July 21, 2026
Eric Hartline/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Quinyon Mitchell is probably the Eagles' best asset (player edition).
A week ago, Bill Barnwell of ESPN published an article showing how many players on each team are worth at least a first-round pick in a trade. Fun read! He determined that the Philadelphia Eagles have seven players who have that level of value.
That got me wondering how many Eagles I would appraise as first-round worthy, and beyond. Here are my top 20 most valuable Eagles, with coaches and front office personnel included.
Disclaimer: The following is merely what I think the Eagles could get in a trade for each player, not necessarily what they would accept in a trade situation. Got it? Great, let's go.
Smith is a hard-nosed, rugged edge defender who is willing to do the dirty work, but also has great athleticism. However, his style of play — which is what is appealing about his game — also makes him an injury risk, especially for such an undersized player.
Smith had a breakout season in 2024, but a down season in 2025 marred by lingering injuries. The Eagles made a bet on Smith this offseason when they exercised his fifth-year option, which will guarantee him $13,752,000 in 2027. But if he has another down season in 2026, the Eagles — and any team trading for him — will be stuck paying that tab.
The Eagles would have a tough time getting a Day 2 pick in return for Smith presently, in my opinion, but of the players on this list he has as good a chance of increasing his value this season as anyone.
McKee is in the final year of his rookie contract, and unlikely to re-sign with the Eagles in 2027 because he probably wants at least an opportunity to compete for a starting job with another team.
The Eagles reportedly asked for a second-round pick this offseason for McKee and found no takers. But even if a team suddenly needed a competent quarterback to get them through a stretch of games this season, it would be a buyer's market, with other options like the 49ers' Mac Jones or the Texans' Davis Mills in play.
A more realistic outcome for the Eagles would be a couple of Day 3 picks, which they almost certainly wouldn't agree to.
To be clear, you can't just trade a coach like you can a player. You need the coach's consent. So of all the people on this list, the most unrealistic trade possibility is Fangio, because it's ultra uncommon to trade assistant coaches, but also because Fangio wants to be home for the twilight of his career.
But, for the sake of assigning a value that a team might give up for a one- or two-year defensive coordinator rental, a third-round pick feels about right.
Again, the Eagles wouldn't do this, of course.
Barkley's value would have been way higher a year ago, obviously, when he was coming off one of the best running back seasons in NFL history. But he is the highest paid running back in the NFL, he is coming off a down season, and he'll turn 30 before the next Super Bowl is played.
Interior defensive linemen are in demand, and Ojomo had a breakout season in 2025 when he finished second on the team in sacks. He would only be a one-year rental for an acquiring team before he'll cash in with a contract likely to be more than $20 million per season.
Of course, the Eagles wouldn't be likely to trade him for a third-round pick, since they'd probably get a third- or fourth-round compensatory pick in return for losing him in free agency. OK, going forward I'm going to stop clarifying that the Eagles wouldn't do most of these.
In Barnwell's column, A.J. Brown was valued at a first-round pick on the premise that he was just traded for a first-round pick. However, by the time the trade happened the Pats were the only team in the NFL that had serious interest, and even then the first-round pick they dealt is in 2028, not 2027. The notion that they could trade him for a first-round pick to another team is probably wrong.
Similarly, the Eagles traded two third-round picks for Greenard during the draft and then gave him a handsome raise. Of course, the Eagles were the highest bidder, which is why they got him. If they made him available via trade, it is highly unlikely they'd get a pair of third-round picks for him. Probably just one third-round pick, and maybe a late Day 3 pick.
Baun finished fifth in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2024 and followed that up with another (deserved) Pro Bowl nod in 2025. He is very comfortably a top five off-ball linebacker. (I'd have him top three.)
But, like Barkley above, Baun will turn 30 before the next Super Bowl is played, and he plays a position that is taxing on NFL bodies.
Man, I really struggled with where to put Sirianni on this list. And again, disclaimer, as noted in the Fangio section above, any trade of a head coach would require the coach's consent.
They are rare, but they do happen. Here are the coaching trades that have happened over the last 30 years, via NBC Sports Boston:
• Bill Parcells, 1997, from Patriots to Jets: First-round pick, second-round pick, third-round pick, fourth-round pick, $300,0000
• Mike Holmgren, 1999, from Packers to Seahawks: Second-round pick
• Bill Belichick, 2000, from Jets to Patriots: First-round pick, fourth-round pick, seventh-round pick (Pats also got a fifth-rounder and seventh-rounder)
• Jon Gruden, 2002, from Raiders to Buccaneers: Two first-round picks, two second-round picks, $8 million
• Herm Edwards, 2006, from Jets to Chiefs: Fourth-round pick
• Bruce Arians, 2019, from Cardinals to Buccaneers: Sixth-round pick (Bucs also got a seventh-rounder)
• Sean Payton, 2023, from Saints to Broncos: First-round pick, second-round pick (Broncos also got a third-rounder)
The pros: Sirianni has a 59-26 record as a head coach. He has never missed the playoffs, and he has been to two Super Bowls, winning one. That's, uh, pretty damn good.
