For fans hoping that the Eagles can manufacture a trade for Browns running back Duke Johnson, you might have to wait a while for it to possibly become a reality.
Yesterday ESPN football insider Adam Schefter was on 97.5 The Fanatic, and he gave some good news and bad news on the Duke Johnson front. The good news was that Schefter confirmed the Eagles did call the Cleveland Browns about acquiring Duke Johnson. The bad news is that he reported that both teams are still in the discussion phase, so he doesn't expect a deal to be happening any time soon. Here's what Schefter had to say:
"Nothing is really close right now...they also had discussions with the Bears with (Jordan Howard) for quite some time before they got the deal done. I don't know what the Eagles have offered the Browns for Duke Johnson, but maybe at some point and time either the Browns come to the realization that 'hey this is a pretty good offer from the Eagles' or the Eagles say 'we offered a mid-round pick and we'll go up a round or we'll go from this player to that player.'"
This makes sense that the trade might not happen for a while. Jordan Howard was tied to the Eagles all the way back at the trade deadline in October, and the trade eventually just came to fruition a week ago. The most realistic situation for a trade to come would be during the NFL Draft at the end of the month. The Eagles might have their eyes on a few running backs in the draft. If some, or all of them, get snatched before the Eagles wanted to select them, they might turn back around and focus more on obtaining Duke Johnson. Schefter also mentioned the possibility of the Eagles trading down in the draft to acquire another draft pick, and using the additional draft pick as the main trade piece for Johnson.
If nothing happens before then, expect a lot of rumors to be floated around throughout the draft.
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