What’s trending in the NFL: Eagles move up to No. 2; Josh Norman is now a free agent

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Taking a spin around the NFL with the latest news and notes from Wednesday:

Today’s top pick

The Eagles and Browns made a blockbuster deal with Philadelphia trading up to acquire the No. 2 overall pick. Phil Sheridan argues that if the Eagles get the quarterback position right, the compensation will be a non-issue down the road.

And I agree with him. The Eagles clearly had a plan all offseason to make a move for a quarterback in the draft, filling roster holes in free agency and re-signing many of their best, young players. They also previously moved up to the No. 8 spot in the draft, with the hope all along being to land a franchise QB.

By giving away five picks, are they mortgaging the future? To a degree, yes. But I would argue that any future tied to Sam Bradford was hopeless anyway. Since 2010, 20 quarterbacks have attempted at least 2,000 passes. Among that group, Bradford ranks last in passer rating, yards per attempt and touchdowns. He’s been afforded every excuse in the book, but expecting him to suddenly be a different guy after six seasons and 63 starts would be foolish.

The Eagles signed Bradford and Chase Daniel not knowing for certain whether they’d be able to pull off a trade. It’s completely fair to question those signings, but now they’re in position to sit a rookie QB for a year, and they can part ways with Bradford after 2016.

Howie Roseman had two options: build a roster so good that it could make up for mediocre quarterback play or take a big swing on a quarterback who could make up for other deficiencies on the roster. He chose the latter. Now he has to hope that the organization’s evaluation (presumably of Carson Wentz) is correct.

Given the loss of draft capital, the Eagles’ margin of error in terms of decision-making is small. But for the first time since Donovan McNabb, they will have a young quarterback they can commit to and invest …

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