Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles have heard it all by now. Howie Roseman wants a running back, namely Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott. Doug Pederson wants a quarterback, probably NDSU's Carson Wentz. Trade up? Sure. Trade back? Why not? Stay put? You must be crazy.
Plenty of other prospect options abound outside of Wentz and Elliott, of course, like Ronnie Stanley - wait, is his ceiling higher than Laremy Tunsil's after all!? - Myles Jack - his knee's ruined, or it's not - and Jalen Ramsey - he's big and athletic and pretty much perfect but may not be taken until the third or fourth pick because quarterbacks - but the outcome most associated with the Eagles to this point has been a trade up into the top-five for a signal-caller.
According to Pederson, the first-year Eagles head coach, that's certainly a possibility - as is everything else under the sun.
Really, the most interesting thing to come out of Pederson and Roseman's media availability Monday morning was Pederson confirming what's been widely assumed since Chip Kelly was shown the door and Ron Wolf disciple Roseman was re-installed as GM/not: the Eagles want to be in position to take a quarterback in the draft every year.
So, Philadelphia fans, at least one 2016 NFL Draft mystery has been solved. The Eagles will take a quarterback at some point.
When is anyone's guess.
But when, as Pederson put it, "anything is possible," that really doesn't clear up; in fact, it may create even more questions.
With the Los Angeles Rams giving up an absolute trove of picks in order to select first overall that means at least one potential option for the Eagles is gone. Some reports suggest its Jared Goff, the quick-twitch California signal-caller who would do well to build interest in the nascent L.A. fan base. Some suggest it's Wentz, who has a surprisingly similar build and pre-draft story to that of another former small-school quarterback who Rams coach Jeff Fisher went on to have immense NFL success with, Steve McNair.
Interestingly, though we now have more questions than answers when it comes to the Eagles' draft plans, Roseman may have given fans a clear indication of what's not on the table for Philly. Or at least what he won't be willing to consider unless a team makes an offer that literally knocks his socks off.
Per Roseman, it would take a "blockbuster" trade offer to get Philadelphia out of the No. 8 slot in the first round, which makes sense considering when the trade with the Dolphins was announced, Roseman touted the importance of getting inside the top 10, telling reporters that they viewed the draft as having just eight or so "elite" prospects.
Also because the Rams forked over a boatload of picks to move up to No. 1, setting the draft trade market for the rest of the league.
So, with 10 days until the first round, let's tally up what we know about the Eagles draft plans: Roseman likes running backs and quarterbacks;Pederson likes quarterbacks and running backs; and there are infinite universes which, in turn, present infinite draft possibilities.
Got it?
