In case you missed it, the Green Bay Packers sent their 2027 sixth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night in exchange for offensive lineman Darian Kinnard, a former Packers pre-draft visitor who was picked in the fifth round of the 2022 draft.
In this piece, we’re going to look at how Eagles media has reacted to the trade, instead of how he fits with Green Bay, to try to glean some information on Kinnard. I hope you enjoy.
Here’s what Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation, APC’s
sister site covering the Eagles, had to say in their writeup:
That being said, this trade is a bit of a surprise … for multiple reasons.
I’d wager that most 53-man roster predictions had Kinnard making the team. Philly’s backup offensive linemen generally didn’t perform well this summer but Kinnard seemed to be one of the better performers from that group. Following Landon Dickerson’s injury, there was a day in practice where the Eagles actually gave Kinnard some first-team left guard reps, though the bulk of those went to Brett Toth.
How could the Eagles possibly trade their good luck charm?! Kinnard has been in the NFL for three seasons. He’s won a Super Bowl in all three of them (two with the Kansas City Chiefs, one with the Eagles). Does correlation equal causation? No, of course not. But why tempt fate here? Now the Packers are totally winning Super Bowl LX.
From what I can tell, the point about Kinnard being projected to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster is accurate. When I looked at former Packers pre-draft visitors on the roster bubble earlier this week, most believed that Kinnard would make the team, but there were a few who thought otherwise.
Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice noted the positions that Kinnard lined up during summer camp:
Kinnard seemed poised to play a bigger role for the Eagles in 2025, as Jeff Stoutland played him at RT, RG, and LG throughout training camp. But Kinnard became expendable after the team traded for Fred Johnson, the team’s swing tackle in 2024.
For what it’s worth, all of Kinnard’s snaps in the preseason were taken at right tackle and right guard (I know because I watched them all). Kinnard looked sharper at guard in my review of his film, which isn’t surprising considering he’s a mauler-type lineman. With that being said…oh boy, did the Eagles’ backup tackles struggle. I get why they essentially turned a guard into a tackle with their trades on Sunday.
According to Eagle Wire’s Glenn Erby, those tackles are now expected to be cut:
The Eagles took several swings at adding a backup offensive tackle during the spring. Philadelphia signed Kendall Lamm during free agency, drafted Myles Hinton, and had Matt Pryor and Darian Kinnard operating as backup offensive tackles during the preseason. Kinnard has been traded, while Lamm and Pryor could both be cut.
The Athletic’s Brooks Kubena and Zach Berman questioned whether or not the Eagles will make another move to add interior offensive line depth to the team. They framed the trade as general manager Howie Roseman “recapturing some draft capital” after the trade for Johnson, who started six games for Philadelphia last year.
The Eagles’ offensive line depth chart was more uncertain than usual for a franchise that takes pride in building along the line of scrimmage, and general manager Howie Roseman demonstrated that the Eagles were unsettled by bringing back Johnson and recapturing some draft capital by dealing Kinnard.
With Johnson expected to be the top reserve at tackle, the question now becomes where the Eagles turn for the top reserve on the interior. Matt Pryor has started 39 games in the NFL. Brett Toth has mostly been a practice squad player in Philadelphia, although he’s taken first-team work this summer while Landon Dickerson has been sidelined with a knee injury. Trevor Keegan was a 2024 fifth-round pick who spent last year developing at the bottom of the roster. That role remains unclear. Of course, Roseman still has more than a day until cut-down day. He’s made five trades this summer. Is there another deal looming?
In general, this seems to paint the picture of what Eagles fans are experiencing pretty accurately. What amounts to a Johnson for Kinnard flip for them has been met with excitement about tackle depth and worry about where they are at guard.
