Mock Trade: Eagles send OL help to Bengals in exchange for veteran WR

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals are headed to the AFC Championship game, albeit slightly worse for wear.

En route to defeating the No. 1 seed Tennessee Titans, Burrow was hit 13 times and sacked nine times — making him and Donovan McNabb the only quarterbacks in NFL history to be sacked 8+ times and win a playoff game.

Prior to last year’s draft, it was widely believed that the Bengals would select a top offensive lineman after watching Burrow get sacked 32 times in ten games.

They opted to reunite Burrow with Ja’Marr Chase instead and the LSU duo picked up right where they left off in college:

Burrow when targeting Chase this season:

• 128 targets
• 81 completions
• 1455 yards
• 13 TDs
• 116.5 passer rating

In drafting Chase, however, Burrow was left vulnerable behind his OL, leading the league with 51 sacks taken. Not ideal for your franchise quarterback one year removed from a torn ACL.

While Cincinnati is likely to address the position in the upcoming draft, the Eagles have made one of their young linemen available before:

Asking around on Andre Dillard, following @Jeff_McLane‘s report that the #Eagles have received calls on the former first-round pick, and I’m told “quite a few teams” are in the mix and have already expressed interest in the 25-year-old offensive tackle.

— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL) August 19, 2021

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Dillard was drafted by Philadelphia as the left tackle of the future in 2019. Injuries and subpar production allowed him to be surpassed by Jordan Mailata — but Dillard is still a versatile talent who filled in nicely this year during Lane Johnson’s absence.

Cincinnati has a plethora of receivers in their offense and may look to part with one of them in exchange for OL help. A potential trade with the Eagles could look like this:

Bengals receive: OT Andre Dillard

Eagles receive: WR Tyler Boyd

Boyd has been with the Bengals for the entirety of his six-year career, catching 67 passes for 828 yards and 5 TDs in 2021.

With the arrival of Chase and a Tee Higgins contract extension looming, getting something in return for Boyd now as he enters the third year of his $43M deal may be in Cincinnatti’s best interest.

For the Eagles, a veteran pass-catcher needs to be on their priority list this offseason. While Nick Sirianni has big aspirations for DeVonta Smith and Quez Watkins, they need another dynamic receiver to open things up for them.

Boyd is due $20M over the next two years, so GM Howie Roseman will have to decide if a trade is the right move or if they’re better served signing a receiver in free agency.

In either case, the Eagles need somebody to avert attention from DeVonta Smith.

TYLER BOYD GROWN MAN TOUCHDOWN pic.twitter.com/soJKuTiZ88

— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) September 26, 2021