Howie Roseman discusses report that Eagles offered Malcolm Jenkins in trade

The Eagles did not want to trade Malcolm Jenkins, Howie Roseman said during a radio interview on 94.1-WIP Wednesday. But given a chance to address a Pro Football Talk report that the Eagles offered Jenkins and two draft picks to the New Orleans Saints for Brandin Cooks, Roseman did not firmly deny the report. He implied that Jenkins came up in trade discussions and indicated that the Saints wanted Jenkins, although it was unclear whether the Eagles considered a deal with the veteran safety.

"People should be interested in Malcolm Jenkins. He's a heck of a player," Roseman said. "By the same token, we don't want to give him up. And just because teams want guys or ask for guys doesn't necessarily mean we're going to give him up. For us, we felt like the best combination for our football team was to go and address the receiver position the way we did in free agency and keep our defensive backfield. Which, as we look at it, we're going to continue to address that position. We're very happy with how it worked out. At the same time, we understand there are good players on our team that other teams would like to have."

The Saints wanted Jenkins and a second-round pick for Cooks, according to the PFT report, which stated that the Eagles offered Jenkins and third- and fourth-round picks. The Saints traded Cooks to the New England Patriots in a package that included the Patriots' first-round pick. The Eagles addressed wide receiver in free agency by adding Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.

"From our perspective, it didn't make a lot of sense to do something there that would hurt the team if we could address it in a different way," Roseman said. "At the end of the day, we felt like the best way for us to move forward was to address the position in free agency."

So there's not much clarity, other than the fact that Jenkins is still an Eagle. Roseman said when reports like that one come out, he would talk to the player – especially if it's of Jenkins' profile. But he suggested that a trade was never close.

"It wasn't anything we felt like we were close to getting completed," Roseman said, "and that's why we went the direction we did."