Weeks before the 2021 NFL season officially begins, rumors have started to swirl around young offensive tackle Andre Dillard and his future with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles selected Dillard as the No. 22 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft with the hope that he could be one of the young players who would lead the team back to title contention.
However, plenty of things have changed since Dillard’s rookie season. With the emergence of Jordan Mailata, most people believe that Dillard becomes expendable in Philadephia.
Andre Dillard Receiving Interests In Trade Market
With Mailata heavily favored to start in the 2021 NFL season, there’s a growing belief around the league that Dillard would soon be on his way out of the City of Brotherly Love. According to Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer, several teams have started inquiring about Dillard’s availability on the trading block.
"But even before Dillard strained his right knee last week, it was clear that [Jordan] Mailata had a firm grasp on the position," McLane wrote, as quoted by SB Nation’s Bleeding Green Nation. "The word had increasingly gotten out around the NFL as teams, directly or not, inquired about Dillard’s availability, per league sources."
Potential Landing Spot For Andre Dillard – Los Angeles Rams
In a recent article, Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report created a list of potential trade packages and landing spots for Dillard. These include a hypothetical deal that would send Dillard to the Los Angeles Rams.
In the proposed trade scenario, the Rams would be acquiring Dillard from the Eagles by sending Taylor Rapp to Philadephia. If the trade would push through before the start of the 2021 NFL season, Gagnon believes that it would help both the Eagles and the Rams in filling up the needs to improve on their roster.
Why Trading For Andre Dillard Make Sense For The Rams
Some people would definitely question this move for the Rams as they currently have Andrew Whitworth, Rob Havenstein, and Joseph Noteboom on their roster. However, according to Kenneth Arthur of SB Nation’s Turf Show Times, trading for Dillard is more of a move for the future for the Rams than for the 2021 NFL season.
Whitworth is already turning 40 in December and on the verge of retirement. Noteboom would become a free agent in 2022, while Havenstein would only have one year left in his deal after the 2021 NFL season. With Dillard on their roster, the Rams would already have a long-term answer at the offensive tackle position in case they lose one of the those veterans.
Rams Won’t Mind Sacrificing Taylor Rapp For Andre Dillard
With their lack of a first-round pick until 2024, the trade package centered on Rapp could be the best offer the Rams could make to the Eagles in exchange for Dillard.
"That might also make it tougher for the Rams to part ways with draft capital, but Rapp hasn’t panned out as a 2019 second-rounder for Los Angeles and the team has plenty of depth and talent at the safety position compared to Philly," Gagnon wrote. "That might trump a middle-round pick in Philly’s eyes."
