On Friday, the Philadelphia Eagles publicly admitted a major trade they made during the 2023 season was a complete fail when they cut two-time All-Pro Kevin Byard.
The Eagles organization is still dealing with the fallout of an 11-6 season that shockingly ended with being eliminated from the postseason in the Wild Card Round earlier this year. Several reasons on why the team went from a Super Bowl contender to a pretender have been bandied about in recent weeks, but the decline of the defense is one of the most notable.
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The Eagles defense was the backbone of the team that went to the Super Bowl last year but fell apart in 2023. The regression occurred despite general manager Howie Roseman making attempts to improve the unit during the season. One of those attempts came in an October trade for Tennessee Titans star Kevin Byard. However, much like the unit, that too was a disappointment.
Philadelphia Eagles admit Kevin Byard trade was a fail
On Friday it was reported that the organization had cut Byard in a move that will free up as much as $13 million in cap space this offseason. The two-time All-Pro was set to make just over $14 million in 2024. While the freed-up space with limited dead cap repercussions is good news for Philly it admits they wasted several valuable draft picks to get a player who only played in 10 games for the team.
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In the deal before last year’s trade deadline, the Eagles forked over a fifth-round pick and sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to get the former Titans star. Fortunately, it is not a total loss since the organization will still have four selections in the fifth round in April’s event.
Byard racked up 75 tackles and an interception in his 10 starts for Philly and will turn 31 in August.