The Philadelphia Eagles are operating like a team that needs a new tight end.
That's right, despite already having a premier talent on their roster in Dallas Goedert, who is a certified Super Bowl Champion and an effective performer in both the run and pass game, the Eagles seemingly consider him expendable, with the team reportedly open to trading the South Dakota State product alongside 2024 free agency flop Bryce Huff, according to Jordan Schultz.
Now granted, Goedert is still an Eagle until he isn't, but after signing former Colts tight end Kylen Granson to a new deal one day after adding Harrison Bryant from the Las Vegas Raiders, one has to wonder how much longer that will remain the case.
Originally drafted in the fourth round out of SMU, where he played tight end for the Pony Express one year before future teammate Grant Calcaterra came to town, Granson has been a solid enough pro as a part-time starter in Indianapolis, appearing in 62 games with 17 starts while catching 86 balls on 136 targets for 958 yards and a touchdown. He isn't much of a run blocker, or at least wasn't on the field run blocking enough to earn a grade from PFF, but at least comes from Shane Steichen's scheme, who is a member of the Nick Sirianni coaching tree and runs an offense that isn't too dissimilar.
Could the combination of Grandon and Bryant, plus Calcaterra, help to pick up the slack if Goedert was traded? Well, that depends: on one hand, Calcaterra did a decent enough job replacing Goedert last season, with the SMU product starting 13 games in place of the stalwart tight end. While he wasn't called on particularly often in 2024, catching just 24 of the 30 balls thrown his way for 298 yards and a touchdown, Calcaterra did some good things in both the run and the passing game and showed he could be a decent enough player moving forward.
And yet, despite only appearing in ten games, Goedert still finished out the season with almost 200 more yards than Calcaterra despite only appearing in ten games. Goedert remained one of the best lunchpail players in the NFL despite receiving less than glowing acclaim from the Pro Bowl and All-Pro voters and will certainly remain so this fall, too.
No, while the Eagles do have some interesting options at tight end now, with Bryant arguably the most exciting of the trio, if they do decide to say goodbye to Goedert, drafting a new tight end has to be priority number one moving forward, as having a quality starter at the position on a rookie deal for the next four years could do wonders for the team's cap situation heading into the future.
