How Jonathan Gannon helped the Eagles move up in the draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles picked up an early 3rd-round pick from the Arizona Cards Thursday night as the result of a settlement following a tampering charge the Eagles made against the Cards in relation to the hiring of their head coach, Jonathan Gannon, the team announced.
To settle the dispute, the Eagles and Cards agreed on a deal in which the Eagles traded their late 3rd-round pick – No. 94 overall – as well as their own 5th-round pick in next year’s draft – for No. 66 overall this year, which is the third pick in this year’s third round.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
So they moved up 28 spots in Friday’s third round thanks to the Cards violating an NFL rule.
The Eagles released a statement that said in part a Cards official spoke to Gannon in the days immediately after the Eagles beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, which is not permitted.
Here’s the full text of a statement from the Eagles and Cards:
Philadelphia Eagles
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
“The Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles have agreed on the settlement of an issue concerning an instance of impermissible contact by Arizona during its head coaching search this past January. The Cardinals self-reported to the National Football League that general manager Monti Ossenfort had a phone conversation with then-Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in the days following the NFC Championship Game, a period during which contact is not permitted under the league’s anti-tampering policy. To resolve the matter between the two clubs, the Cardinals and Eagles have agreed to swap third round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft and the Cardinals receive Philadelphia’s fifth-round selection in 2024.”
Gannon spent the last two years as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator and was hired by the Cards as head coach the day after the Eagles lost to the Cards in the Super Bowl in Arizona.
After this settlement, the Eagles go into this year’s draft now with picks No. 10 and 30 in the first round, No. 62 in the second round, No. 66 in the third round and No. 219 and 248 in the seventh round.
They still have a projected 11 picks in next year’s draft – one in the first round, two in the second, two in the third (including one projected compensatory pick), one in the fourth, four in the fifth round (including three projected comp picks) and one in the sixth.
