The Denver Broncos still have needs along their offensive line, and Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jason Peters could be a popular trade target…
The Philadelphia Eagles constructed a very impressive roster, and head coach Doug Pederson did a phenomenal job of extracting the best out of his players every single week, but like we saw with the Broncos after Super Bowl 50 — all good things must come to an end.
This is not to say the Eagles will not be ‘good’ again next season, but their roster will look a lot different.
Philadelphia saw the emergence of a young left tackle this year in Halapoulivaati Vaitai (say that five times fast) and that could make veteran Jason Peters expendable.
But instead of just cutting him, the Eagles could trade Peters and save over $5 million against next year’s cap, which they desperately need at this particular point in time. The Eagles are currently projected to be in the red when it comes to the 2018 cap, though they can quickly get under with a couple of moves.
Trading Peters is one such move that would make sense for them to make, and they can limit the dead money hit by designating him as a post-June 1 player. What that essentially means is, the Eagles can move around the dead money hit between this season and next season if they so choose.
The Broncos have motivation to trade for Peters because their tackle position is not yet settled. Garett Bolles struggled some as a rookie, but showed enough promise that the team is going to be able to build around him on the line going forward. Moving Bolles to right tackle where he can play next to Ron Leary seems like a decent option for the Broncos, especially if they can insert a player like Peters at left tackle.
Why would the Eagles be motivated to trade Peters?
The answer is three-fold.
First, the Eagles need the cap space. I mentioned that already.
Second, the Eagles have a player in place in Vaitai (also already mentioned) that is a cheaper alternative, and someone who has proven effective in that position.
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Third, Peters is coming off of a season-ending injury, and will be a free agent after this season if the Eagles choose not to pick up his option.
Okay, so that last one was a two-part reason.
The point is, the Eagles have some motivation to trade Peters, and unlike last year, the may not be able to get great value for him but they could still get some value for him.
Peters could net them a fourth or fifth round pick, I would imagine, as he’s a reasonably priced tackle in this market. But at the same time, he’s going to be 36 this season and may be a one-year rental.
With that said, the pick the Broncos acquired from the Falcons for Ty Sambrailo could be a good asset here, or maybe they throw a 2019 conditional pick the Eagles’ way and see what happens as far as Peters’ playing time this year.
The Broncos and Eagles have made a number of trades in the Elway era, so this strikes me as at least somewhat likely if both teams are motivated, like they should be.