The Dion Jordan Trade Question

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A year after jumping one spot ahead of the Eagles to draft Dion Jordan, the Miami Dolphins are now looking to trade the outside linebacker, according to a report.

MIA has been gauging trade value for ’13 1st round pick Dion Jordan, league sources said, after trading up to 3rd overall for him last year — Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) February 28, 2014

Jordan, of course, played his college ball for Chip Kelly at Oregon.

“Trust me, the guy that went number three we were considering very heavily, but didn’t get the chance to pull the trigger on that one,” Kelly said after the draft.

To steal a phrase from Mike Mayock, Jordan would check a lot of boxes for the Eagles. He’s 6-6 with 33 7/8 inch arms and is an outstanding athlete (ran a 4.60 40 last year). In college, the Ducks lined him up all over the place. At last year’s combine, Jordan weighed in at 248 pounds, although the team now lists him at 260.

Ideally, the Eagles would add a pass-rush specialist at right outside linebacker opposite Connor Barwin. But Jordan would provide Billy Davis and the defense with another versatile option. And there have been reports that others in the organization really liked him last year too:

I’m told 1 thing Tom Gamble would’ve recommended if he interviewed for Dolphins GM was switch back to 3-4. Thinks Dion Jordan 3-4 stud. — Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) January 15, 2014

As always with trades, the question is compensation. Jordan was a disappointment as a rookie with the Dolphins, playing just 29 percent of the team’s snaps, while finishing with 29 tackles and two sacks. In other words, his value isn’t what it was coming out of college.

“It’s hard to make trades in this league, but I think we’d be open if something was a win-win situation,” Howie Roseman said yesterday. “And certainly when you see guys who aren’t scheme fits and you look at other teams that may work for them, and they may have a player that is a scheme fit for you, maybe you hope things can work out. And then when you add in draft picks obviously that’s appealing, too. We’ll get a better sense when we get into the league year because now you’re two weeks away and it’s like, are you really going to try and figure out a trade now? Everybody is trying to figure out free agency and the draft, but yeah, certainly makes the offseason interesting.”

In terms of guys who might not be great scheme fits for the current Eagles’ defense, names like Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry stand out. Both were drafted as 4-3 defensive ends under the Andy Reid/Jim Washburn regime. Graham was a rotational player at outside linebacker last year, and Curry was asked to bulk up to play defensive end.

The Eagles also have seven picks in May’s draft. Right now, the Dolphins seem to be just gauging the market, but it’d be a surprise if Roseman didn’t at least make a phone call on this one.

Click here to read our draft profile on Jordan from last year.