Eagles acquire Timmy Jernigan in trade with Ravens

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It looks like the Eagles have found their replacement for Bennie Logan. 

On Tuesday, the team traded for Baltimore Ravens starting defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan in a third-round pick swap. 

In the trade, the Eagles send their third-round pick (74th overall) and get back Baltimore’s (99th). So, basically, the Eagles got Jernigan to drop down 25 spots in the third round. Pick No. 99 was originally awarded to Baltimore as a compensatory pick; this is the first year compensatory picks are allowed to be traded. 

Jernigan, 24, is entering his fourth year in the NFL and the final year of his rookie contract. He is set to have a base salary of just over $1 million in 2017, with a cap number of $1.395 million. Like many of the Eagles' moves this offseason, this one won't affect them long-term, nor should it affect what they plan on doing in the draft. 

After the 2017 season, Jernigan will become an unrestricted free agent, but the Eagles will own his rights and will have exclusive negotiating power with him until next March. Throughout this offseason, Eagles de facto GM Howie Roseman has talked about the importance of having a first crack at re-signing guys before the next free-agent period begins. 

"We are excited to add Timmy Jernigan to our defensive front," Roseman said in a release from the team. "It was hard to move down in the third round, but we believe in building along the lines and he is a good fit for our scheme. At 24 years old, his best football is still ahead of him. We still have at least one pick in every round and eight total picks in the draft that will take place in Philadelphia in front of our fans in a few weeks."

In 2014, Jernigan was a second-round pick out of Florida State by the Ravens. This move has the handprints of Joe Douglas all over it. Douglas, the Eagles' vice president of player personnel since May, was a national scout for the Ravens when they drafted Jernigan.

The Eagles now have several former Florida State products on the team, including Jernigan, Nigel Bradham, Patrick Robinson and Terrence Brooks. 

In his three years in the NFL, Jernigan (6-foot-2, 295 pounds) has played in 43 games with 26 starts. In 2016, he played in all 16 for the first time in his career and started a career-high 15. He has 13 career sacks, including a career-high five last season. 

In Baltimore, Jernigan played in a 3-4 scheme as a defensive end, but in Philly he'll get a chance to be back in a 4-3 as a defensive tackle, a spot that might fit him better. 

The Eagles were in desperate need of defensive tackle help after Logan left in free agency to join the Chiefs. Obviously, Fletcher Cox is still on the roster and will be a starter. After that, the team had Beau Allen, two undrafted players from a year ago in Destiny Vaeao and Aziz Shittu, and Justin Hamilton, whom the team signed to a futures deal after the season. They lost another depth piece earlier this offseason when Taylor Hart switched from DT to offensive tackle. 

While the team's need for cornerbacks has seemingly overshadowed everything else on defense, the Eagles did lose two starting defensive linemen in a short span, cutting Connor Barwin and allowing Logan to leave. 

If nothing else, Jernigan will be a stop-gap for the 2017 season, but it's also possible the Eagles could sign him to a long-term deal at some point. And they got him without having to give up one of their eight draft picks. 

Here's an updated list of the Eagles' draft picks in April: 

Round 1: 14 (from Vikings) 

Round 2: 43

Round 3: 99 (from Ravens)

Round 4: 119, 139 (from Browns)

Round 5: 155

Round 6: 194

Round 7: 230

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