Philadelphia Eagles linked to Las Vegas Raiders defensive end

The Philadelphia Eagles are in win-now mode… right?

I mean sure, the team is still relatively young at a number of crucial positions and will continue to retool over the next two seasons with their wealth of draft picks but after securing immediate veteran upgrades at positions of need like cornerback and linebacker, there’s no way fans, the front office, and owner Jeffrey Lurie would simply be happy with taking a step forward from Year 1 of the Nick Sirianni regime.

Goodness, one doesn’t sign-and-trade for A.J. Brown unless the bones are in place to do some damage.

Well hey, just because the Philadelphia Eagles are closer to contenders than a developmental work-in-progress doesn’t mean they can’t capitalize off of another team’s misfortune, right? If the right buy-low trade candidate comes along, especially one who plays in the trenches, surely Howie Roseman would at least consider making a deal. Well, Bleacher Reports may have suggested a trade that checks many of those boxes.

Would the Philadelphia Eagles have interest in a former Top-5 pick?

The NFL hasn’t been too kind to Clelin Ferrell. Initially drafted by Mike Mayock with the fourth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft – a decision that was near-universally panned even at the time – Ferrell has watched his snaps dip with each passing season, going from 648 as a rookie to 261 in 2021, and now, with his draft classmates Maxx Crosby signed to a massive new contract, the writing is effectively on the wall: Ferrell is not a part of the Las Vegas Raiders’ future.

With his fifth-year option already declined and his schematic fit in new head coach Josh McDaniels’ Patriots-adjacent scheme questionable at best, it seems like a matter of when, not if, Ferrell will move on to greener pastures in the hopes of getting his NFL career back on track.

But could those greener pastures be of the midnight variety? Well, the fine folks over at Bleacher Report certainly like the fit a good bit, even if their rationale is a tad off.

On paper, Ferrell is theoretically a better fit in a 4-3 scheme than the 3-4 the Raiders presumably would like to run. He doesn’t have the change-of-direction measurables teams look for in an outside linebacker, and when dropped into coverage over his first three seasons in Las Vegas, Ferrell allowed five of the six passes thrown his way to be completed.

A small sample size? You bet, but that’s sort of the point; outside of the occasional screen thrown his way, Ferrell simply lacks the experience needed to be utilized as a traditional 3-4 outside linebacker right out of the gate.

Now granted, the Eagles want their defensive ends to drop into coverage a bit too, as the team has now split their front seven players into three different categories: interior rushers, outside rushers, and interior linemen, but after re-signing Derek Barnett to a new three-year, $15.21 million deal before the draft – which has an out after 2022 that leaves just $1.5 million in dead money on the books, it’s clear the team still values base down defensive ends who can set a solid edge versus the run and maybe even rush the pass a little bit too.

If the Eagles like Ferrell’s upside in that role more than Barnett’s, then who knows, maybe a deal could be in order, especially for the “late round pick” Bleacher Report suggested.

At 25-years-old, Clelin Ferrell could theoretically have a lot of good football left in front of him. He was lauded for his leadership coming out of Clemson in 2019, and finished out his final season in South Carolina with 11.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss, both of which are very good indeed. With Derek Barnett’s future hanging by a thread and Brandon Graham not getting any younger, maybe swapping out a late pick for a scratch at the old lottery ticket might be the right move for the Philadelphia Eagles to make.