Dan Orlovsky: Eagles Draft Trades Should Put Them in Contention For Russell Wilson

The Philadelphia Eagles were the third wheel of Friday's substantial NFL draft transactions. The organization started the day at No. 6 before trading down to No. 12 by way of the Miami Dolphins, who went from No. 3 to No. 12 in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. The Eagles picked up a 2022 first-round pick and a 2021 fourth-rounder to move down six spots.

There will be many ripple effects from the trade, but the easiest to see right now is that the Eagles are officially out on any 2021 quarterback prospects and, by proxy, are in on Jalen Hurts. This season, at least. Between this transaction and the Carson Wentz send-off, Philly is loaded up with various draft picks, including at least two and maybe three firsts in 2022 depending on if the Colts pick conveys as a second or a first-rounder. The Eagles have 11 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft. For a team that just had to jettison their franchise quarterback and ate $30 million in dead cap to do so, they're remarkably well-positioned to make a quick turnaround if a few picks over the next two years hit.

Dan Orlovsky, speaking on Get Up this morning, believes the Eagles' draft stockpiling could put them in pole position to take the mother of all shortcuts in team rebuilding. He argued that Friday's trade placed the franchise firmly in any potential Russell Wilson trade discussions that might take place over the next year and change.

There has been no movement on the Wilson trade front since the Bears were reportedly rebuffed by Seattle with an offer of three first-round picks over the next three years and two starting-caliber players. It was always unlikely Wilson would get traded this offseason given the extremely large cap hit the Seahawks would have to deal with and the fact that it is nigh impossible to put a price on an MVP-caliber quarterback with at least five more great seasons left in the tank.

But Orlovsky believes the Eagles' hoard of picks could get a deal done. I do not agree. If all Seattle cared about was the quantity of picks rather than the quality, they probably could have squeezed three or four more high draft picks out of Chicago and called it a day. Philadelphia does have three, maybe four, first-round picks in the next two years, which is inherently more attractive of an offer than three consecutive firsts from the Bears. But the No. 12 pick they have this year is probably going to be the best of the bunch, which isn't good enough for Wilson.

If the Eagles were to pull off this trade by draft night, they would automatically become a good team at worst because Wilson is that good. That means Philly's own pick would be in the 20s in 2022. The Dolphins are still in the rebuilding stage but were nearly a playoff team in 2020 and their 2022 pick, which the Eagles now own, will likely land somewhere in the late teens to mid-20s. The Colts pick will convey as a first-rounder to the Eagles only if Wentz plays 70 percent of his snaps, and it is reasonable to assume the Colts will be at least a .500 team if not better should that come to fruition.

Basically, the Eagles would have the No. 12 pick this year and three middling firsts to offer next year, along with a cadre of decent second-and third-round picks this year. Seems like a pretty good deal for Seattle in terms of the amount of draft picks, sure. But the Seahawks know the value of their quarterback. They will only trade Wilson for a shot at a superstar to replace him. If they weren't dead-set on that, Wilson probably would be in Chicago already.

The conversation could change next year if Wilson and the Seahawks completely fall apart. But by then, Philly's best asset (their 2021 first-round pick) would be gone. The Eagles have done a good job making the best out of the Wentz debacle, but a lot would need to break right for the organization to have any hope of landing Russell Wilson.