24 hours after Lane Johnson announced his abrupt retirement, the Eagles trade Cam Jurgens to the Ravens for a 2nd round pick in 2028 and a 5th round pick in 2027… So what does this mean?

Well on one hand it could be a case of moving on from an expensive player, who’s clearly regressed and doesn’t fit the new blocking scheme. Willie Lampkin, who is much cheaper and three years younger, looked solid in the preseason and is waiting in the wings, and Howie has never shied away from trading away a former star when his backup looks promising (see Carson Wentz trade in 2021).

On the other hand, this could signal the start of a rebuild.

The start of a rebuild

I know that a rebuild isn’t what anyone expected 20 months after raising the Lombardi, but the writing is on the walls. Sirianni, a CEO-style head coach, seems to have lost the locker room. Saquon Barkley can’t stay on the field this year after a noticeable fall-off last season, Landon Dickerson was mulling retirement this offseason and has been out since the week one win over Washington, Dallas Goedert is on his way out after this season ends…

The time to pull the trigger could be now.

The 50 million dollar question

That brings us to our 50 million dollar question… is Hurts going to be the QB of this team on the other side of the potential rebuild? I’d say no. By the time Hurts’ deal expires he will be 30 and he has taken a notable step back in his production over the last 20 months. He’s running less than ever, the “Tush-Push” is all but dead, and he still refuses to put the ball over the middle of the field.

I call it a case of the McNabbs… For our readers old enough to remember a prime McNabb, his downfall started right around the time he started to fear turning the ball over and stopped running.

If your running QB stops running, and won’t throw to 1/3rd of the field, how effective can he be going forward? His value will never be higher than it is right now, and if Howie Roseman is able to get a similar return for him that he got in the Carson Wentz deal, I would say it’s malpractice to not pull the trigger.

That type of ammo

Moving Hurts for a Wentz-ian package would give Howie 13 picks in or around the top 100 over the next two drafts and $150,000,000 in cap space in 2028.

The last time the Eagles had that type of ammo, Howie built the roster that won three division titles, two conference titles and a Lombardi in a five-year span. No two rebuilds are the same… but with Howie at the helm and a lot of resources at his disposal, I have no doubt he’s up for the task.

As always,

Go Birds