The Eagles didn’t even want to deal with the waiver wire process.
They wanted Albert Okwuegbunam.
So instead of waiting and hoping, they completed a trade for the former Broncos on Tuesday. The Eagles acquired Albert Au and a 2025 seventh-round pick from the Broncos for a 2025 sixth-round pick. That’s one way to get over the line.
What did the eagles at Okwuegbunam (ok-wo-i-po-nom) like so much?
“Yeah, the first thing you talk about Albert, you talk about physicality,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. “He’s 6-5. He’s about 260 pounds. He runs a 4’4. He’s got a huge wingspan. He’s got good lower-body flexibility for a big guy.”
“We’ve had the opportunity to watch him together, and obviously coach (Nick Sirianni) has had tremendous success at the position and some players who look like that. So, he brought him here. He’s 25 years old. We have some guys in the building who were with Denver when they… They recruited him and gave him a chance.
Okwuegbunam, 25, was a fourth-round pick (No. 118 overall) out of Missouri in 2020 and his impressive size and speed are undeniable. At the 2020 Combine, Okwuegbunam ran 4.49 at 6-5 and 258 pounds.
That 4.49 is the fastest tight end 40 time at the Combine since Evan Engram’s 4.42 in 2017 and Engram did it at 234 pounds.
In his first three years in the NFL with the Broncos, Okwuegbunam played in 26 games with 7 starts. He caught a total of 54 passes for 546 yards and four touchdowns. His best season came in 2021, when he went 33/330/2.
Even though Okwuegbunam didn’t want to join the Broncos’ roster, he put together a solid final push. In Denver’s final preseason game, Okwuegbunam won 41-0 over the Rams, scoring 7-of-8 for 109 yards and a touchdown.
“I think coach noticed that there weren’t a lot of tight ends that had 100-yard receiving games in the preseason, and that was because he has a unique ability to scout, he has lower body flexibility, he has speed, he has length,” he said. Roseman: “He has all the tools in his body.”
“Again, it’s a start, and now he’s here. I know he’ll be trained and we’ll get the most out of him when he gets here.
At Philly, Okwegbonam will be coached by longtime head coach Jason Michael. While the Eagles traded for Albert Au, they also kept their other three tight ends — Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra — on the roster, at least for now.
Roseman said the trade wasn’t about their tight end space, but about Okwuegbunam and his potential.
“For us, any time we have an opportunity to add an offensive player that we think can help us and help our team, we look at that,” Roseman said. “That’s why we brought him in.”
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