Huff arrest the latest lowlight for Eagles' receiving corps

RAISE YOUR HAND out there if you ever dreamed the Eagles' wide receiving situation could actually get worse on NFL trade deadline day.

It wasn't a big surprise that the 4 p.m. EDT deadline passed without the Birds making a deal. In the entire NFL, only one trade was consummated, Tampa Bay sending cornerback Johnthan Banks to Detroit for a conditional 2018 seventh-round pick. This tends to be the case most years, in a sport in which draft picks are considered precious building blocks and it's hard to assimilate players into offensive and defensive systems at midseason.

ESPN's Ed Werder reported that the 49ers wanted a third-round pick for wide receiver Torrey Smith, and that the Eagles might be interested if they could give a fifth-rounder. Obviously, no common ground was reached.

Meanwhile, Eagles wide receiver Josh Huff's deadline-day celebration was interrupted by a Delaware River Port Authority officer, who pulled Huff over, allegedly for going more than 25 mph over the speed limit on the New Jersey side of the Walt Whitman Bridge at around 11 a.m. That problem escalated when the officer smelled marijuana, and ended up with Huff facing charges for DUI, a small amount of weed, a handgun he was said to be carrying without a New Jersey permit, and for allegedly having illegal hollow-point bullets. He also was cited for having dark-tinted windows.

In the short term - say, Sunday's game at the Giants - this doesn't mean much, but, in the long run, in addition to facing possible jail time, Huff will be investigated under the NFL's personal conduct policy. Unless this all turns out to be a hilarious misunderstanding and charges are dropped, Huff likely will find himself suspended for at least a few games, later this season or to start next season.

That adds even more long-term uncertainty to the team's shaky situation at wide receiver, where Jordan Matthews (38th) is the only Eagle in the top 40 in receiving yards. It's hard to imagine wideout won't be an Eagles focus in both free agency and the 2017 draft.

Huff has only 13 catches for 72 yards this season, but he is coming off a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the Vikings and a 53-yard kickoff return Sunday night against the Cowboys. He took the field for 19 offensive snaps at Dallas, with one catch for 9 yards.

Another long-term concern here is public perception of the team, which has seen linebacker Nigel Bradham arrested twice in the last four months, most recently on Oct. 2 for trying to board a plane without removing his registered handgun from a backpack, and wide receiver Nelson Agholor investigated but not charged after an incident with a dancer at a Philadelphia strip club.

When Eagles coach Doug Pederson addresses reporters Wednesday, he isn't expected to announce that Huff is off the team or anything, but Pederson will again face questions about his tolerance for off-the-field incidents as a perceived "players' coach."

Pederson's predecessor, Chip Kelly, showed little tolerance for off-the-field problems. But it's also true that Kelly coached Huff at Oregon and was responsible for him becoming an Eagle, in the third round of the 2014 draft. Pederson, hired in January, inherited Huff from Kelly's regime.

@LesBowen

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