Eagles GM Makes Shocking Admission About Jalen Carter Trade

It's well-known at this point. One of the bigger surprises of the 1st round in the 2023 NFL draft was when the Chicago Bears passed on drafting Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, flipping the 9th overall pick to Philadelphia for the 10th pick and a 4th rounder in 2024. Rumors had persisted for weeks that GM Ryan Poles was ready to take Carter if he was available. That proved to be an elaborate ruse. He always intended to select Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright whom the Bears had grown fond of during the pre-draft process.

It was obvious the Eagles were infatuated with Carter. He was a physical freak of nature that fit a vital need for their defense after they lost star interior pass rusher Javon Hargrave to free agency. Combine that with the advanced age of Fletcher Cox, and it's easy to see why they were confident they could manage his character red flags. The crux is the issue is the trade. If the Bears never intended to draft Carter, why did the Eagles trade up one spot for him? GM Howie Roseman made a surprising admission to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

Apparently, they handed the Bears a draft pick with full knowledge they were bidding against themselves.

“I think you’re left your own devices in those situations, and you’re putting yourself out there when, I mean there are situations where you’re trading for nothing, right?” Roseman said. “I’m not saying it was in this situation necessarily, but you’re doing it and you have to be comfortable with the outcome either way. And so, you have to be comfortable with the outcome of, ‘Hey, I traded a fourth-round pick’ and understanding that could be a good player for your team a year from now, but at the same situation being OK with not getting the player and who is next. And so, you know, that’s not to say we wouldn’t have been OK staying at 10 and taking another player, we just felt for us and our team and where we were that Jalen Carter was the right selection for us.”

The Eagles better hope Jalen Carter works out.

If he doesn't, then they will have thrown away a valuable draft selection for nothing. Chicago can make things even worse if they somehow turn that pick into a good player. Poles deserves credit for how the situation was handled. When Philadelphia called about the trade, he likely knew what it was for. He understood the Eagles wanted Carter. That made his decision easy. Take the pick, move down one spot, and still get the guy he would've taken at 9th overall anyway. Now the Bears have six selections in the first four rounds of the 2024 draft.

Jalen Carter controls this narrative more than anybody else. If he gets his head on straight and becomes the player everybody expects, then the Eagles will be in the clear. They will have their next defensive line cornerstone to replace Cox. If he fails to maximize his obvious potential, that pick will go down as one of the bigger busts Roseman has ever drafted. It wasn't a gamble Poles was ready to take.