PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Despite the rumors that have been swirling around the Eagles over recent weeks, General Manager Howie Roseman made no trades at Tuesday's deadline.
In fact, most of the NFL did nothing, but Roseman standing pat is noteworthy because he did something in 2017, 2018 and 2019 by acquiring Jay Ajayi, Golden Tate and Genard Avery, respectively. Altogether, he dealt two fourth-round picks and a third.
In 2017 — the Eagles Super Bowl run — they were vying to be the best team in the sport, which eventually happened, and adding Ajayi helped. In 2018, they were up and down, but believed the window was still open — hence why they gave the Detroit Lions a third round pick for what ended up being a very brief, and mostly ineffective, time with Tate. Avery was a less-flashy move for a team that was further distancing itself from its Super Bowl LII title.
This year's team was 3-4-1 the deadline, but holding a slim first place lead in the dreadful NFC East. The Voice of the Eagles, Merrill Reese, wasn't surprised by the quiet Deadline Day.
"I didn't think anything was imminent," Reese told KYW Newsradio. "I think it would've been a mistake to go out and get some aging veteran to fill an immediate need and give up draft choices. You still need to draft choices and this team still has to build in certain areas through the draft. So, I'm not surprised. I didn't expect anything dramatic this year."
But, Reese also mentioned the importance of draft picks. While they're in first place of their bad division, 3-4-1 is not a good record. Their has been an injection of youth in some areas of this team, but there can never be enough. Would it have served the Eagles well to be "sellers" at the deadline and acquire picks for a veteran.
"Well, it would depend who that veteran player is," Reese said. "First of all, you also realize, of course, that the Eagles are very much in the race to get the playoffs."
The Eagles hold a 1 1/2 game lead over the Washington Football Team. The Giants visit Landover, Maryland this weekend. If they're able to beat Washington at FedExField, that would increase their lead in the NFC East.
You can hear Merrill Reese on KYW Newsradio every weekday morning around 7:15am. To hear the full weekday conversations with Reese, subscribe to the KYW Sports Pod on the RADIO.COM App or wherever you get podcasts.
