The Eagles have a long history of blockbuster trades, a history that goes back more than half a century.
And a bunch of them also involved quarterbacks.
The quarterback that led them to the 1960 NFL Championship? Acquired in a trade. The quarterback that led them to the 1980 Super Bowl? Acquired in a trade. The quarterback that won the 2017 Super Bowl? They actually traded him away … then got him back.
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With the Eagles seemingly on the brink of trading Carson Wentz to the Bears or Colts - or elsewhere - this is the perfect time to take a look back at the 10 biggest blockbuster trades in Eagles history.
Not necessarily the best or the worst but the biggest.
May 26, 1958: The Eagles traded Buck Lansford, Jimmy Harris, 1st-round pick to the Rams for Norm Van Brocklin: Van Brocklin spent only three years with the Eagles but led the team to a 10-2 record in 1960 and 17-13 win over the Vince Lombrdi Packers in the 1960 NFL Championship Game at Franklin Field. Neither Lansford nor Harris did much with the Rams, and the player they took with the Eagles’ 1st-round pick – defensive lineman Paul Dickson – only lasted one year with the Rams.
April 1, 1964: The Eagles traded Sonny Jurgensen and Jimmy Carr to Washington for Norm Snead and Claude Crabb: Jurgensen, who had gone just 17-20-2 in seven seasons with the Eagles, became a Hall of Famer with Washington. Snead won only 28 of 81 starts with the Eagles. He quarterbacked the Eagles for most of seven seasons but never managed a winning record. Carr started 19 games in two seasons with Washington and Crabb started eight games in two seasons with the Eagles.
NFL
July 10, 1974: The Eagles traded a 1st-round pick in 1976 and 1st- and 2nd-round picks in 1977 to the Bengals for Bill Bergey: Bergey became a 1st-team all-pro in his first year with the Eagles and made the Pro Bowl in each of his first five years here. He retired after the 1980 Super Bowl season and is now in the Eagles Hall of Fame. The Bengals used the picks they got from the Eagles to select Wilson Whitley, Ross Browner and Ray Griffin.
March 9, 1977: The Eagles traded the rights to tight end Charles Young to the Rams to the Rams for the rights to Ron Jaworski. Young and Jaworski had both played out their options in 1976. The Eagles signed Jaworski in April: Jaws became the Eagles’ starter for the next decade, taking them to the playoffs in after the 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981 seasons and to the Super Bowl in 1980.
Oct. 4, 1988: The Eagles traded their 1989 1st-round pick and a 4th-round pick in 1990 to the Colts for Ron Solt: Solt had been a Pro Bowl guard in 1987 and was embroiled in a contract dispute with the Colts when they shipped him to the Eagles. But he got hurt in his first game and then suspended for four games because of a positive steroid test. He started most of the 1989, 1990 and 1991 seasons but never approached his level of play from before his positive test. With the 1st-round pick they got from the Eagles, the Colts drafted five-time Pro Bowl WR Andre Rison.
March 16, 2004: The Eagles traded a 5th-round pick to the Ravens for Owens as part of a settlement following grievance involving the 49ers, Ravens and Eagles: Owens played only 22 games in an Eagles uniform but had 133 catches for 2,085 yards and 20 touchdowns, including a 9-for-122 performance in the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.
April 19, 2009: The Eagles traded the 28th pick in 2009 along with a 2009 4th-round pick and a 2010 6th-round pick to the Bills for Jason Peters: J.P. made seven Pro Bowls with the Eagles, starting 148 games in an Eagles uniform through Week 13 of this past season. A future Eagles Hall of Famer.
April 4, 2010: The Eagles traded Donovan McNabb to Washington in 2010 for a 2nd-round pick and a 4th-round pick: McNabb lasted only one year in Washington, winning 5 of 13 starts and throwing more INTs (15) than TDs (14). He finished his career in 2011 with the Vikings. The Eagles drafted Nate Allen with the 2nd-round pick and used the 4th-round pick as part of a trade with the Buccaneers for the pick that became Casey Matthews.
March 9 and April 20, 2016: The Eagles traded the 13th pick in the 2016 draft along with Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to the Dolphins for the 8th pick. Then, on April 20, they traded the 8th pick to the Browns along with 3rd- and 4th-round picks in 2016, a 1st- and pick in 2017 and a 2nd-round pick in 2018 in exchange for the 2nd pick overall and a 4th-round pick in 2017: Wentz went 35-32-1 in five years with the Eagles, setting numerous franchise records along the way. He made his only Pro Bowl in 2017 and either got hurt or benched late in each of the last four seasons.
Sept. 4, 2016: The Eagles traded Sam Bradford to the Vikings for a 1st-round pick in 2017 and a 4th-round pick in 2018: When Teddy Bridgewater suffered a serious knee injury a week and a half before opening day, the Vikings acquired Bradford from the Eagles, which opened the door for Wentz to become the opening-day quarterback as a rookie. Bradford went 7-8 in 2016 for the Vikings and 2-0 in 2017 before finishing his career with Arizona in 2018. The Eagles drafted Derek Barnett and Josh Sweat with the picks they got from the Vikings.
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