Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 4/9/24.

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Aaron Donald hated playing against Jason Kelce - PFT
“I hated playing against Philly,” Donald said. “Kelce, his little fast ass always ran full — he would snap the ball and run over right now and just — I’m like, ‘Bro, you got some good guards. Let them work. You don’t gotta help them every time.’ He’s like, ‘I’m letting you — we’re not gonna let you ruin the game.’ Every time I played the Eagles, bro, I never got no one on ones. I probably had like one or two during the game and that would be it.”

Eagles Mock Draft Roundup: Trades only edition - BGN
There is one thing that is absolutely certain in this draft for the Eagles: Howie Roseman will make at least one trade. So let us lean into it. Roseman may not make a trade in the 1st round, but this week we will only look at mocks that have the Eagles making a trade in the 1st round.

NFC Hierarchy/Obituary: Post-free agency edition - PhillyVoice
3) Eagles (11-6 in 2022): It feels a little icky having the Eagles at No. 3 in the Hierarchy, given their epic collapse to close the 2023 season, but it does feel like their offensive and defensive coordinators will be a significant step up from what was in place in 2023. And as a reminder, the rest of the NFC really isn’t very good.

Eagles Mock Draft 1.0 - Iggles Blitz
1 – Pick 22 – CB Cooper DeJean – Iowa – 6-1, 203. The Eagles brought DeJean to Philly for a visit. That tells you they have serious interest in him. There is no question that the Eagles need to get better and younger at CB. DeJean worked out for teams on Monday after missing the Combine due to an injury. He ran 4.45 in the 40 and had a vertical of 38.5 inches. Those are excellent numbers for a CB of his size. DeJean started for two years. He picked off 7 passes (including 3 pick-sixes). He has great hands and instincts. He is a playmaker and that’s one of the key reasons I think the Eagles would want him. Nick Sirianni loves to talk about takeaways. Howie is always looking for unique players who can make big plays. One knock on DeJean is that he doesn’t have great agility. He will play the run and is a solid tackler. Some teams like him more as a safety, but I think most would try him at corner first because of his potential. He has experience in the slot and outside. He also was a terrific punt returner.

What the Eagles’ moves so far tell us about Howie Roseman’s offseason gameplan - NBCSP
If you were still watching the Eagles at the end of last season, you saw a team that looked old. Slow. Cumbersome. Tired. Sluggish. Languid. And definitely old. We all saw it. And Howie Roseman certainly saw it because a big focus of the offseason so far has been to construct a younger roster. Now, younger doesn’t necessarily mean better. It’s not like the Eagles wanted 36-year-old Jason Kelce and 33-year-old Fletcher Cox to retire. But in the big picture, an older team generally means a worse team. Players with decreasing skill levels. Players losing a step or two of speed. Players with more injuries. Players desperately trying to hang on for a few more paychecks. Add it all up and you get what we saw from the Eagles the last two months of the season. An aging roster wasn’t the Eagles’ only problem. They had plenty of young players who were struggling at the end of the season, too. But it was pretty clear by the time the season mercifully ended in Tampa that the Eagles had to get younger in 2024. A lot younger.

2024 NFL offseason: Projecting performances of running backs who changed teams - NFL.com
2024 numbers will be: BETTER. The Eagles have plenty of mouths to feed, but if D’Andre Swift was able to put up 1K rushing yards in Philly in 2023, Saquon can do the same in 2024. Barkley still has juice, and I believe offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and QB Jalen Hurts will more fully exploit Barkley’s pass-game skills than the Giants did over the past few years. Jason Kelce’s retirement puts a ding in the blocking lanes, but the Eagles won’t fall apart up front and remain worlds better than what Barkley was running behind with Big Blue. The key will be Barkley staying healthy. If he can do that, his gashing style fits perfectly next to Hurts, provides home-run ability out of the backfield and should drive linebackers crazy in coverage.

Packers expect decision ‘pretty soon’ on potential opener in Brazil - Packers
The Packers expect a decision “pretty soon” on whether they’ll open the 2024 NFL season in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles, President/CEO Mark Murphy told reporters on Tuesday morning prior to the start of the team’s annual Tailgate Tour. It was announced in February the Eagles had been chosen to play in the NFL’s first-ever game in South America, which will take place in São Paulo at the Corinthians Arena on Sept. 6. It’s the first time the NFL has played a game on Friday night of its opening weekend in more than 50 years.

Draft rumor: Bruce Feldman claims Cowboys “really like” NC State LB Payton Wilson - Blogging The Boys
Bruce Feldman, college football insider for The Athletic, recently released his first-round mock draft prediction for the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft. Considering how tapped in he is to college football coaches and NFL sources, we would be wise to pay some attention to what he has to say. Based on Feldman’s mock draft and some of the things he had to say, there are some interesting takeaways from his mock draft, especially as it pertains to the Dallas Cowboys. Like many other mock drafts, Feldman predicts the Dallas Cowboys not only trade down, but also select a player who has been continuously linked to the organization since the draft process got underway.

Drake Maye ‘absolutely’ Giants’ target if they trade up from No. 6 — Tony Pauline - Big Blue View
If the New York Giants are going to make a dramatic move up for a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, insider Tony Pauline believes Drake Maye of North Carolina would “absolutely” be the Giants’ target. “He checked so many boxes as far as the Giants system is concerned. He’s a big passer, he’s got a decent arm, he can withstand the rush, he’s not a super RPO quarterback like J.J. McCarthy but he can get outside the pocket and make the throw on the move,” Pauline said on the ‘Valentine’s Views’ show. “I think he’s being a little undervalued at this point in time.” Maye did not have a great final season at North Carolina, but Pauline pointed out that when the season began there was a debate as to whether he or Caleb Williams of USC would be the No. 1 overall pick. The Josh Allen comparison is also obvious. When Giants’ GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll were with the Buffalo Bills, the team traded up twice to select Allen No. 7. That despite Allen’s rocky final season at Wyoming and questions about his accuracy.

Washington’s choice at number two is clear - Hogs Haven
I confess, I’ve been all over the map, in large part because I don’t trust my own ability to evaluate film on college QBs in a way that meaningfully projects their future in the NFL. I’ve said, time and again, I rely almost entirely upon the evaluations of “trusted voices” in the evaluation community to shape my perspective. That said, I don’t rely singularly on anyone’s opinion, even the guy I trust most in this space. After all, no evaluator is perfect. But, three weeks out from the draft, I’m ready to plant my flag. Having reviewed the evidence, the choice seems pretty clear. I’ll lay out my justification - via proxies - below, but Washington should run to the podium to select LSU’s Jayden Daniels with the number two pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

NFL Draft 2024: Rumors include J.J. McCarthy to Washington, Patriots trading down - SB Nation
One draft rumor that will not go away? The idea of quarterback J.J. McCarthy to the Washington Commanders. ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller wrote late last week that the idea of McCarthy being Washington pick at No. 2 would be “foolish” to dismiss. “If this was one or two people saying it, I’d probably dismiss it as the usual April draft buzz that doesn’t come to fruition,” Miller wrote in ESPN Insider. “But enough sources around the NFL are whispering that McCarthy could very well be the second quarterback off the board that it has to be considered possible at this point...Ruling out McCarthy in Washington would be foolish based on league-wide intel surrounding the quarterbacks.” Miller is not the only one promoting this idea. Back at the Owners Meetings in March NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero also linked McCarthy to Washington, and new general manager Adam Peters:

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