Philadelphia
The Cleveland Browns will wait for their guy.
The Eagles acquired the No. 2 overall pick in next week’s draft from Cleveland in exchange for five picks on Wednesday. The Browns are getting Philadelphia’s first-round pick this year (No. 8), a third-round pick (No. 77) and fourth-rounder (No. 100), plus a first-rounder in 2017 and a second-rounder in 2018.
Cleveland also sends a fourth-round pick in 2017 to the Eagles.
“It’s a tough price to pay,” said Howie Roseman, Philadelphia’s executive vice president of football operations. “We’re very sure we’re going to get the player we want. We’ve spent a ton of time investigating these guys and looked at the quarterback market going forward, and this is a rare opportunity we’re in.”
The trade allows Philadelphia to select one of the top quarterback prospects, Carson Wentz of North Dakota State or Jared Goff of California at No. 2. The Los Angeles Rams already acquired the top overall pick from Tennessee for a slew of picks and have indicated they will take a quarterback.
It is the fourth time the top two selections in the draft have been dealt.
The Eagles signed Sam Bradford to a $35 million, two-year contract in March. Roseman said he’ll be the starter. They also signed backup Chase Daniel to a $21 million, three-year deal. But Roseman couldn’t resist an opportunity to move up after acquiring the No. 8 pick from Miami for cornerback Byron Maxwell, linebacker Kiko Alonso and the 13th overall pick.
The last time the Eagles drafted a quarterback in the first round was 1999 when Andy Reid took Donovan McNabb at No. 2. McNabb led Philadelphia to five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl appearance.
The Browns were in position to finally land a quarterback after more than a decade of futility and failure. Cleveland has had 24 starting quarterbacks since 1999, when it chose Tim Couch ahead of McNabb. But the club’s new front office wasn’t enthralled with Goff or Wentz and decided to get more picks to help first-year coach Hue Jackson build a winner.
Cleveland now has 12 selections in this year’s draft, including six of the top 100 picks.
Charlotte, n.c.
Josh Norman, one of the league’s top corners, became an unrestricted free agent Wednesday after the Carolina Panthers surprisingly rescinded their non-exclusive franchise tag offer to the All-Pro and wished him well — someplace else.
Norman, 28, elected not to sign the franchise tag offer from the Panthers that would have paid him $13.9 million in 2016 while holding out for a long-term contract. The two sides could never agree on monetary compensation.
Now Norman can sign with any team.
A former fifth-round draft pick, Norman had a career-high four interceptions and helped the NFC champion Panthers lead the NFL in interceptions (24), takeaways (39), points off turnovers (148) last season. He also had 16 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Syracuse, n.y.
Washington died Wednesday of cancer, the university said.
Washington was not particularly fast, nor could he jump particularly high. Neither mattered — he simply excited fans with his amazing ball-handling skills, an uncanny court sense, elusiveness, and the ability to pull off unbelievable plays at the right time.
His signature move was the crossover dribble — the “shake-and-bake” — that froze defenders, then a drive to the hoop for an easy layup past the defense’s big men. His play was instrumental in helping create the aura of greatness the Big East Conference had during its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.