Philadelphia Eagles Could Win Big In Colin Kaepernick Situation

It’s not very often that a team benefits from a trade that doesn’t directly involve them. But in the case of the Philadelphia Eagles, they stand to benefit in a big way if things with Colin Kaepernick shake out the right way.

Right now, the Cleveland Browns seem to be the most likely place for the current San Francisco 49ers quarterback. Kaepernick will probably have to adjust his contract and the teams would have to agree on the draft compensation, but Kaepernick wants to go there. If the Browns and 49ers can make this happen, the Eagles can take a deep breath and celebrate some.

The reason why the Eagles should be focusing on the Browns’ and 49ers’ activities right now comes down to the draft. At No. 2 and No. 7 respectively, the Browns and 49ers were the clear teams in the market for a quarterback in the draft. Cleveland was considered almost a slam dunk in that regard, while the 49ers were highly likely but not as certain. But if the Eagles wanted one of the top two targets, Carson Wentz or Jared Goff, they’d have to cross their fingers one of them went another direction.

But this trade changes everything, mainly because it’s highly unlikely Kaepernick will be anything less than a starter wherever he goes. Cleveland desperately needs a playmaker at quarterback, and if Kaepernick is agreeing to a pay cut and they’re forking over a reported third-round pick, that’s what you do for a starting quarterback. If the Browns were just looking for a placeholder, they already have Josh McCown. There’s no need to trade the No. 65 overall pick for a placeholder.

And if the 49ers decide to hold on to Kaepernick, it sounds like he’ll be in competition with Blaine Gabbert to start. It doesn’t seem as if Kaepernick has any interest in going to Denver, and Ryan Fitzpatrick will (well, should) be going back to New York. And if there was interest, there’s no guaranteeing that Kaepernick would adjust his contract to their liking anyway, or that those teams would come close to matching Cleveland’s offer. It really sounds like it’s Cleveland or bust at this point.

The Eagles have to be praying that the Browns and 49ers pull this off. A trade takes one of those teams out of the quarterback draft pool and almost ensures that the Eagles will have their pick of Wentz or Goff when they’re on the clock. It might wind up being the best thing that happen to the Eagles this offseason, and they wouldn’t have had anything to do with it.