PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Eagles were desperate for cornerback help. When you're desperate, leverage is not on your side.
Executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman ended up paying a significant price to acquire some much-needed help, sending wide receiver Jordan Matthews and a 2018 third-round draft pick to the Buffalo Bills for cornerback Ronald Darby.
"You look around the league, and it is a corner-deficient league," Roseman said Friday a short time after the deal went down. "It's hard to find those guys. It's hard to find guys who have been solid starters in this league and can play at a high level. And teams that have them aren't really ready to move them.
"In this league, you're not going to be able to get anything unless you give something."
In Darby, they get a young talent with upside who likely was available in part because of the scheme shift under new Bills head coach Sean McDermott. The former second-round pick out of Florida State finished second in voting for defensive rookie of the year in 2015 before taking a bit of a step back last season. Asked what he liked about Darby, Roseman pointed to his "rare speed" -- he ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine -- as well as his "production on the ball." He only has two career interceptions but has racked up 33 pass breakups in 29 games.
The Eagles' evaluators also had the benefit of watching Darby against a number of receivers in the division, as the Bills played the NFC East in 2015. So they at least have some idea of how he could fare against Odell Beckham Jr., Dez Bryant, et al.
Darby provides a much-needed talent infusion to a suspect cornerback group. Traveled veteran Patrick Robinson and former seventh-round pick Jalen Mills sat atop the depth chart prior to the trade, with Ron Brooks -- returning from a significant quad injury -- the favorite to man the slot. The corners from top to bottom have struggled with inconsistency throughout camp, and it was no secret that the Eagles were very much in the market for an upgrade. Darby has a good chance to claim one of the starting spots in short order.
Unlike Matthews, who was in the final year of his rookie deal, Darby still has two years remaining on his -- a critical component to this trade going down. Just 23, he joins a young group of promising corners that includes Mills and rookies Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas.
It's to be determined how Darby will fit into the locker room (there were some character concerns coming out of FSU) and into defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's scheme, but there's little question that the back end of the Eagles defense is in better shape from an ability perspective as a result of the acquisition.