It started with a whisper …

When ESPN Eagles beat writer Tim McManus said on a Philadelphia radio show that the team could be interested in trading its first-round pick in the 2019 draft, offensive tackle Andre Dillard, the whispers quickly grew quite loud in Cleveland.

Why?

Browns general manager Andrew Berry was with the Eagles in 2019 and part of the personnel evaluation group that selected Dillard. Berry wasn’t the GM, but as the VP of football operations, he was intimately involved in the scouting and decision-making process.

Then there’s the fit with the Browns. Dillard is a schematic match for what the Browns figure to run under coach Kevin Stefanski, a scheme that requires mobility and technique more than brawn. He showed some ability in limited duty as a rookie, starting four games for a playoff-bound Eagles team.

The Eagles appear intent on bringing back fixture Jason Peters at left tackle, and the reports indicate they are interested in using Dillard as a sweetener to entice another team to take overpaid wide receiver Alshon Jeffery off their hands. The Browns would have a use for Jeffery too, so on that front a deal would make even more sense.

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