Eagles

Obligatory “Should the Eagles Trade for Jonathan Taylor?” Blog Post

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Aug 22nd, 2023 · 11:05 AM EDT

---

Jonathan Taylor is in Philly for joint practice between the Birds and Colts. He was reportedly given permission to seek a trade:

Salem NJ native and Colts RB Jonathan Taylor watching the running backs practice. Taylor has requested a trade pic.twitter.com/c7s1KJdhke

— Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) August 22, 2023

WIP’s Tuesday programming is set. Should the Eagles trade for Jonathan Taylor? I’ll be calling in sometime between Mad Mike’s third call of the day and Andy from Deptford’s second call of the day.

Of course, the answer is no, not because Taylor wouldn’t improve the team, but because the Eagles never do these kinds of moves anyway. It’s more like a N/A type of answer, because it would be very un-Howie-like to move for a guy earning more than four million dollars on the last year of his rookie deal, a guy who will be here for a single season before requesting the type of contract that Howie never gives to running backs anyway.

The scuttlebutt is that the Colts are looking for first round compensation for Taylor, be it a first round draft pick or combination of picks arbitrarily adding up to the same worth. They can offer, on their end, to retain some of Taylor’s 2023 salary, up to a little more than three million, to trim about 75% of his cap hit. That’s something worth considering.

But for the Eagles, you’d still be giving up (what we believe to be) considerable assets for a one-year rental, and that’s the sticking point here. It’s just something they don’t typical do. If you get halfway through the year and realize that the combination of D’Andre Swift, Rashaad Penny, Kenny Gainwell, and Boston Scott ain’t doing it for you, or injuries hit the RB room, then you certainly can consider another Jay Ajayi type of move, and add somebody mid-season.  It’s just hard to imagine them moving for Taylor right now because it would be so antithetical to the way they typically operate. And if we’re being honest, most NFL teams treat the RB position the same way the Eagles do.