After watching the first two years of Jalen Reagor’s career, it’s hard to imagine he’ll ever live up to being a first-round draft pick.
It just certainly wasn’t going to happen here.
“I feel like some people need a change of scenery,” DeVonta Smith said.
Reagor got that change of scenery on Wednesday, when before practice general manager Howie Roseman shipped the 2020 first-round pick from TCU to Minnesota for a pair of Day 3 picks.
“I’m happy for him,” Smith said. “Fresh start for him. Go out there, I hope he does his thing.”
In return for Reagor, the Eagles got a 7th-round pick in 2023 and a 4th-round pick in 2024 “that would change to a 5th if certain statistical marks are not met.”
Heck, it feels like the verbiage of the trade is already setting up Reagor for a letdown in his next city.
In Philly, he’ll be remembered as the underperforming first-round pick the Eagles took over perennial Pro Bowler Justin Jefferson, who went one pick later at No. 22. The infamous video of the Vikings’ front office celebrating the Eagles’ blunder didn’t help matters and neither did Jefferson’s immediate success. While Reagor always maintained publicly that Jefferson’s ascent didn’t affect him, it certainly seems likely that it did.
That Reagor is now joining Jefferson in Minnesota isn’t lost on anyone.
The Eagles bucked conventional draft wisdom in 2020 when they reached to take Reagor because they liked his explosiveness. From that point on, the pick was doomed to fail.
Reagor had to deal with those expectations and the reality that he didn’t live up to them.
“It wasn’t too much fun for Reagor. He had a hard time,” Dallas Goedert said. “Shoot, throughout the media with whatever happened. But he was one person that always put his head down and worked. I always respected him. He never really complained. He was just here to get better. He tried. I got a great deal of respect for Reagor, he was a great friend of mine.”
In his two seasons in Philadelphia, Reagor had a huge role and his production didn’t come close to matching. He caught 64 passes for 695 yards and 3 touchdowns in 28 games (24 starts) and never had more than 57 yards in any individual game.
Reagor even struggled in the return game. Last year, he ranked 17th in the NFL in punt return average (7.3) among qualified players and ranked 27th in the NFL in kick return average (21.3) among players with at least 10 attempts.
Reagor really hurt the Eagles more than he helped them in 2021.
And the more the pressure mounted, the more Reagor heard about it, the more he sometimes lashed out on social media or dug the hole deeper with his play.
Reagor was a starter in each of the last two seasons and even after the Eagles drafted Smith with the No. 10 overall pick in 2021, Reagor was still the No. 2 last seasons. So he went from being their second option at the beginning of last year to expendable one year later. That shows you how much better the Eagles’ receiver room is right now.
Reagor got the news about the trade while at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday before practice and then he was gone.
For the most part, Reagor’s former teammates seemed happy for him to continue his career elsewhere.
“Fresh start for him, new thing,” Darius Slay said. “I’m looking forward to it to see what he do. I just don’t need him to be good Week 2 (when the Eagles host the Vikings). He could be good every other week after that though.”
Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast
Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube