A surprising draft possibility that might hurt Eagles

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When the Eagles traded back from the No. 6 spot to No. 12 in the first round of this year’s NFL draft, they probably never thought they’d have to worry about a team jumping them.

After all, the Giants have the No. 11 pick. And Dave Gettleman never trades back. Like … never.

It’s really pretty shocking.

But apparently the Eagles aren’t as safe at No. 12 as we all thought, at least according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who says there’s a legitimate shot this could be the year Gettleman bucks the trend and moves down the draft board.

“This might actually be the year,” Rapoport said. “I know that sounds crazy. But I believe this is something inside the organization they are firmly considering for a couple different reasons. Think about the players who might be there. Look, this is a draft where you probably have 13, maybe 14 special, special players. They might get someone to pay a premium to trade up and maybe they could slide back a little bit and get some value.”

It’s worth pointing out that the Giants have just six picks in this year’s draft. They have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 2 in the 6th round. So it would make sense for them to slide down a few spots to pick up an extra pick or two.

And Rapoport points out that Giants head coach Joe Judge comes from New England, where Bill Belichick is always willing to trade back for value.

This doesn’t appear to be good news for the Eagles. Because now if the Giants are on the clock at 11 and there’s a player the Eagles might be targeting — let’s say at cornerback or receiver — another team will have the ability to trade up and snag that player before the Eagles.

Let’s look at it hypothetically: Say a corner like Patrick Surtain II or Jaycee Horn are sitting there at 11 and another team thinks the Eagles are ready to run the card in. With what we knew about the Giants before, the Eagles would have been safe unless the Giants took that player. Now, other teams within range will be able to pull the trigger.

Of course, there’s no guarantee the Eagles will be picking at 12 either. Howie Roseman is never shy about draft-day trades. Unlike Gettleman, Roseman is happy to move up and down the draft boards, accumulating value.

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