Less than an hour after word broke of the Miami Dolphins making a major deal with the San Francisco 49ers that saw them swap first-round picks in 2021, the Philadelphia Eagles allowed the Dolphins to move back into the top 10.
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The Eagles announced Friday afternoon that they've traded to the No. 6 overall pick in this year's draft to the Dolphins for the No. 12 pick (originally owned by the 49ers) in the 2021 NFL Draft and a 2022 first-round pick. The two also swapped mid-round selections with Philadelphia acquiring the 123rd overall pick in exchange for pick 156.
However, prior to moving down in this year's draft, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport says that the Eagles did attempt to trade up from pick No. 6 to pick No. 3, but were only interested in doing so if they could land BYU's Zach Wilson.
Rap Sheet later clarified that he meant, that the Eagles liked Wilson as a prospect, but ultimately felt like moving back to acquire an additional first-round pick was the better route.
In our latest RADIO.COM Sports NFL Mock Draft, Wilson didn't last until the third pick.
Moving down to pick No. 12 makes it much more likely that the Eagles head into what will likely be a lean year with Jalen Hurts as the starting quarterback and the recently-signed Joe Flacco as his backup. The idea that the Eagles flirted with moving up for a quarterback suggests that they aren't entirely sold on Hurts' ability to be an elite starter, though that's not exactly a shocking development. Regardless, it now appears that Hurts will get a season to assure the Eagles that he can be the long-term answer at quarterback for new head coach Nick Sirianni.
With this move down, the Eagles have the potential to have up to three first-round picks in 2022, depending upon how much Carson Wentz plays for the Colts in 2021. Those picks could be key in building a team around Hurts, should he cement his place as the franchise quarterback in 2021. Then again, if the Eagles don't leave 2021 with the belief that Hurts can be a star, they will have a bounty of picks to potentially land another quarterback prospect.
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