Eagles overpay in Tank Bigsby trade is a luxury a Super Bowl champion can afford

The Philadelphia Eagles are typically a team that values draft capital and capitalizing on their picks. They bucked that tendency Monday after they traded a fifth and sixth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for running back Tank Bigsby. It was a move the Eagles made after Will Shipley’s rib injury is more severe than they would have hoped. 

For most other teams this feels forced, but for the Eagles, who are known for making the most of their draft picks, they deserve to spend a little extra to get a player they feel could be the perfect complement to the run game that’s been the focal point of their offense over the last year. 

Bigsby is a good pickup for Philadelphia, though it was a bit pricey. Last year, he took over in relief for Travis Etienne last year and finished with 766 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 2024. He’ll be the perfect complement to Saquon Barkley and his explosive running ability. 

Philadelphia Eagles move for Tank Bigsby doesn’t quite push Will Shipley out of the picture

According to Philadelphia Eagles beat reporter Brooks Kubena, the Eagles adding Bigsby doesn’t have a direct correlation to Shipley’s rib injury. Shipley had 26 yards on three carries before he was knocked out of Philly’s Week 1 game against Dallas. He’s currently listed as questionable ahead of their Week 2 bout against Kansas City. 

That said, adding Bigsby is about adding another explosive weapon to the roster. Kubena said the Eagles saw an opportunity to get a utility player similar to how the Cowboys have used KeVontae Turpin as a kick returner and gadget player on offense. Maybe in the interim, he becomes a backup running back to allow Shipley to get fully healthy, but the intent is to use him all over the field. 

What adding Tank Bigsby to loaded running back room means for Philadelphia Eagles approach this season

If there’s one thing we learned from Week 1 from the Eagles, it’s that they’re going to rely heavily on running the ball. Jalen Hurts didn’t really engineer a strong passing attack against the Cowboys and defaulted to running himself instead. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith were non-existent in the Week 1 win and it highlighted a slight difference in the offense's approach without Kellen Moore. 

Kevin Patullo will be tasked with finding a way to get the passing side of the offensive game together and until he does, the Eagles feel like they needed to improve the offense's strength in the process. This is a good move, too, to take pressure off Barkely to be the sole provider in the run game. 

They get a weapon that can affect the game in multiple ways, but it still makes it clear the Eagles know their pass game is a weakness right now. The big thing for them is to find a way to get the pass game going and if that means using Bigsby as a pass catcher out of the backfield then good for them. Right now though, it looks like they’re just buying time and making sure their run game doesn't regress.

Why adding Tank Bigsby doesn’t solve Philadelphia’s biggest offensive problem

Brown got one target in Week 1 and it was in the fourth quarter and he finished with one catch for eight yards; Smith had three catches for 16 yards. It doesn’t make sense that your top two pass catchers finish with four total catches and less than 30 receiving yards. This can’t be a lingering problem for the Eagles this season. 

They may have big plans for Bigsby, but they still need to figure out how to incorporate their biggest passing threats into the game plan more. In fact, only two receivers had more than 30 receiving yards in the game and it was Dallas Goedert with 44 yards on seven receptions and Jahan Dotson, who had a 51 yard reception in the game. 

It’s a long season, but Philadelphia shouldn’t be worried about adding more offensive weapons when Hurts can’t utilize the ones he already has. Adding Bigsby just masks Philadelphia’s real offensive problem, and hopefully it gets solved sooner rather than later.