Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles made the shocking decision to make veteran running back AJ Dillon inactive. Taking Dillon’s place on gameday roster was wide receiver Xavier Gipson, who handled kick return duties.
Given Tank Bigsby’s struggles in the return game, he seemed to be the most likely candidate not to see the field following Gipson’s promotion. However, the Eagles had other ideas, which was sitting Dillon, who had a fumble in the team’s Week 6 loss to the New York Giants.
Eagles fans weren’t necessarily broken up by the team’s decision to sit Dillon. However, it does bring up the question of what’s Dillon’s future on the team, especially with the Eagles having two younger RBs in Bigsby and Will Shipley.
If the Eagles don’t have a clear cut role for Dillon, their next best plan of action would be to trade him to a RB-needy team. One of those teams could be the New Orleans Saints, who reportedly lost Kendre Miller to torn ACL, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Eagles Might Want to Consider Trading AJ Dillon to Saints Following Kendre Miller Injury
On the surface, you might be asking yourself why would the Saints entertain a potential trade for Dillon, especially when they have star running back Alvin Kamara? And that’s a good question to ask.
However, Kamara isn’t not having the best of seasons (averaging 3.6 YPC), and the Saints’ RB depth behind him isn’t great. Velus Jones Jr. (practice squad) and Devin Neal would be next up as the RB2. If you’re New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore, you might want to see what Neal can do with an expanded role after you spent a sixth-round pick on him.
That said, if he wants another experience guy in the backfield, Dillon might be worth the look as he’s averaging 5.0 yards per carry even though its only on 12 attempts. The 27-year-old Dillon is an inbetween the tackles runner that can give you some production in the passing game.
The veteran running back hasn’t had many looks in the passing game with the Eagles (two receptions for 18 yards), but maybe that would change with Moore and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier.
Dillon is also on a cheap $1.3 million deal, which will make it relatively easy to trade him for draft capital (likely Day 3) or another player on the Saints. The Eagles need another pass rusher, and should look to go after Carl Granderson, who has 4.5 sacks this season.
Dillon alone would not get the deal done, so the Eagles would have to add in a fourth or fifth round pick to get on the Saints’ radar for Granderson. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how the next couple of weeks pan out for Dillon, especially if he’s not active for Week 8 against the New York Giants.