Other teams acquiring Jason Kelce? Dream on, he bleeds green 4 life

Posted on July 12, 2022

Everyone in Philly loves Jason Kelce, the Eagles’ All-Pro center.

We’re not the only ones.

Check these blog items about Kelce, the object of much thirst around the NFL.

From Revenge of the Birds, a blog that covers the Arizona Cardinals:

  • “Per Cardinals draft rumors which have been confirmed by ROTB Editor Seth Cox, the Arizona Cardinals were hoping to draft Nebraska center Cam Jurgens with their 2nd round pick (#55). Apparently, the Cardinals have known for a few months that center Rodney Hudson has been mulling his retirement from the NFL.
  • “Problem was the Philadelphia Eagles swooped in at pick #51 to select Jurgens as the heir apparent to perennial All-Pro Jason Kelce.”

(If you’re looking for a case study on how *not* to conduct an NFL Draft, reread those last two paragraphs.)

AQUIRE JASON KELCE – CARDINALS PLAN B

Losing Jurgens isn’t going to stop our friends in Arizona. ROTB has an idea:

  • “Now that the Eagles have Jurgens, which they couldn’t have been certain of before the draft, would they be interested in trading Kelce?”

The blog talks about Kelce’s connection with Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz and wonders if Ertz could convince Kelce to play 2 or 3 years more in Arizona. And how Eagles general manager Howie Roseman likes to accumulate draft picks, so why not do the deal.

From ROTB: 

  • “The thing is, though, despite his age and longevity, Kelce is showing little signs of decline in his play. Not only was he named to the All-Pro team in 2021, but his 84.4 PFF grade was also 3rd best in the NFL behind Creed Humphrey (91.4) and Corey Linsley (85.7).
  • “Furthermore, Kelce’s 89.4 run-blocking grade in 2021 was second only to Humphrey (92.5).”

The blog suggests the Cardinals would give up one of their third-round picks for Kelce … “if, perhaps, the Eagles would also be willing to add cornerback Tay Gowan to the package.”

First, this sounds like sports-talk radio — “Yeah, let’s trade our fourth-line left wing and we’ll throw in a third-round pick for Connor McDavid. The Oilers will go for it. I’ll hang up and listen.”

Second, no one knows if Jurgens can play. The Eagles fancy themselves as a serious playoff team, so why would they willfully trade the leader of their strongest unit … and a true team leader?

Why put one of the most important positions into the inexperienced hands of a rookie?

If Kelce continues to play at close to an all-star level, and wants to continue to play, the Eagles happily will accommodate him here in Philly. You’d like to think they learned their lesson when they didn’t re-sign franchise icon Brian Dawkins in 2009.

ANOTHER BLOG WANTS COWBOYS TO ‘STEAL’ KELCE

From the FanSided blog, a story with this headline: Cowboys: 1 player from each division rival fans would love to steal.

Hypotheticals can be a fun exercise. From the Eagles, FanSided decided Kelce would be the best player to pilfer. Not Jordan Mailata, or Darius Slay, or Lane Johnson, or Nakobe Dean or Landon Dickerson.

Nope, Kelce, the center who will turn 35 in November.

From FanSided:

  • “With Tyler Smith (Tulsa) drafted to take over duties at left guard in 2022, the center position is still up in the air. Right there within the NFC East lies the best in the league over the last half-decade: Jason Kelce.
  • “He has been selected as the first-team All-Pro center in four of the past five years and has been voted into the Pro Bowl in each season as well.
  • “While he is reaching the end of his career — playing in his age-35 season in 2022 — stealing him away from the Eagles for the upcoming season would lock the Cowboys into a certain top-five offensive line group.
  • “Additionally, removing Kelce from the Philadelphia offensive line would force a rookie, Cam Jurgens, to step up immediately and fill the shoes of a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Fame player. That is just the kind of pressure that would tilt things even further in the Cowboys’ favor.

Well, duh. You know, if the Eagles had “stolen” Tom Brady 15 years ago, well, they might have won more than one Super Bowl.

From the Commanders, FanSided suggests the Cowboys “steal” defensive end Chase Young. Good choice.

From the Giants, the Cowboys would swipe Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal, who was just drafted and hasn’t yet played a single snap of NFL football.

FanSided’s conclusion:

  • “In this instance, with the ability to steal one player from each of their rivals, the Cowboys offensive line would consist of Tyron Smith (LT), Tyler Smith (LG), Jason Kelce (C), Zack Martin (RG), and Evan Neal (RT).
  • “Adding Chase Young from Washington, and stacking him in a box with the likes of Micah Parsons, the Cowboys would 100 percent become the runaway favorites for the NFC East in 2022.”

Meanwhile, back on Earth … 

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Chuck Bausman

Chuck Bausman is an Eagles writer for Iggles.com. Chuck formerly was the Executive Sports Editor of the Philadelphia Daily News and the Executive Sports Editor of the Courier-Post in South Jersey. He learned how to cuss by watching Philly sports.

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