Report: Eagles made trade offer for Russell Wilson but he wouldn’t waive no-trade clause for Philly

Howie Roseman tried to get the one that got away.

The Philadelphia Eagles failing to acquire Russell Wilson, only to see him traded to the Denver Broncos instead, was reportedly not for a total lack of effort.

Jake Heaps of Seattle Sports 710 appeared on KOA’s “Broncos Country Tonight” on Tuesday evening and revealed that the Eagles did, in fact, attempt to acquire Wilson.

“The reason why this [deal] happened so quickly and progressed quickly is because, one, Denver was working on this behind the scenes for a while now.

The other reason is because the Seahawks were limited, guys. There’s not real leverage if there’s only a certain amount of teams that Russell Wilson’s actually interested in or be willing to waive his no-trade clause for.

He turned down the Washington [Commanders] offer. He turned down an offer from Philly during the Combine.

And the Denver situation was the clear-cut, number one choice for him going into all these other teams.”

Very interesting.

There are certainly some things to unpack here.

• One can’t blame the Eagles for not topping the Broncos’ offer if he didn’t want to come to Philly anyway.
• One CAN blame Howie Roseman for building a situation that an elite quarterback like Wilson found undesirable.
• It’s a little funny to me how everyone likes to talk about how the Eagles are “too far away” to acquire a veteran quarterback such as Russ yet it seems like the consensus views Denver as a more understandable destination. You know, despite the fact the Eagles have a better record than the Broncos over the past two years. And that the Eagles actually even beat the Broncos comfortably in Denver last year. But I digress. The reality is that Russ found their situation more attractive … despite the fact that Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Derek Carr are also in his new division.
• That the Eagles made an offer for Wilson shouldn’t come as a surprise. We all know they liked him coming out of the draft. We all know how the self-proclaimed “QB Factory” highly values the position.
• That being said, the Eagles’ interest in Wilson obviously does raise questions about the their commitment to Jalen Hurts. Especially as Deshaun Watson rumors continue to swirl.
• One can only wonder how serious the Eagles’ offer was. Were they willing to top Denver?
• Even if Wilson DID want to go to Philly, it’s quite possible the Seahawks weren’t comfortable trading him within the NFC. Seattle probably still would’ve taken the Eagles’ offer if it blew the competition out of the water. But if it was close? The Seahawks are likely sending him to the AFC anyway.