Eagles “Extremely Unlikely” To Trade For Bills S Jairus Byrd

According to Geoff Mosher of CSN Philly, the Eagles are “extremely unlikely” to trade for Bills S Jairus Byrd, despite the fact that Philadelphia could really use some help at safety.

A report from earlier in the day suggested that Byrd and his agent are in the process of orchestrating a trade out of Buffalo. Byrd is considered to be one of the best safeties in the game and even played for Chip Kelly at Oregon, so a trade to the Eagles appears to make a lot of sense.

Mosher points out that Byrd’s plantar fasciitis injury could impact his trade value. Byrd has made it pretty clear that he’s seeking a huge contract, which means any team willing to part with draft picks in return for him would also need to be prepared to lock him up to a top-5 contract. Philadelphia would also need to wait until the offseason to negotiate a new contract given that the deadline has already passed for franchised players to sign new contracts.

On top of that, Buffalo would likely get a third-round compensatory pick for Byrd if he were to sign elsewhere during free agency, so any trade would most likely need to include a higher draft pick. Mosher adds that the Eagles probably don’t value a safety as much as they do other positions like offensive tackle, which means they probably wouldn’t be willing to part with a second-round pick for him.

On paper, the Eagles really seem like the best option for Byrd, but there are a number of factors working against this deal getting done before the trade deadline.

We have Byrd listed as the No. 2 player in our Top 50 – 2014 Free Agents list.