October 23, 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles are good, but they could also use some help. Expect Howie Roseman to try to make them even better at the trade deadline.
A couple of weeks ago, we rounded up all of Roseman's trade deadline deals since he reassumed his general manager position in 2016, and we ranked the Eagles' biggest needs at the October 31 trade deadline, if you're interested in that. Also if you missed our previous batches of trade deadline targets, here's version 1.0 and version 2.0.
I had heard from a few friends around the league that the Eagles were sniffing around the Panthers' Jeremy Chinn (they sniff around a lot of players), but Chinn suffered a quad injury that will keep him out for about a month and a half.
Panthers’ S Jeremy Chinn has a significant quad injury that is expected to sideline him up to six weeks, per league sources. Chinn does not need surgery, but he also is in the last year of his contract and scheduled to be a free agent after this season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 18, 2023
Dugger is a linebacker/safety hybrid in the same mold as Chinn, and he's a better player anyway. His stats the last two seasons:
| Kyle Dugger | Tackles | INT | FF-FR | TD |
| 2021 | 92 | 4 | 0-1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 78 | 3 | 1-1 | 3 |
Two of those three INTs in 2022 were pick-sixes. Here's one:
Kyle Dugger walks in for the pick-six ‼️
— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2022
📺: #NEvsLV on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/SuNPv0yZ94 pic.twitter.com/a36pvmm0qi
Aaaand the other:
.@Patriots take the lead on a pick-6!
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2023
📺: #MIAvsNE on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/b9AODMuLy1 pic.twitter.com/XZGMmfPCGj
He also nearly had a couple of pick-sixes in 2021. I guess we'll show those, too.
Kyle Dugger has the @Patriots in scoring position 🙌 #ForeverNE
— NFL (@NFL) November 14, 2021
📺: #CLEvsNE on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/W523lSwB1t
And the other:
Kyle Dugger has the @Patriots in scoring position 🙌 #ForeverNE
— NFL (@NFL) November 14, 2021
📺: #CLEvsNE on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/W523lSwB1t
He's a ball hawk, and a physical run defender.
Pats beat writer Chad Graff of The Athletic proposed a trade of Dugger to the Jaguars for a third-round pick. For a player of Dugger's caliber in a contract year, that sounds like reasonable compensation to me. The Eagles don't have their own third-round pick, though it is expected that they will be awarded a third-round compensatory pick for the loss of Javon Hargrave in free agency. They can't trade a comp pick that has not yet been awarded to them. But maybe their own 2 to the Pats for a Dugger and something like a 4?
(In a previous version, we profiled another Pats safety, Jabrill Peppers, as a logical target. We should also probably note that Jalen Mills would be a Pats safety who also makes some sense, but would be very unsatisfying for many Eagles fans.)
In college at Utah, Blackmon played his first three seasons at corner, and he moved to safety for his senior season. The Colts drafted him in the third round in 2020, and his career was off to a promising start before he tore his Achilles close to midway through the 2021 season. He also missed three games in 2022 with an ankle injury.
Blackmon is an aggressive run defender with instincts in the passing game. His 2023 season is off to a good start, as he has a couple of INTs, shown here:
We'll take that one.
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 22, 2023
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/aY500lY6I4
And a game-sealer here:
JULIAN BLACKMON CALLED GAME!!
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 18, 2020
📺 FOX | #CINvsIND pic.twitter.com/7Vsx5flQ3r
Blackmon is in the final year of his deal, and the Colts have a number of safeties they have drafted in recent years in second-year pros Rodney Thomas and Nick Cross, as well as rookie Daniel Scott.
Savage was a first-round pick in 2019, and his career was going well enough that the Packers exercised his fifth-year option for 2023 during the 2022 offseason. However, he did not play well in 2022, and was even benched at one point. So, that's not great.
Still, Savage has talent, he has safety/slot corner versatility, he's in a contract year (an acquiring team would only be on the hook for his $1,080,000 salary, some of which has already been paid), and he presumably wouldn't cost much in draft pick compensation to acquire. He is an experienced player (65 career starts) who could be quality depth at multiple spots, and maybe more if a change of scenery can jumpstart his career.
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