The Eagles Make One Of The Few Big Trade Deadline Moves Of The Year; Trade For LB Will Witherspoon

Lost in the fold of last night's dramatic Phillies victory (aspeaking of baseball, there is an ALCS open thread below), is the fact that today was the NFL's trade deadline. And while nothing completely earth-shattering occured, there was one move of note on the Eagles part, and that was trading WR Brandon Gibson and a 5th round draft pick for linebacker Will Witherspoon. Via Yahoo! Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles have acquired linebacker Will Witherspoon(notes) from the St. Louis Rams for rookie wide receiver Brandon Gibson(notes) and a fifth-round pick in 2010.

The Eagles made the trade Tuesday to get Witherspoon, an eight-year veteran who spent his first four seasons with Carolina. He was the Rams’ starter at the weakside spot and had 36 tackles and one forced fumble this season.

Witherspoon has recorded more than 100 tackles three times in his career and has missed only two games to injury.

Not the most earth-shattering move in Eagles history, but a good one nonetheless and an ultimate bang for the buck deal. While the draft pick can be anyone (you can't get this kind of analysis just anywhere, you know!), Brandon Gibson is a wide receiver who I liked in training camp and has shown a lot of potential, but due to the great depth of the Eagles at WR, was inactive every week this season. And while the kid could definitley be a really good wide receiver, Jeremiah Trotter was not the solution at middle linebacker. Ever since Stewart Bradley got hurt, it's been a carousel starting in the pre-season with Joe Mays, then Omar Gaither, then the Ax-Man, and now Will Witherspoon.

Witherspoon is a vet that has been around the block before so he should be well equipped to come into Philly and make a positive difference for the Eagles defensively.

Did I mention that there is an ALCS open thread below?