On Saturday, PFT reported that the Eagles offered safety Malcolm Jenkins to the Saints as part of a package that would have allowed the Eagles to land receiver Brandin Cooks. After we supplied it the Eagles didn’t deny it, either spontaneously or in response to requests for comment from folks covering the team.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tried to create the impression that the Eagles didn’t offer Jenkins to the Saints. The only problem with this is that, you know, they did.
Specifically, the Eagles offered Jenkins, a third-round pick, and a fourth-round pick for Cooks. The Saints wanted Jenkins and a second-round pick.
“Let me explain to you what happened there,” Schefter told 97.5 The Fanatic, via BleedingGreenNation.com. “The Saints wanted Malcolm Jenkins. The Eagles did not want to give up Malcolm Jenkins, OK? So did his name comes up in those talks? Yes, it did. It came up driven from the Saints. The Eagles did not want to part with Malcolm Jenkins.”
“Now, if a trade eventually got worked out, which it never did, for Philadelphia’s standpoint . . . any Brandin Cooks deal in Philadelphia was going to have to involve Malcolm Jenkins. And Philly just wasn’t willing to go to where it was to offer enough to get Brandin Cooks. They just did not want to part with Malcolm Jenkins. But yes, New Orleans wanted him, that’s correct.”
It’s an exercise in semantics. The Eagles may not have “wanted” to lose Jenkins, but they “wanted” Cooks enough to offer Jenkins along with a third-round and a fourth-round draft pick. The Eagles didn’t “want” Cook badly enough to “want” to give the Saints both Jenkins and a second-round pick.
As one league source with knowledge of the talks explained it to PFT in the aftermath of Schefter’s suggestion that Jenkins wasn’t offered to the Saints, the Eagles now want (need) to create the impression Jenkins wasn’t offered to the Saints. Obviously, the Eagles want (need) to avoid creating the impression that Jenkins generally is on the trading block and/or to minimize any potential frustration or confusion from Jenkins or the rest of the team.
Regardless, the Eagles offered Jenkins, a third-round pick, and a fourth-round pick to the Saints for Cooks under trade talks initiated by the Eagles. If the Eagles had been willing to part with both a second-round pick and Jenkins, Cooks would be on the Philadelphia roster.
