Dorial Green-Beckham Trade Puts Eagles Other Receivers on Notice

By Denny Basens, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

On Tuesday morning, the Philadelphia Eagles made a surprising trade, acquiring wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham from the Tennessee Titans in exchange for reserve offensive lineman Dennis Kelly.

There are a lot of reasons to love this deal for the Birds.

The obvious is that its a low-risk, high-reward move for a team that was in dire need of some additional talent and playmaking ability to their offense. Green-Beckham is just a year removed from being the 40th overall pick in the draft, and carries an upside greater than any wide receiver currently on the roster. To acquire a talent like that for a player like Kelly, who couldn't start on a bad offensive line, is nothing short of a tremendous value for the Eagles.

But the trade has an impact other than just adding a talented player to the mix.

The deal effectively puts the collection of disappointing, underachieving wide receivers that the Eagles already have on the roster on notice. For guys like Josh Huff, Rueben Randle and Chris Givens, a roster spot is no longer a sure thing. For the likes of Nelson Agholor, his days of being one the team's starting options by default may now be numbered.

Green-Beckham's presence should create a greater sense of competition among the veteran receivers. Before this trade, the top five wideouts on the club were all but locks to make the team. The Eagles didn't have anyone in camp that could provide serious competition to guys like Huff or Randle, and perhaps the acquisition of Green-Beckham will serve as a wake-up call for some of these guys.

Josh Huff is a guy who has flashed explosive ability, but has never been able to clean up the mental mistakes in his game that have led to some costly turnovers. He may be the first guy on the chopping block. He adds some value as a kick returner, but with Darren Sproles and Kenjon Barner also on the roster and capable of filling that role, Huff's value to the team is even further diminished. He'll need to show a lot over the next three preseason games to stick around.

Randle gave a poor all-around effort in the team's preseason opener. He appeared to just be jogging at times, and ran poor routes throughout the night. The Birds only signed him to a one-year, prove-it deal, and if he doesn't begin to pan out and perform at a higher level, the franchise likely wouldn't think twice about releasing him before the final cut.

Agholor continues to underwhelm, and is heading closer and closer to being a labeled a first-round bust by the day. If he continues to struggle to make an impact, its only a matter of time before he finds his way to the bench, possibly in favor of Green-Beckham.

Green-Beckham can hardly be considered a savior for the Eagles offense. There's a reason that the Titans were quick to give up on him, and he certainly comes with his own share of issues and red flags. But his presence could be just the kind of spark the Eagles need to get elements of their offense moving in the right direction.