Trade Deadline Rumor Fun

On the NFL Network this morning, Jason La Canfora said that the Eagles may be a logical team to acquire Kyle van den Bosch from the Tennessee Titans. Seems like a strange fit for the Eagles in some ways, since he plays the same RDE position on the line as Trent Cole. On the other hand, he's nearly 31 and has been unproductive this year, is a free agent after the year and would cost the Eagles $3 million in salary for the rest of the year so there might not be much going the other way in a trade.

But the real question for me is whether the Eagles are really that desperate for DE help. I keep hearing rumblings that the Eagles are looking for help there:  There were rumors that they were really interested in Aaron Maybin and Robert Ayers in the first round of the draft. They bid on Jeremy Jarmon in the supplemental draft. There were rumors that they were in the running for Derrick Burgess. And let's face it, beyond Cole there isn't anyone who really excites me as an individual player. LDE hasn't been all that productive this year, and hasn't been since Jevon Kearse's knee blew up in 2006. Victor Abiamiri was supposed to be the answer there, but hasn't shown much.

Would van den Bosch in Philly would be much different than Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons and/or Abiamiri? Two years ago, he absolutely would. Today? If he is in fact available, he isn't the same guy. 4.5 sacks last year, 0.0 this year. Add in the complexity of the Eagles defense, it becomes even more difficult. There was a good Bill Belichick quote today on mid-season trades:

“At this point in time, we’ve had over half the practices for the entire year because of the number we have in training camp and in preseason,’’ said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “[To] bring in a player now and teach him your system is tough because even if he learns it on paper or in a playbook and is actually going out there and doing it, [there are] limited opportunities, so you trade for a guy and by the time you get him ready to go, the season is over.’’

We'll see if anything comes of this, but the biggest takeaway if it happens isn't anything about van den Bosch ... it will be the clear signal that the Eagles are really unhappy with their defensive ends not named "Cole."