See, things are looking up for next year already!
Here’s the deal— the Eagles sent Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings for a first-round draft pick in 2017 (as well as a conditional fourth-rounder in 2018). The consensus opinion at the time was that Minnesota was a playoff-caliber team so the ’17 pick would probably be in the back end of the first round.
But lo and behold— the Vikings have struggled mightily since a 5-0 start. That first-round draft pick we got from them has steadily gained in value as the Vikings have plummeted to a 7-8 record with one game left to play against Chicago and the Mighty Matty Barkley. If the Bears drop the Vikings to 7-9, and if a couple of other sinking teams (the Carolina Panthers (6-9), Arizona Cardinals (6-8-1), Buffalo Bills (7-8) and Indianapolis Colts (7-8) can manage to pull off Wins in their final games, the value of the Vikings first-round pick could be in or close to the Top 10 selections of the 2017 Draft.
And for the first time I can remember in my lifetime of pulling for the Eagles, this will be that unique situation in Game 16 when winning to finish at 7-9 would actually produce a higher-value first-round draft pick by pushing the Vikings’ pre-trade draft position even further toward Top 10 territory.
Tim McManus of ESPN.com breaks down the math of it all for you here.
There are a lot of variables in play, but it looks like the pick could end up as low as nine and as high as 18.
McManus: “Bradford (71 percent completion rate, 17 TD, 4 INT) isn’t the problem in Minnesota, but his play hasn’t been enough to offset the issues along the [Vikings] offensive line and in the ground game. It’s debatable how Bradford would have changed the Eagles’ fates this year but, it’s safe to say it would not have made them Super Bowl contenders. And removing him from the equation allowed Wentz a year of on-the-job training, which has value in its own right.”
“Part of the thinking was that by acquiring a first-round pick, the Eagles could hasten the process of building around Wentz. Now, they could be in position to land a blue-chipper.”
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By now you’ve probably heard Eagles running back Ryan Mathews suffered a herniated disk in his neck against the New York Giants on Thursday, an injury that coach Doug Pederson labeled “a pretty major deal.” Pederson said Mathews will not play in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys.
“These last couple weeks, he has kind of been our workhorse at the running back position and did some really good things for us,” Pederson said. “This obviously is unfortunate now that he can’t finish the season for us.”
Mathews is entering the final season of a three-year contract and is scheduled to make a base salary of $4 million in 2017. Pederson would not discuss whether Mathews will be back with the team, keeping the rest of the 2016 season and Mathews’ health as the top priorities.
“I’m not going to speculate on that kind of stuff right now,” Pederson said. “We’ll save all those for the offseason and wait until that time to make any decision.”
That’s a tough injury because its effects tend to linger even after the problem is surgically corrected. I have had this injury myself, and still 20 years after playing anything close to competitive sports I experience a numbness and tingling in my left hand, with some residual nerve damage affecting my ability to close a strong grip.
Ed Reed (former Ravens safety) had it and it ended his career maybe two years short. He called it the “Mother of All Stingers”.
Ryan Mathews was having a quietly good year. I hate to see him written off with an injury settlement going into next season. But the nature of the injury may dictate that would be a healthy alternative for the player himself. He certainly doesn’t want to risk further nerve damage after surgery. Been there, done that…
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