Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has had high praise and rave reviews for Quez Watkins and the work that he’s put in this summer during OTAs.
However, could the young player see himself on the outside looking in?
Shamus Clancy of Philly Voice put together a few trades that the Eagles should consider this summer and one of those trades could see Philly unload Quez Watkins and a 2025 seventh-round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round draft pick.
Clancy made the argument that the team signing Olamide Zaccheaus makes Watkins expendable.
“The Eagles brought in Olamide Zaccheaus this offseason and he offers a different skillset as a slot receiver compared to Watkins,” writes Clancy. “Zaccheaus is shifty and a threat in the short game while Watkins is a vertical slot guy. I don’t necessarily believe the Eagles need the latter in their offense because of the versatility of DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown where they can do everything, including being deep threats. I’m intrigued about what Zaccheaus could potentially bring to the passing attack.”
“If the Eagles like what they see from Zaccheaus and they want to get off Watkins’ $2.8 million salary, a familiar trade partner with New England could make sense,” writes Clancy. “If the Patriots strike out on DeAndre Hopkins and want to move towards a lesser wide receiver move, Watkins could be on their radar as quarterback Mac Jones tries to save his career.”
Watkins is entering the final season of a four-year, $3.4 million contract. The team would save the majority of this money by releasing Watkins with the exception of a $42,416 dead cap hit, per Spotrac.
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He is coming off a bad showing in the Super Bowl when he dropped a long pass from Jalen Hurts in the third quarter that would’ve given the Eagles a chance to retake a 10-point lead. Instead, they settled for a 33-yard field goal, making things 27-21. That’s a four-point swing that would come back to haunt them.
In 2021, Watkins caught 43 passes for 647 yards and a touchdown. In 2022, Watkins caught 33 passes for 354 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Zaccheaus is coming off a career year notching 40 receptions for 533 yards and three touchdowns in 17 appearances.
