The Eagles were close to acquiring Calvin Ridley from the Falcons. While the team has since added ex-Colts wideout Zach Pascal, the position still appears to be on Philadelphia’s radar.
Several teams have expressed interest in Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker, according to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, who notes the Eagles are one of those clubs (Twitter link). The Dolphins’ receiver situation changed Wednesday, when the team traded for Tyreek Hill and gave the All-Pro a record-setting extension.
Hill and Jaylen Waddle now lead Miami’s receiving corps, leaving Parker — a first-round pick in 2015, multiple regimes ago in Miami — with an uncertain role. The Dolphins also gave Cedrick Wilson a three-year, $22.5MM deal. This leaves Parker’s role uncertain.
A Parker trade before June 1 would cost the Dolphins $5MM-plus in dead money while adding $3.3MM in cap room. Parker, 29, is signed through 2023 as part of the extension he inked during his breakthrough 2019 season. The Maryland product is attached to base salaries of $5.7MM in 2022 and ’23, somewhat increasing his appeal as a trade chip.
A trade candidate in the past, Parker stabilized his career with a 1,202-yard, nine-touchdown season for an undermanned Dolphins team in 2019. He has not approached those numbers since and missed seven games due to injury in 2021. A hamstring injury sent Parker to IR last season; he finished the campaign with just 515 yards and two TDs. Waddle took over as Miami’s top target; Hill now joins him for what could be one of the more explosive receiver tandems in recent memory.
Philly has used first-round picks on receivers in each of the past two years, and with three first-rounders in this draft, the team could reasonably extend that streak to three. Ridley’s impending gambling suspension scuttled the Eagles’ trade talks with the Falcons. Pascal joins DeVonta Smith and Jalen Reagor with the Eagles. A Parker addition would make it less likely Philly devotes one of its first-rounders to the receiver position.