It’s draft day, and until it either changes or doesn’t, the Philadelphia Eagles have the 32nd overall pick. That means it could be about four hours of Eagles fans waiting around for the Eagles to make a pick that either does or doesn’t happen.
And then there are two more days — two more days of waiting around for the Eagles' other picks to happen in the second through seventh rounds. Keep in mind that right now, they don’t have any picks past the fifth round. We all know that Howie Roseman isn’t cool with that, and he’ll end up getting sixth and seventh-round picks, but who knows when and where those picks will be? Well, that’s for the general public to wildly speculate and for time to tell.
A lot is (probably) going to happen over the next three days (maybe)
Howie Roseman is constantly jonesing to make a draft day trade, so it’s downright foolish to make any kind of assumption or even a half-hearted guess on who the Eagles will draft. Luckily, there are 31 other teams in the NFL, and specifically three other teams in the NFC East who we can focus on before (or while) the Eagles are making their picks.
Prediction 1: The Giants do something stupid
This prediction is incredibly lukewarm because no matter what happens, it’s going to be super easy to spin and make the New York Giants look like total dumb-dumbs because everything they do is what a total dumb-dumb would do.
Right now, they have the third overall pick, and it’s super likely that they’ll have a chance to draft either Abdul Carter, the edge rusher from Penn State, or Travis Hunter, the Heisman-winning super athlete who plays both wide receiver and cornerback. The other option is that they trade back and get a boatload of draft picks.
They’ll be dumb to draft Carter or Hunter because they have a crazy number of holes on their roster, and the more draft picks they have, the more bets they’re putting on the roulette wheel. Drafting a single guy is a ridiculous choice when you could draft three or four guys who could help.
They’ll be dumb if they trade back because Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter can both be true franchise changers. How on Earth could you rationalize drafting four guys from the second through seventh rounds when you could draft a guy who is more than willing to play on both offense and defense, or one of the most dominant college edge rushers that we’ve seen in a minute? That’s a really stupid move.
They can be dumb and be better short-term and ignore the long-term implications, or they can be dumb long-term and ignore the short-term implications. I imagine they’ll not trade their pick and draft a really good player purely because Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll aren’t just on the hot seat, they’re tied to a pole and waiting for Stannis Baratheon to light it on fire. They’ll make the short-term move to try to save their jobs.
If I’m being honest, I’m terrified of the Giants getting Abdul Carter. The dude was an Eagles fan growing up (up until the end of the Super Bowl), and he’s mega-violent. I don’t want to see that kind of guy for the next eight years actively trying his absolute best to take down Jalen Hurts or whoever comes after him. That’s a scary proposition.
Prediction 2: The Eagles get a premium pick in the 2026 draft
There was only one thing that was missing from the 2024 season, and that was being able to root against a team, specifically for the draft.
In 2021, we were able to hope for the downfall of the Colts because the Eagles had their 2022 first-round pick from the Carson Wentz trade, and the Dolphins because the Eagles had their 2022 first-round pick from a 2021 draft-day trade. In 2022, we were able to enjoy another collapse of the Saints because they traded their 2023 first-round pick to the Eagles.
In 2023 and 2024, we didn’t really get any of that. It was fun to watch the late October Thursday night game in 2022 between Andy Dalton’s Saints and the Cardinals, and know that all three of the interceptions that Dalton threw (two of which were pick-sixes) were personally beneficial.
Right now, the Eagles have the New York Jets’ 2026 third-round pick, but that’s not exactly super sexy. If Howie Roseman does trade back from the 32nd spot, there is precedent with him specifically (it’s what happened in the 2018 draft) that he could get another team’s premium draft pick for 2026.
It’s bonus points if a team trades up to that 32nd spot to draft a quarterback, because it would mean that team is spiraling and smashing the panic button. Much like in real life, if you’re spiraling, then you’re going to have a bad time. I want to enjoy a non-NFC East team’s spiral.
Prediction 3: The Commanders don’t gain any more draft picks
The Commanders are going into the draft with only five picks: One in each of the first, second, fourth, sixth, and seventh rounds. They desperately need to get younger because right now, their entire roster’s average age is 27.48 years old. Last year, the Dolphins had the oldest roster (after 53-man cutdowns) at 26.94 years old.
Free agency certainly didn’t help the Commanders. They traded for a 29-year-old Deebo Samuel and a 30-year-old Laramie Tunsil, and signed Michael Gallup and Noah Brown, who are both 29 years old too. Everything is going to be better, long-term, if Jayden Daniels has older guys blocking for him and a wide receiver room that’s chock-full of geriatric has-beens.
That’s exactly what will happen if the Commanders don’t have the draft picks to fill their tank with young guys. I predict (read: really hope) that they aren’t able to make trades where they can get more picks, and they keep getting older and more arthritis-ridden.
Prediction 4: The Eagles sign Justin Simmons on Monday
During the 2024 draft, the Eagles weren’t able to get any of the premier offensive linemen. Almost immediately afterwards, they signed Mekhi Becton, and he eventually became the starting right guard. I think something just like that is going to happen this year, but at safety.
It would be super cool if the Eagles were able to draft Malachi Starks, the safety out of Georgia, in the first round. There’s a decent chance that he falls in the draft and the Eagles can either trade up a few spots and grab him or maybe, just maybe, he falls all the way to the 32nd pick.
But that probably won’t happen. The Eagles have gotten lucky with their previous two first-round draft picks, where Nolan Smith and Quinyon Mitchell fell into Howie Roseman’s lap. It feels like that kind of luck has to run out at some point.
After Starks, some decent-looking safeties will be available, but at that point, you have to start weighing which offensive linemen and tight ends the Eagles would have to pass over for a non-elite safety prospect.
Justin Simmons feels like he’s the Eagles' backup plan at safety. He was an All-Pro safety in Vic Fangio's defense when they were both in Denver way back in 2019, he’s had Christian Parker as a defensive back coach before, and Simmons also said, “...To have an opportunity to go play in Philly, especially reuniting with Vic and CP… is high on the list.”
If this isn’t a done deal at the beginning of next week, I would be very, very surprised. It would be sweet to get a young safety, but Justin Simmons is a pretty solid move too… even though he’s 32 years old and I just ripped the Commanders for being loaded with old dudes.