The Philadelphia Eagles and head coach Chip Kelly need desperately to overhaul a defensive secondary so abysmal it allowed 30 touchdowns through the air last season.
At least one cornerback spot and potentially both need to be upgraded as well as the safety position next to last year's free agent pickup and lone secondary bright spot, Malcolm Jenkins.
Could the Eagles look to the rebuilding Tampa Bay Buccaneers and safety Dashon Goldson as a potential trade target?
"The trade would benefit both clubs, giving the Eagles their most formidable safety tandem since Kelly became head coach and providing Tampa more cap cushion as Licht continues to remake the roster," writes Geoff Mosher of CSN Philly.
"Goldson, who signed a six-year deal with the Bucs in 2013 to play for then-coach Greg Schiano, has just $4 million remaining in guaranteed money that Tampa Bay would absorb in a deal, but the Bucs would save more than $19 million over the next three seasons in cap space."
It seems like a potentially expensive stop-gap proposition at first glance, but it wouldn't be the first time the Eagles pursued Goldson under Kelly - in his first offseason at the helm, the team reportedly made efforts to sign him in free agency but ultimately balked at his asking price - and there's no guarantee free agency or the draft will offer better options.
Bucs GM Jason Licht has already made it known, via his NFL scouting combine press conference, that he's ready and willing to trade a number of his veteran players and it's not hard to envision Goldson, 30, being one of those players.
He's not an ideal fit for Bucs head coach Lovie Smith's Tampa 2 defensive scheme - as Mosher notes, he seems like a much better fit for Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis' man-press scheme.
Mosher points to the deal between the Bucs and Rams for safety Mark Barron last year which netted Tampa Bay fourth and sixth-round draft picks as a potential starting point in negotiations.
Yes, Goldson is much closer to the end of his NFL career than the beginning, but with Nate Allen presumably gone in free agency and a good, but not great, player like the Broncos Rahim Moore set to break the bank as the top safety on the open market, adding a player like Goldson via trade along with a draft pick or two for development may be the best course of action for the Eagles.
