The Philadelphia Eagles have sought to remove the Chip Kelly-influenced pieces from their roster and build a brand new one from scratch. One of their first offseason moves was to trade away DeMarco Murray after the worst season of his career.
The Eagles were looking to trade DeMarco to anyone (except the Dallas Cowboys), and the Tennessee Titans answered the bell. All the Eagles wanted in return was the Titans' fourth round pick, essentially swapping positions with Tennessee.
In a salary cap-controlled league in which a player is as good as his last play, this was going to be the way it ended for such an expensive running back. That's not the only trade that the Eagles made. Philadelphia packaged cornerback Byron Maxwell, linebacker Kiko Alonso and its first round pick to move up five spots in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
The team traded Alonso, a first round pick, and Maxwell for the Miami Dolphins' first round pick, which moves it up from the 13th overall pick to the eighth. This puts the Eagles in excellent position to grab one of the top 10 prospects in the draft.
The Eagles would also go on to sign five quality free agents that might make drafting players in that position unnecessary. The Eagles acquired offensive guard Brandon Brooks formerly of the Houston Texans, free safety Rodney McLeod formerly of the Los Angeles Rams, quarterback Chase Daniel formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, Ron Brooks, former cornerback of the Buffalo Bills, and finally Nigel Bradham, an outside linebacker who is also a former starter for the Buffalo Bills.
This basically means that the Eagles can focus on either their offensive line, running back position, or even at the quarterback position during the draft. The eighth pick overall is a great place to select a player at all of those positions, but it still may be too early for them to draft a running back. It would be hard to see the Eagles not attempt to build their offensive line with such a high pick, as they could still use a solid offensive guard.
Philadelphia may surprise everyone and look at wide receiver with its pick, as they could use some more production through the air. Jordan Matthews was disappointing last season, and Nelson Agholor still needs to develop, so the number one prospect at wide receiver, Laquon Treadwell, could be in play.
