The Philadelphia Eagles weren't done working the phones after trading up to No. 9 in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to select defensive tackle Jalen Carter.
With Carter's Georgia teammate Nolan Smith somehow still available when Philadelphia got back on the clock at No. 30, though, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni decided to keep it simple.
“We were fielding calls at that time, and I think Coach and I kind of looked at each other like this is the guy,” Roseman said of the decision to draft Smith instead of trading down, per John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “We didn't want to get too cute, and we're excited to add him.”
Smith, considered a potential top-15 pick after blowing up the NFL combine in February, was one of the draft's biggest fallers on Thursday night.
While Philadelphia was surprised the explosive pass-rusher was still on the board with the penultimate pick of the first round, Roseman and the front office didn't hesitate to end Smith's slide.
“Yeah, I think that's one of the things in the draft, I think you gotta be flexible,” Roseman said. “You go into the draft and you say, ‘Hey, here are a couple names at 30.' Then you see guys sitting up there like Nolan.”
Smith, along with Carter, joins an Eagles defense that produced a league-leading 70 sacks last season, 15 more than the second-place Kansas City Chiefs. Expect both players to make an immediate impact alongside Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham in Philadelphia's front seven.
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