Eagles trade Jordan Matthews, pick to Bills for CB

Bills trade Sammy Watkins to Rams for EJ Gaines
Philadelphia Eagles trade WR Jordan Matthews and draft pick for Bills cornerback
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12 August, 2017

He caught 60 passes for 1,047 yards and nine touchdowns in 2015 - the best of his three seasons in Buffalo.

Matthews had been rumored as trade bait for weeks.

A third-year player out of Florida State, Darby was originally drafted by the Bills in the second round (50th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. He required a second operation in January after aggravating the injury last season.

Roseman believes that the return makes the Eagles stronger at cornerback, which was something Roseman was looking to do. An unrestricted free agent after this season, Matthews was set to test the market after not getting a deal worked out with the team this offseason. In exchange for Watkins and Darby, they did acquire needed position players but also two future draft picks.

Matthews was entering his fourth year in the pros. In his two-year career, Darby has just two picks in 29 games. Even in the touchdown drive in Thursday's preseason game, Matthews caught a short pass to pick up a key first down simply by having great field awareness, something the Eagles will lack with Agholor or one of the younger receivers who have stepped up in preseason camp.

Buffalo can avoid paying $14 million of Taylor's $18 million cap number next season if the team releases him before a $6 million roster bonus is due in March.

He joins a revamped group of receivers on a Rams offense that has ranked last in the National Football League in each of the past two seasons. Both of the deals might give a good sign of the direction that the Buffalo Bills are heading in for the future. He had 121 tackles, 32 passes defensed, three tackles for loss, and two interceptions with the Bills. They have the Rams second-round pick and the Eagles third-round pick in addition to their own choices in those respective rounds. A three-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion, Darby was named the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year as a freshman in 2012 and helped the Seminoles win the BCS National Championship in 2013.


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