The cons: He is coming off a really bad season in which the team appeared dysfunctional both from a culture and offensive scheme perspective, and he has a personality that won't be for many owners.
I landed on a second-round pick.
Campbell was a first-round pick in 2025, and he had a promising rookie season, even if he was demoted in-season to make room for Nakobe Dean.
Pretty much every team in the league passed on Campbell in the 2025 draft, which is why he was still available at pick 31. That was likely due to shoulder injuries, which remain a concern.
Campbell's raw physical size and athleticism attributes and his encouraging rookie season are still good enough to make him a second-round value.
Some might perceive a second-round pick for a 36-year-old RT to be unrealistic. Personally, the debate for me was whether a team would go even higher. Johnson is still playing at an elite level, and despite missing almost half the season in 2025 with a Lisfranc injury it's probably unfair to say he's "injury-prone" when he was very durable the previous three seasons, all of which ended with Pro Bowl nods.
If, say, a contender suffered an injury at RT and desperately needed offensive line help, a second-round pick for a first class player could keep a team's Super Bowl hopes alive. And it might not even be a half-year rental, as Johnson could still decide to play again in 2027.
Hunt is an ascending player who led the team in sacks and INTs in his second NFL season, when he was originally considered a "project player" coming out of college. His pass rush is improving, and he is a unique edge defender with a safety background who excels in coverage.
I think he is right on the cusp of being first-round worthy.
Barnwell did not include Lemon among his Eagles players who are considered first-round worthy. He did not give a reason why.
I disagree. I mean, during the 2026 draft the Steelers were on the phone with Lemon, telling him they were selecting him with their first-round pick before the Eagles traded up and stole him away. They literally tried to use a first-round pick on him.
As noted with Ojomo above, interior defensive linemen are hard to find, and Davis was a great player during his breakout season in 2025. However, he is also now making a lot of money.
Also, while Davis was in good physical shape for the first time in his pro career in 2025, I imagine that would still be a lingering concern for teams around the league.
This might not seem like adequate compensation for Hurts, a Super Bowl MVP, given that the Eagles ultimately ended up with first- and third-round picks for Carson Wentz. However, in Wentz's case, the picks were conditional, and the Eagles could have easily ended up with second- and third-round picks instead.
But more importantly, Hurts is scheduled to make $51.5 million in cash in each of the next three seasons. As Barnwell correctly pointed out, most teams probably wouldn't want him over their own quarterback at that rate of pay even if he didn't cost any trade compensation at all.
Ultimately, if the Eagles made Hurts available, some team would pony up a 1, but I don't think the Eagles would get much more than that.
Smith was pretty clearly a better player than A.J. Brown last season, in my opinion, and he has two fewer NFL seasons of wear and tear on his body. But Jaylen Waddle is probably a better comp for Smith than Brown, since they were from the same draft class.
The Dolphins traded Waddle to the Broncos for a first-round pick (30th overall), a third-round pick (94th overall), and a fourth-round pick swap that favored the Broncos. By the trade value chart, the package of picks was worth roughly the 25th overall pick.
Smith is a more valuable than Waddle, and would attract a better package of picks.
The comp for Mailata is Laremy Tunsil, who the Texans traded to the Commanders for second-, third-, and seventh-round picks, plus a fourth-round pick swap.
Mailata and Tunsil are similarly talented, but Tunsil was heading into his age 31 season when his trade was consummated. Mailata turned 29 in March, and he has less wear and tear on his body than Tunsil since he didn't play at all his first two seasons.
Star left tackles are very hard to find, and Mailata has a very team-friendly contract. He would fetch a big return if he were made available.
DeJean's value is his extreme versatility. He's the best slot corner in the NFL by a mile, but can also play outside corner, safety, dime linebacker, and he can return punts. Hell, he's even the backup holder on the field goal operation. He's just an awesome football player. He's also on his rookie contract, and not even eligible yet for a new deal.
Carter's ceiling is "Best defensive player in the NFL." (That would require Myles Garrett to retire first, of course.)
But man, there are concerns. Barnwell had Carter valued at two first-round picks. I'm skeptical that the Eagles could get that, given Carter's down season in 2025, shoulder injury concerns, and what he is soon going to cost, financially.
The Jets traded CB Sauce Gardner to the Colts for a pair of first-round picks, plus WR Adonai Mitchell.
Quinyon Mitchell has been in the NFL two fewer seasons than Gardner, he is a better player, he's healthy, and he is still on his rookie contract. He is on a Hall of Fame trajectory, and at a minimum is certainly worth more than Gardner. The two first-round picks for Mitchell would just be a starting point. He should also cost a second- or third-round pick on top of that.
After some rough patches earlier in his career, Roseman is now widely considered the best GM in the NFL. He built a Super Bowl winner, and then built another one with almost all new parts not long after that. He has been on a five-year heater assembling the Eagles' roster, but has also been a driving force in building the Eagles' innovative front office and analytics infrastructure.
Roseman's personality wouldn't be for every NFL owner — particularly the cheap ones who wouldn't allow him to spend to extreme outer edges of the salary cap — but if given the resources to build a winner over time, he would produce a perennial contender in any city.
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