The Philadelphia Eagles remain the NFL’s only undefeated team and look very much like a Super Bowl favorite heading into their Week 7 bye looking like a true juggernaut.
This likely won’t stop general manager Howie Roeman from looking to pull off a deal ahead of the Nov. 1 NFL trade deadline. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler is reporting that Roseman and Co. are among the three teams interested in stud young Carolina Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns. According to the report, Philly joins the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams in having interest.
Fresh off dealing Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers, it’s becoming clear that Carolina is listening to offers for pretty much everyone on their underperforming roster. That could include this former first-round pick.
Meanwhile, other reports suggest that Carolina won’t even entertain offers unless they include two first-round picks. This was the team’s initial asking price in McCaffrey talks before Carolina settled on four selections, none of which were first-rounders.
With that said, things are a tad different for Burns. He’s 24 years old, has produced at a high level and is under contract through the 2023 season. In short, any acquiring team would have to offer up at least one first-round pick and more capital to pry Burns away from Carolina. It’s in this that the Rams and their lack of draft capital are pretty much out on Burns after finishing second place to the division-rival 49ers for McCaffrey.
Where does this leave Philadelphia? It has the draft capital to acquire Burns. It also has the need. Here’s a look at three reasons why the Eagles should trade for Burns.
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Philadelphia Eagles have the need
Free-agent signing Haason Reddick leads the Eagles with 4.5 sacks through six games. Veterans Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox are second with three sacks each. The issue here is that they are merely part-time players at this stage in their careers.
Graham has not played in as much as 50% of Philadelphia’s defensive snaps in any of the six games this season. Cox is playing more. But his status as an interior pass rusher would not impact the acquisition of Burns.
- Brian Burns stats (2022): 24 tackles, 6 for loss, 6 QB hits, 4.0 sacks
Burns’ early-season performance comes after he earned a Pro Bowl trip with the Panthers back in 2021. That season saw him register 18 QB hits, 13 tackles for loss and nine sacks. He’d be an obvious upgrade from a pass-rush perspective.
Related: Philadelphia Eagles’ standing among NFL defenses
Pass rush is key to the Philadelphia Eagles’ success
Through six games, Philadelphia’s pass defense has performed at an elite clip. That includes opposing quarterbacks throwing seven touchdowns against nine interceptions Darius Slay is yielding a 14.6 QB rating when targeted. Free-agent signing James Bradberry is giving up a 29.0 QB rating himself.
One of the primary reasons for this is the Eagles’ pass rush. It heads into Week 7 ranked in the top 10 in sacks while ranking in the top seven in pressures and pressure rate. Adding Burns to the mix would only create more issues for opposing quarterbacks moving forward on the season. That’s for sure.
Philadelphia Eagles have the assets to make a Brian Burns trade work
By virtue of their draft-day trade with the New Orleans Saints this past April, the Eagles have an additional first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. With New Orleans at 2-5 on the season, that could very well become a high first-rounder.
Even if Philadelphia opts to offer up its own first-round pick and more capital, it could be enough to work out a deal with Carolina. Remember, it also has a second-round pick from New Orleans in 2024.
Perhaps, the Eagles offer up their first and second-round selections in 2023 and the Saints’ second-rounder in 2024.. This would still give Philadelphia a likely top-10 selection come April. It would also give Carolina three more picks to help expedite what promises to be a long-term rebuild.