Understanding Why Howie Roseman Pulled Off Trade For Wide Receiver John Metchie

Understanding why Howie Roseman pulled off trade for wide receiver John Metchie originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Johnny Wilson has had a very good training camp and is catching the ball much better than he did last year. Ainias Smith has shown up in both preseason games, with a touchdown in each one and a 46-yard punt return in the opener. And Darius Cooper has looked fantastic all summer, catching everything thrown his way.

So why is John Metchie here?

Because as promising as Wilson, Smith and Cooper have looked, when you get right down to it, all three are question marks.

Wilson caught five passes for 38 yards last year and had 2-for-14 before the meaningless Giants game on the final day of the season. Smith caught seven passes for 41 yards last year and had three catches for six yards before the Giants game. And Cooper is an undrafted rookie from an FCS school.

So as good as all three have looked, they have a combined 12 career catches for 79 yards and just 5-for-20 in meaningful games. And Smith was a 5th-round pick, Wilson a 6th-round pick, Cooper undrafted.

We’ve all been following the Eagles to know that showing promise in the summer is a much different thing than contributing once the season begins and the games count.

Which is why Metchie is here. 

He’s also a question mark, but there’s a reason he was a 2nd-round pick – and the 44th pick overall – just three years ago. And his career has been a disappointment. He’s got 40 catches, 412 yards and a touchdown in 29 games since missing his entire rookie season with leukemia. 

Metchie’s 14.2 yards per game ranks 159th out of 184 wide receivers drafted in the second round over the last 50 years. Better than J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, worse than Victor Bailey.

So this is not a star. But it’s a guy who’s played nearly 700 offensive snaps in the NFL, a guy who’s caught regular-season passes that mattered, a guy who has something Wilson, Smith and Cooper don’t have. Experience.

Wilson, Smith and Cooper are projections. Metchie has done it. Not a lot but enough to get Howie Roseman’s attention. It’s also notable that Metchie has nine catches for 107 yards in the postseason, including a 27-yarder from C.J. Stroud in a wild-card win over the Browns. 

None of this means he’s an upgrade over what the Eagles have behind A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith (who played with Metchie at Alabama) and Jahan Dotson (who, like Metchie, played at Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J.). Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t.

But this is a textbook Roseman move because there’s no down-side. This move can only help. Even if the Eagles release Metchie tomorrow, he hasn’t given up anything.

Roseman traded a tight end who had no chance to make the team in Harrison Bryant and a 5th-round pick for a potential contributor and a 6th-round pick. For Howie, since he’s drafted so well in the later rounds, 5th- and 6th-round picks are interchangeable. And he’ll probably wind up trading that pick anyway. And the Eagles have so many picks in 2026 that unloading a five for a six is virtually meaningless. 

So he gave up nothing and got potentially something.

What happens now? 

Rosters must be trimmed to 53 by a week from Tuesday, and that’s not a lot of time to get a look at Metchie. You don’t acquire him and then cut him eight days later, before he even has a chance to learn the entire playbook. So it’s hard to imagine him getting cut.

That means Brown, Smith, Dotson and Metchie are on the 53, which leaves Wilson, Smith and Cooper most likely competing for one or two roster spots. And you can throw Terrace Marshall Jr. – the Panthers’ 2nd-round pick in 2021 – in the mix as well. 

The Eagles love Wilson and what he brings with his size, blocking skill and improved receiving ability. The offensive coaches rave about him every chance they get, so I have to believe he’s the next guy in their WR hierarchy.

That means Smith and Cooper hit the waiver wire, and you hope they clear waivers and make their way to the practice squad. Which they probably would. But not a lock.

I also don’t think this trade has anything to do with Brown’s hamstring injury. If the Eagles were concerned about Brown, this isn’t the kind of player Roseman would go out and get. And if all goes well and Brown, Smith and Dotson as well as Dallas Goedert, Saquon Barkley and Will Shipley are healthy, Metchie will probably only play at the end of blowouts. When you’re the fourth receiver on this roster? With these skill players? You’re not getting targets.

But if something happens, and there’s a need for another receiver, the Eagles now have an additional option.

No way to know if they’re better today than they were yesterday. But they’re definitely not worse.