There’s more to August than heat and humidity when it comes to Eagles GM Howie Roseman, who likes to keep things sizzling with trades during the final, month before the regular season begins.
Roseman made another late summer deal on Monday, sending disappointing former second-round pick J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for defensive back Ugo Amadi.
That is now five of the last seven Augusts that Roseman has engineered a trade. He has made nine deals in August dating back to 2016 (see list below).
This latest deal figures to have a ripple-down effect on the Eagles’ roster, with Amadi having played in 47 games as a free safety with 12 starts after being drafted in the fourth round (132nd overall) out of Oregon in 2019.
Neither Marcus Epps nor Anthony Harris has done anything wrong to jeopardize their standing as the starters, and Andre Chachere has emerged as someone who looks like a lock for a roster spot and is being cross-trained between safety and slot cornerback.
Josiah Scott is also being trained from slot CB to safety, but that experiment may not be going as well as the Eagles had hoped.
Also, veteran Jaquiski Tartt could have his work cut out for him to make the roster. He signed in mid-June but missed three practices last week and the preseason opener against the New York Jets on Friday night due to personal reasons.
Tartt was back at practice on Sunday but running with the third team.
Undrafted free agent Reed Blankenship played 35 defensive snaps and 14 on special teams against the Jets, leading the team with seven tackles. He is having a steady training camp.
Former fourth-round pick K’Von Wallace could also be in jeopardy of winning a job along with Jared Mayden, who, after a good-looking OTA period, hasn’t done much yet to stand out.
As for Arcega-Whiteside, he came in the same draft as Amadi, though he was an earlier pick by the Eagles taking him 57th overall out of Stanford.
Arcega-Whiteside never was quite able to find his footing as a receiver and he decided to try a conversion to tight end this summer.
He added 12 pounds to his frame, but the emergence of former undrafted free agent Noah Togiai and the selection of Grant Calcaterra in the sixth round of last spring’s draft made his chances of landing a roster spot slim.
JJAW finished his time with the Eagles with just 16 catches on 35 career targets for 290 yards and one touchdown in his time with the Eagles.
Meanwhile, August is only halfway over, so maybe Roseman isn’t done dealing.
Here is the GM's trading history in the eighth month on the calendar:
Aug. 16, 2016: Traded OT Dennis Kelly to the Tennessee Titans for WR Dorial Green-Beckham
Aug. 11, 2017: Traded WR Jordan Matthews and a third-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft to the Buffalo Bills for CB Ronald Darby
Aug. 21, 2017: Traded OL Matt Tobin to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2018 seventh-round pick.
Aug. 28, 2017: Traded long snapper Jon Dorenbos to the New Orleans Saints for a 2019 seventh-round pick
2018: No trades
Aug. 9, 2019: Traded UDFA OL Ryan Bates to the Bills for DE Eli Harold
Aug. 22, 2019: Traded DT Bruce Hector to the Arizona Cardinals for S Rudy Ford
2020: No trades
Aug. 28, 2021: Traded a conditional sixth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for QB Gardner Minshew
Aug. 31, 2021: Traded OL Matt Pryor and a 2022 seventh-round pick to the Indianapolis Colts for a sixth-round pick in 2022
Aug. 15, 2022: Traded WR/TE J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seahawks for DB Ugo Amadi
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