Should The Eagles Make A Move For RG3?

On Friday, it was reported that Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Robert Griffin III interviewed with the Eagles.  Now before you go getting all excited, many reporters and experts are describing the interview as "due diligence."  Couple that with the fact that the Eagles just inked Michael Vick to a big extension, and the RG3 excitement will surely die down.

And yet there is something very intriguing in the fact that the Eagles so far are the only team to meet with the Heisman Trophy winner.  Today on sports radio 94 WIP and 97.5 The Fanatic, experts went back and forth arguing the possibility of RG3 in an Eagles uniform.

Think about the whole situation before you draw any conclusions.  The Rams have the number 2 overall pick and seeing as they won't be interested in RG3 as they already have a young quarterback in Sam Bradford, they could be interested in a trade.  If the Eagles were willing to trade Desean Jackson, a first round pick, and maybe another young player, they could easily find themselves in a position to draft RG3 as their quarterback of the future.

It's certainly plausible that the Eagles have the talent and resources to make a trade, but now the question is should they make the trade?  Should they trade away young proven talent and a draft pick for a guy who has yet to even play a game in the NFL?  My answer is no based on the situation with Andy Reid, the fact that the Eagles already have Mike Vick as quarterback, and I truly believe that this team is just a few moves away from being a legitimate contender.

Let's start first with Big Red.  In case you didn't catch Jeff Lurie's press conference earlier this year, basically Lurie made it pretty clear that the 2011 season was completely unacceptable.  In other words, Andy Reid is on the hot seat this year, and in all likelihood this will be his final year in Philadelphia providing he doesn't win a Super Bowl.  If you trade away a decent portion of your young nucleus to get a franchise quarterback, after this year you may not be able to draw in potential coaches who would be forced to use RG3.  Maybe potential coaches won't like his style of play or whatever, but you would certainly be limiting your pool of potential coaches by locking them in with a quarterback they maybe don't want.

Remember a guy by the name of Mike Vick?  People quickly forget just how utterly amazing Vick was in 2010.  He may have had a rough year last season, but I truly believe that we have yet to see the best of number 7.  If the lockout hurt anyone last year, it probably hurt Vick the most.  After his first full year back in the NFL, the rug was quickly pulled out from under him with the lockout.  Many people have written Vick off after last year but I think Vick is going to come back with a fire in 2012.  Drafting RG3 could be detrimental to Vick's confidence as the Eagles would basically be saying to Vick that 2012 would be his last chance.

Lastly if the Eagles were to trade away Desean Jackson, a couple young players, and a first round draft pick for RG3, the Eagles would be setting themselves back at least two, maybe even three years.  I think that this current Eagles team is a few moves away from being a legitimate contender. But trading away vital pieces could hurt them next year and in the years to come.  Also this core of Lesean McCoy, Brent Celek, and Jeremy Maclin are young now, but in three years they could be completely different players.  The Eagles would have to take a large step back to acquire RG3, and by the time he is fully ready, the Eagles offense may not be the same potent offense that it is right now.

Based on last year, I'm not so sure the Eagles made a good choice by inking Vick to a big contract.  But overall I think we have to stick with MV7 rather than make move for RG3.  Of course this is completely hypothetical situation and I want to reiterate the fact that the meeting between RG3 and the Eagles was complete due diligence on the Eagles' part.  Still, it's something to ponder and keep in mind as we move closer to draft day.