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Eagles send Matt Tobin to Seattle in pick exchange: Another vet reserve tackle gone

The Eagles' deep pool of experience at offensive tackle is getting much shallower, with Allen Barbre and Matt Tobin both traded.

Eagles guard Matt Tobin is headed to Seattle.
Eagles guard Matt Tobin is headed to Seattle.Read moreMATT ROURKE / AP

The Eagles began training camp with impressive offensive line depth, but Monday they traded away a veteran reserve offensive tackle for the second time in less than a month.

This time it was Matt Tobin, who has played in 42 games, starting 21, since arriving as an undrafted rookie from Iowa in 2013.

Tobin, 27, goes to the OL-needy Seattle Seahawks for a fifth-round pick next spring; the Eagles are also sending the Seahawks a 2018 seventh-rounder.

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As camp was getting underway, the Eagles traded Allen Barbre to Denver for a conditional 2019 seventh-round pick. Barbre and Tobin started a combined 42 games over the past two seasons, both players versatile enough to play tackle or guard.

Neither Barbre nor Tobin projected as a starter this year. For Eagles fans, the most interesting facet of the moves might be what it says about who makes the team along the offensive line, who might not have, were Barbre and Tobin still here. It sure seems offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland wants Chance Warmack, the former Titans first-round pick who starred for Stoutland at Alabama. But Warmack is strictly a guard. Other than Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who will back up Jason Peters and Lane Johnson at tackle?

Dillon Gordon, last year's undrafted rookie and former tight end from LSU, seems to be in the plans, and is working some at fullback as well. Stoutland said last weekend that Taylor Hart, the former fifth-round defensive end, has a long way to go in his transition to right tackle, but Hart looked very good last week against Buffalo, and he has no remaining practice squad eligibility. Maybe the Eagles plan to stash him on the roster and hope he learns quickly?

The only other pure tackle is Victor Salako, an undrafted rookie from Oklahoma State. Of course, eventually, other teams will cut players, including offensive tackles.