The LA Chargers’ best trade with the Philadelphia Eagles is not great.
In what has become an ongoing series here at Bolt Beat, we are breaking down the LA Chargers best trade in franchise history with every other NFL franchise in the league, that they have made a trade with. Today, we take a look at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Since 1994 the Chargers and Eagles have made only three trades, all of which were centered around the NFL Draft (which is the case for almost every single trade in the NFL). The most recent trade occurred in April of 2010.
The most recent trade is not the best one, though. And while the best trade is still a bit lackluster, it still has to be recognized as the Chargers’ best ever trade with the Eagles.
The LA Chargers’ best ever trade with the Philadelphia Eagles
The LA Chargers drafted down in the 2003 NFL Draft with the 12-4 Eagles and did not get the most memorable return, but it still is the best that the team has pulled off with the Eagles.
The Chargers got fair compensation for trading down in the draft as they received the Packers’ second-round pick (which the Eagles owned) just for moving down 15 spots in the draft.
The two players that the Chargers drafted were not exceptional players, but they were short-term serviceable starters in San Diego. Sammy Davis was showing promising signs in his first two seasons but never grasped onto that potential and those were the two best seasons of his career.
Kiel was the Chargers’ starting strong safety for four seasons and while he never jumped out, he was league-average at worst in his four years with the Chargers. Two serviceable players, but nothing exceptional.
It makes it better knowing that the Chargers did not miss out on some sensational prospect with the 15th overall pick. Jerome McDougle did not start a single game in his NFL career and registered a total of two sacks in his career.
Well, they didn’t miss out on anyone special with the 15th overall pick, because one pick later one of the greatest safeties of all-time, Troy Polamalu, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Chargers definitely would have rather had him over Davis and Kiel.
However, the trade happened and if the team was high on Polamalu then they would not have moved down in the draft.
It might be painful to see in reflection if you look at it with a glass-half-empty approach. However, to look at it in a glass-half-full approach, it is the best trade the Chargers have ever made with the Eagles.