More than ever before, in the NFL you need an elite franchise QB to win Super Bowls. QBs have always been the most important aspect of a team, but you used to be able to get away with having just "system QBs" who don't turn the ball over if you had a generational defense. With NFL rule changes gearing more toward offense, and offensive innovators constantly one step ahead of defenses, generational defenses don't exist in the NFL anymore. The last we've seen were the 'Legion of Boom' Seahawks defenses, and haven't seen anything remotely close to those defenses since. To win in today's NFL, you need to outscore your opponent, and it's why in the last 3 Super Bowls, of the 6 QBs representing, 4 of them were named Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady, and the winners of those Super Bowls were not Jimmy Garoppolo or Jared Goff - the two non Brady and Mahomes representatives.
If you want to be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender, you need to construct a team that can score with Mahomes, Brady, Wilson, Rodgers, and now the emerging Josh Allen... although we'll find out this season if he was a one year wonder. And luckily for the Eagles, there is an elite top 6 franchise QB available in his mid 20's, which is virtually unprecedented. Ask yourself when the last time a QB of his caliber was traded at that age. I've gone back decades and haven't found one. The closest were Jay Cutler when traded from Denver to Chicago, who wasn't close to top 6. And Brett Favre traded from Atlanta to Green Bay, who also was not top 6 at the time he was traded. It simply doesn't happen. Superstar QBs in their mid 20's are invaluable. They don't get traded. And here, one is available, and the Eagles happen to have the most 2022 draft capital in the entire NFL to make a trade happen.
This is an opportunity that cannot be passed on. Legal issues obviously being taken into account here. Even if next year's QB draft class ends up looking promising, there is simply no guarantee. We've already had multiple recent draft classes where a team's first round QB is no longer with the team that drafted them. Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Sam Darnold, Mitch Trubisky, Josh Rosen. The draft is a gamble. Always was, always will be. You know who isn't a gamble? DeShaun Watson. The guy threw for 5,000 yards this past season in a year where his team got rid of his top go-to receiver. He's tough, he's athletic, and he's won at every level. The Eagles have a literal one in a lifetime opportunity to land a proven elite QB, who under normal circumstances would never be available. This is a ticket to fast track their rebuild overnight to being a team that could win the NFC East and be set up for a decade to contend. As long as they are able to put the pieces around him.
This is the no-brainers of all no-brainers. If people can't find it in themselves to root for a guy who has several sexual accusations against him, I totally get it. But here, I'm talking from a purely football perspective. This is a move the Eagles have to make, and from day one, would be one of the greatest trades in Eagles history. Get DeShaun Watson.
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