No Kayvon Thibodeaux for the Philadelphia Eagles
As the draft inched closer and closer, the hype surrounding Kayvon Thibodeaux and the Philadelphia Eagles snowballed out of control.
Multiple insiders described Howie Roseman’s interest in the bursty edge rusher out of Oregon, with some suggesting the Birds could even trade up to select the Los Angeles native should he fall into the back end of the top-10.
Now granted, the idea of surrendering serious draft capital, as much as a second and a third-round pick according to the NFL Draft Value Chart, was viewed as a steep price to pay, especially for a team with a ton of needs, but for a team in need of young, elite talent, securing such a player even at a premium price was largely viewed as acceptable across the fanbase.
But alas, it just wasn’t meant to be; despite having needs on the offensive line, the New York Giants called the collegiate Duck’s name to the Commissioner’s office, and just like that, the Philadelphia Eagles’ dreams of keeping Kayvon Thibodeaux in green were dashed for the foreseeable future.
The New York Giants got revenge on the Philadelphia Eagles for 2021.
Did the New York Giants explicitly draft Kayvon Thibodeaux to stick it to the Philadelphia Eagles? No, I doubt they did; I’m sure they like his fit in new defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s scheme and hope that they just secured the next Michael Strahan or LT.
But does it sort of feel like the Giants took special pleasure in selecting Thibodeaux at five, knowing that the Eagles wanted him one year after watching Howie Roseman leapfrog their franchise to draft DeVonta Smith 10th overall.
Even though he’s been officially released of his duties after never fielding a winning team as the Giants’ general manager, somewhere, Dave Gettleman is smiling.
With Smith off the board, the Giants eventually opted to trade down with the Chicago Bears and ultimately drafted Kadarius Toney, a player who looked alright as a rookie but has fallen out of favor with the team’s new brass and has been unceremoniously placed on the trade block. Will the Philadelphia Eagles have to suffer through a similar fate? Let’s hope not!