The passionate fans of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles can’t be blamed for dreaming about a T.J Watt trade.
Not after they’ve been so spoiled in part by the front office magic acts so often performed by GM Howie Roseman.
And homer-prone Philly media guys can have fun playing with the idea as well.
But now comes along ESPN’s Adam Schefter with a cold, wet blanket of realism.
The insider was asked about the idea on Philadelphia radio.
“I think the Eagles are planning and budgeting to pay their own players,” Schefter said on 97.5 The Fanatic.“They’re going to have any number of young stars from Jalen Carter to the two cornerbacks [Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell] that they drafted last year they have to go pay in the future. They already paid Zack Baun, they paid Saquon Barkley. At some point they’re going to have to address the offensive side.
“There’s so many contractual situations that you have and it makes it hard to go trade for a TJ Watt and pay him upwards of $30 million dollars a year. It just doesn’t work.”
We might add that it can work … but not without some machinations that in the end wouldn’t be worth the effort.
Indeed, Schefter corrected himself later in the visit.
“Would you love to have him? Of course,” he said. “Every team would. But can you make it work feasibly, financially, structurally? That would be incredibly challenging for the Eagles to do.”
The Eagles have reason to believe pass rushers Jalyx Hunt, Moro Ojomo and Nolan Smith can get the job done.
And the Steelers? They are insisting they won’t trade Watt, 30, who is entering the final year of the four-year, $112 million deal he signed in 2021.
Watt is rumored to want a deal not just at 30 million per year but maybe even at 40 million per year.
That is not a Philadelphia problem. But it does appear to be a Pittsburgh problem.