Philadelphia Eagles: Should they make a run at Earl Thomas?

The Philadelphia Eagles are without injured starting safety Rodney McLeod for the rest of the season. Should they go all-in and make a play for Earl Thomas?

The Philadelphia Eagles are only in Week 4 of the regular season and they’ve already been hit big by the injury bug. They’ve played without the likes of Jay Ajayi, Darren Sproles, Alshon Jeffery and Carson Wentz, just to name a few. The injuries seemed focused on the offensive side until last week when the Eagles lost starting safety Rodney McLeod.

McLeod tore his MCL against the Colts and has undergone surgery, which will end his season. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they don’t have a lot of depth at the position. Heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Titans, it appears that they’ll be starting veteran Corey Graham in McLeod’s place.

Graham is 33 years old and has been on four teams in his 12 seasons in the NFL. He was a starter for two seasons in Buffalo before coming to Philadelphia, but hasn’t been on the field a whole lot recently. The Eagles are going to have to hope that Graham can fill in for McLeod in a big way.

There is one player in the NFL who everyone knows would be able to fill the shoes of McLeod and do much more. That would be Seahawks All-Pro Earl Thomas. Thomas has a history with Philadelphia — well, sort of.

MUST READ: NFL picks, score predictions for Week 4

In the 2010 NFL Draft the Eagles were selecting 24th overall in the first round. They were in need of a difference-maker in their secondary since the departure of Hall-of-Famer Brian Dawkins to Denver. Thomas was a fast-playing, hard-hitting safety out of Texas. He seemed like just the player to pick up where Dawkins left off.

During the first round of the draft, the Eagles made a big trade. They dealt their first-round pick and two third-round picks to move up 11 spots to the 13th overall pick. All the reports indicated that the Eagles made the trade to select Thomas. Except, when Roger Goodell arrived on stage, he announced that the Eagles would be selecting Brandon Graham out of Michigan.

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

Thomas was selected right after Graham in the 14th spot by Seattle. While it took Graham almost six seasons to figure out his role in the NFL, Thomas was ready to play from Day 1. He has started all 124 games of his career that he has appeared in. He was a Pro Bowler in his second season and an All-Pro by his third.

Through Thomas’ first eight seasons in the NFL, he’s been named an All-Pro three times and has six Pro Bowl selections. Also on his résumé is a Super Bowl victory in 2013 and another appearance in 2014. It’s safe to say that Thomas has been one of the best safeties in the league ever since his rookie season.

The question now is: What will the Eagles have to give up in order to get him on the roster? The 29-year old safety is in the final season of his contract in Seattle. He held out of training camp as he was attempting to negotiate a long term deal to stay with the Seahawks, a deal that never happened.

In the meantime it was rumored that the Cowboys offered Seattle a second-round pick in exchange for Thomas. An offer that the Seahawks ultimately turned down.

Would it be worth it for the Eagles to possibly give up a first-round pick for Thomas? Or maybe a second-or-third-round pick? That’s tough to say for a player who is in the last year of his contract with no guarantee to sign for the long term.

The idea of Thomas and Malcolm Jenkins playing in the same secondary is a scary thing for opposing offenses to think about. But, at the end of the day will the Eagles end up mortgaging a part of their future to win now? Will they make up for their 2010 mishap by getting Thomas eight years later?

The time is now for the Eagles. Unless you’re the New England Patriots your window of opportunity to win is very small in the NFL. Howie Roseman made a mid-season trade last year to obtain Jay Ajayi that helped bolster the offense. This season it’s time for Roseman to do the same thing and make a play for Earl Thomas and hope that the Eagles find the same result as last year!