The Eagles have not shied away from making trades to acquire future draft capital in recent years and they may have had an opportunity to do so on Thursday night, but General Manager Howie Roseman decided to stay put and make a pick at No. 30.
Former Georgia edge rusher Nolan Smith was that selection and Roseman was asked if he was surprised that Smith was still available when the Eagles came on the clock for the second time in the first round. Roseman indicated that it was an unexpected development and that the team didn’t want to push their luck by moving down and hoping to find another way to add Smith to their defense.
“Yeah, I think that’s one of the things in the draft you have to be flexible,” Roseman said. “You go into the draft and you say here are a couple names at 30, and then you see guys sitting up there like Nolan, and again, an incredible person. Obviously, he has unbelievable traits in his body, a leader and a winner. For us, we were fielding calls at that time, and I think coach and I kind of looked at each other like this is the guy. We didn’t want to get too cute, and we’re excited to add him.”
Smith is the fourth player the Eagles have drafted off the Georgia defense in the last two years and that quartet — Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, and Jalen Carter are the others — helped the Bulldogs to back-to-back national titles. The Eagles will be hoping for the same kind of success now that they’re at the professional level.
