021 should be as a bench left tackle who seldom plays for the Philadelphia Eagles and watches whatever value he has left wash away, right?

Well, for the Eagles, that would certainly be a doomsday scenario. They’d lose out on a solid draft pick and/or a player and have to fully place their trust in Jordan Mailata, who may be better than Dillard but not good enough to become the next Jason Peters.

But between you and me, I don’t see that happen.

Because practices will surely look more like 2020 than 2019 this summer and the preseason may once again be amended- or canceled outright – some unfortunate team may find themselves a snap away from watching their quarterback’s fortunes ire towards dire with no real way to fortify their reserves than to call up Howie Roseman and offer something of value for one of his rookie contract left tackles.

Roseman, to his credit, has already preemptively prepared for this situation by signing ex-Nick Sirianni lineman Le’Raven Clark to a one-year deal and would probably listen to offers and maybe even make a deal if the deal is worth making.

If that happens, and Dillard is traded to some other team with playoff aspirations but a light depth chart at left tackle, it may be the best thing for everyone… unless he can’t beat out his newfound competition for a starting spot.

That’s right, in this hypothetical scenario, Dillard will have not been traded for much less than he was drafted for – let’s say a conditional fourth-round pick that could become a three based on playing time  – but then see his value drop even further because he couldn’t beat out another reserve for a position he was acquired to fill.

If that happens, Dillard may find a third NFL home, but he certainly won’t have his fifth-year option picked up and may have to settle for a one-year, non-guaranteed deal to maybe compete for a job on a team in seriously dire straights.

Sometimes being a backup isn’t so bad when people think you can still play. However, once that illusion is shattered, that perception is incredibly hard to right.

So what do you think? Will Andre Dillard beat out Jordan Mailata to become the Philadelphia Eagles’ long-term left tackle, fail to land a reliable role on a new team, or have his fortunes fall somewhere in between? Sound off in the comments section below!