Eagles mailbag: What are logical trade destinations for Zach Ertz and Fletcher Cox?

In our Eagles chat on Wednesday, there were a lot of questions that we could not get to in time or other questions we did answer but could use more color. And so, let's do a mailbag post to answer some of the overflow, as well as some commonly asked questions on Twitter and via email.

Question from SugarHoneyIcedTea: You had previously named Zach Ertz, Fletcher Cox, DeSean Jackson, and Alshon Jeffery as prime trade candidates, should the Eagles sell at the deadline. What are the most logical landing spots for each player?

Zach Ertz

Bills: Ertz would really complement the Bills’ speed on the outside, and give them a chain-moving pass catcher over the middle on third down.
Patriots: Bill Belichick watched up close as Ertz made huge plays in the Super Bowl, and Cam Newton could lean on him like he used to with Greg Olsen.
Colts: They lack a stud TE, and there’s the Frank Reich connection.

Fletcher Cox

From a needs perspective, the Seahawks make a lot of sense, but their draft picks are just so depleted already that I don’t think they can afford it. The Cowboys would also kill for a guy like Cox, but that’s not happening. Cox is scheme-versatile and could really help anyone, but these feel like the three best fits to me:

Bills: Their defense is already good on the back end, but Cox would really improve their pass rush, and their run defense.
Ravens: They're not getting past the Chiefs without a better pass rush, and Cox would be a major upgrade over Derek Wolfe.
Patriots: They have very little to get excited about on their D-line.

DeSean Jackson

A week ago, I'd have thought that DeSean might get you a Day 3 pick in return. Now that he's hurt... again... I can't imagine anyone out there giving up anything of value for a player they can't trust to play on a week-to-week basis.

Alshon Jeffery

Before the start of the season, I would not have thought that shoehorning Jeffery back into the offense would have been a great idea, especially if the young receivers were showing something. But now, with Jalen Reagor out a while, Jackson hurt, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside showing absolutely nothing, I would not only get Jeffery back in the lineup as soon as possible, but I would be force-feeding him the football to boost his value to a point where I could unload him for literally anything, just to get his contract off the books.

Question from Cody: If Derek Barnett finishes the season somewhere in the 7 or 8 sack range again, do you think he would have any trade value in the offseason? If so, what kind of trade compensation would he be worth? Or do you think his cap hit would be too high for him to have trade value?

Barnett entered the league super-young, and is, in fact, younger than rookie WR John Hightower. So on the premise that you need to get younger, Barnett is not a great candidate to me to try to move. If he has a down year, then as you note, who is going to want to trade for Barnett, when he is going to count for a little over $10 million on the cap in his fifth-year option in 2021? If Barnett does have a good year, then if you're the Eagles, there's almost no way you'd trade one of your few young, producing players.

Question from Dr. Smoke: I am amazed at how fast things fell apart here. Absent Carson improving dramatically and this draft class being decent, I really fear we are heading into an abyss that will take years to climb out of. Am I being too pessimistic?

Even if Wentz rebounds (I think he will -- it's just to what degree), this roster is old, in decline, and no longer equipped to compete for a Super Bowl. They must commit to something close to a full-on rebuild, which I don't think has to take a long time, as long as you're able to fix your cap situation, start hitting on some drafts, and make smart free agent acquisitions.

But they'd have to be willing to suffer through another bad season in 2021, before we can start to see some positive results again in 2022 and beyond. At some point (after this upcoming loss, probably), I'll lay out what I think they should do to be a competitive team on the upswing again in 2022.

My concern would be if they attempt to do some half-assed rebuild (we'll call it a "retooling"), in a way in which they think this roster, as currently constructed, can still compete. If they go that route, I think it'll take longer for them to completely bottom out, thus prolonging the time spent in your metaphorical abyss. I would equate a reluctance to commit to a full-on rebuild to Eddie Murphy describing his aunt falling down the steps. She's tries to break the fall, "and that just makes the fall take a half hour then." NSFW...

Question from greenwithenvy: Every negative thought I had when the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round has come true. Wentz is playing like he's looking over his shoulder and we wasted a valuable pick on someone who's not playing. Why did they set up Carson to fail?

If only the downside of the Hurts pick could have been foreseeable!

Question from Sterling: Why haven't we seen more of K'Von Wallace? I know Schwartz is stubborn, but Mills doesn't look so hot as a safety, and isn't it about time to get the young guys some reps?

During training camp, Schwartz said that the linebacker and safety spots in his defense are more difficult to learn than the other positions. For reference, he said:

"Linebacker and safety are two of the most difficult positions for guys to get up to speed with. That is including having a full offseason program for rookies, OTAs, minicamp and a full preseason schedule and preseason games, so their learning has to be accelerated."

So I think that's part of it. But certainly, if guys like Wallace, or Davion Taylor, or Shaun Bradley were awesome in training camp, then they would be getting opportunities right now, seeing as Marcus Epps is playing ahead of Wallace, and the linebackers that are playing have mostly been bad.

Wallace did not stand out to me in the dozen or so practices open to the media, which almost took me by surprise. I thought he could contribute in Year 1, but I don't think it's a matter of Schwartz being stubborn. He has a long history of playing rookie defensive backs. We could still see Wallace more at some point this season, but his transition to the bigs may be coming a little slower than some (self included) envisioned.

Question from AndyS: Why are players with hyphenated names usually so bad?

I can’t say if that’s true, league-wide, but the Eagles haven’t had luck with them. By my count, they have had nine of them throughout team history. Here they are, with the year they joined the team:

K Nick Mick-Mayer, 1977
OG David Diaz-Infante, 1999
OG Max Jean-Gilles, 2006
DE Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, 2010
CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, 2011
WR Dorial Green-Beckham, 2016
LB Kamu Grugier-Hill, 2016
WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, 2019
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, 2020

Jean-Gilles lasted the longest with the Eagles, logging five years with the team. I don’t think Arcega-Whiteside or Robey-Coleman will outlast him.

Question from Pederson KHS: Didn’t Jake Elliott kick a 61-yarder previously? There was no wind at game time, right?

Pro-football-reference.com says that there were winds of 6 MPH that day. If there was wind during that kick, surely they were going with the wind. On Sunday, there were 5 MPH winds. They were definitely going with the wind when Elliott lined up to attempt the 59 yarder, pre-penalty. Pederson confirmed as much on that one.

I'd have just tried the 64 yarder. I mean, I'd have done like a half-dozen things before I'd have ever thought about punting there.

Question from Mike Groh: You miss me yet?

I think they miss Frank Reich.

Question from John: Possibility of drafting Ja’Marr Chase?

We're profiling him tomorrow in our Grocery Shopping series, but, sure, he makes sense as an X receiver in this offense.

Question from RKotite: Jimmy, in a world of instant gratification (Twitter, Instagam), how do you explain the cache of having a question "mailbagged" for future response? I mean, the purpose of the chat is get questions answered now, but seems like it's a badge of honor to get a question selected for the mailbag article. Perhaps this would better answered as a mailbag. See what I did there?

So, when I say I'll mailbag it, it means that I'd either like to put more thought into the answer, so I'll save it for later rather than slow up the chat, or that the answer is just too long for a chat. The rest of the mailbag questions are ones that I just couldn't get to in time.

Eagles mailbag: What are logical trade destinations for Zach Ertz and Fletcher Cox?

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