ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Saquon’s Health & Eagles’ Trade Deadline Mindset

The Philadelphia Eagles are stuck in the most uncomfortable spot the trade deadline can offer: not sure if they're buying, selling, or standing pat. And according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the people inside the building don't know yet either.

Rich framed it on The Rich Eisen Show as a team "teetering between buying, selling, doing nothing, who knows what," and started with the most pressing question. Is Saquon healthy enough to play this week, or is he headed for the sidelines after what everyone saw the other night?

Saquon and DeVonta Smith

"It seems like it's uncertain right now," Fowler said. "Nick Sirianni has not committed to him playing yet."

Fowler said Saquon has said he's doing okay coming out of the game, but his practice participation has been "a little up and down." The same goes for DeVonta Smith. The last time Fowler checked on Smith, he was told that shutting him down for the year is not part of the plan.

But Fowler laid out how quickly that can change. "The longer this goes, if he's out again this week, all of a sudden your star players aren't on the practice field," he said. "If you fall to two and six, then what?"

"Rich, we've seen this song and dance before with teams," Fowler continued, wondering aloud whether a struggling team really needs "to extend your stars to get them out in the field and expend all energy."

Will Howie Roseman Press the Button?

The roster question is just as open. When Fowler has checked with people around the Eagles, he said, "they don't really know who's going to come or go right now," including whether Howie Roseman will "press the button" and try to move on from some parts.

Fowler doesn't expect a teardown. Moving Saquon or Smith "would be a major surprise," he said. The names that come up in league circles are more along the lines of cornerback Riq Woolen and wide receiver Hollywood Brown.

Questions in Real Time

That is the uneasy reality in Philadelphia right now, a team deciding what it is on the fly. The health of the stars matters. So does what the roster looks like in two weeks.

"Some people in Philadelphia simply don't know right now," Fowler said. "These are open-ended questions that they're kind of trying to answer in real time."