Report: 'Don't Be Surprised' If Eagles Move Up For Carson Wentz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Could the Eagles be after the best quarterback prospect in the NFL draft?
The Philadelphia Eagles have $36 million in guaranteed money tied to two quarterbacks in Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel. So, while the Eagles certainly admit they want to take a quarterback at some point in this year's draft, selecting one with their first pick -- eighth overall -- seems unlikely.
Not so fast. According to an NFL executive via the NFL.com's Lance Zierlein, the Eagles may be trying to trade up for the projected top 2016 quarterback Carson Wentz.
"Don't be surprised if a team like the Eagles makes a really strong move up the board to get (Carson) Wentz," an NFL executive told Zierlein. "I don't think he's worth it, but I think they do. Everyone thinks you have to move ahead of Cleveland, but (Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta) will want to get as many picks as possible out of this draft. It wouldn't surprise me if a team moved directly to Cleveland's spot for Wentz."
Related: 3 Reasons To Hop On The Carson Wentz Bandwagon
Wentz, is a 6-5, 230 pound quarterback with a 32 3/8″ arm length, from North Dakota State. His mobility, arm strength, and mental intelligence has Wentz drawing upward comparisons to Indianapolis Colts star QB Andrew Luck and even downward comparisons to Jacksonville Jaguars starting QB Blake Bortles.
"[Wentz has] nowhere near as many snaps or quality of competition that Luck had coming out, so his downside is considerably lower," NFL Draft analyst Mike Mayock said via NFL.com. "But the kid is such a hard worker, tough kid, smart, etcetera, it looks to me like most teams are betting on him hitting the high side of that."
Moving up to No. 2 in the draft would likely mean trading Sam Bradford to the Cleveland Browns, a team that was reportedly interested in the Eagles' QB last year.
To make matter more interesting, according to a report, half of Bradford's $11 million guaranteed is not owed to him until September 1st.