Eagles draft trades and Amukamara

The Eagles made four trades during last week's draft (including that strange swap with the Patriots).

Only the Washington Redskins made more.

Prior to the draft, I wrote about the trade chart, a tool that assigns value to every pick.

So how did the chart judge the Eagles' trades this year? Here's a look:

The Birds' first deal came in the third round. They traded the No. 85 overall pick to their old friend John Harbaugh and the Ravens for the No. 90 pick (third round) and the No. 191 pick (sixth round). In other words, they moved down five spots in the fifth round and picked up an extra sixth-rounder.

Baltimore ended up taking Central Florida offensive lineman Jah Reid at 85, and the Eagles selected Utah State cornerback Curtis Marsh at No. 90. In the sixth round, the Eagles took Cincinnati offensive lineman Jason Kelce.

Going by the draft value chart, the Eagles came out a -10. The No. 85 pick was worth 165, while the 90th and 191st picks were worth 140 and 15, respectively.

The Eagles made three trades on Day 3. The first was with the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Birds sent the No. 104 pick (fourth round) to Tampa in exchange for the 116th pick (fourth round) and a 2012 fourth-rounder. Essentially, they moved down 12 spots in the fourth round and picked up an extra fourth-rounder next season.

Tampa Bay selected Tennessee tight end Luke Stocker, while the Birds got Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews.

The draft value is tough to assess here because we don't know how much that 2012 fourth-rounder will be worth. The 104th pick was worth 86, and the 116th pick was worth 62. At the very worst, if that 2012 pick ends up being the final pick in the fourth round, the Eagles will end up +20. If it ends up being the first pick in the fourth round, they will end up +88. The difference will likely end up being somewhere between those two numbers.

The third Eagles trade was with the Jets. The Birds sent picks Nos. 153 (fifth round) and 227 (seventh round) to New York for 161 (fifth round) and 194 (sixth round).

The Jets took TCU wide receiver/return man Jeremy Kerley and Colorado wide receiver Scotty McKnight with the two picks they acquired. The Eagles took Iowa offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde and then pulled the bizarre trade with the Patriots where they exchanged the 193rd and 194th picks.

At 193, the Eagles took Ohio State linebacker Brian Rolle. New England took Central Arkansas linebacker Markell Carter a pick later.

In the trade with the Jets, the Eagles came out a +8.6.

And finally, there was the one trade that many fans wanted the Eagles to make. In the first round, Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara slipped down to No. 19 before the Giants snagged him.

What would it have taken for the Eagles to have moved up to No. 18 and take him?

The No. 18 pick is worth 900, and the Eagles' original pick at 23 was worth 760. Based on the chart, they would have had to make up about 140 points. Coincidentally, the 90th pick in the third round (which they ended up acquiring from Baltimore) was worth exactly 140. So to swap picks with the Chargers at No. 18, it's reasonable to assume the Eagles might have had to give up their third-rounder.

Of course, the chart is just one way to judge the trades. The players' performance is really what we'll look back on years from now. If Amukamara ends up being a perennial Pro Bowler, and right cornerback continues to be a problem for the Eagles in 2011, we'll say they should have made the deal.

If Danny Watkins ends up solidifying the right side of the line and the Eagles make a splash in free agency for a top corner, fans will stand behind what the Eagles did.

In case you missed it, on Saturday I wrote about the possibility of using the franchise tag on Kevin Kolb after the 2011 season and then trading him.

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