Eagles Trade for Jahan Dotson; What Went Wrong in Washington?

In the world of science, it's “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.'' That's part of Newton's Law.

And in the world of football? For every trade "steal,'' there is a trade "failure.''

That's part of NFL law.

The Washington Commanders' decision to trade Jahan Dotson to the Philadelphia Eagles this week, from a Philly perspective? It's a steal. He immediately fills a spot as a part of a loaded offense. And he's a young first-round pick! Steal!

But from a Washington perspective? Dotson was a flop. He was in a fight for the WR2 role and he was being outplayed by a long list of kids and journeymen. The guys he wasn't beating out? Guys like Dyami Brown, Olamide Zaccheaus, Luke McCaffrey, and Jamison Crowder.

That's "failure.''

“I think everything's a factor when you're talking about evaluations of things,” Washington coach Dan Quinn said by way of explaining the swap. “You've heard us say this, we thought this was a deep and strong group ... We thought that was the best way to go about it.”

The truth is, Washington's wide receiver group is not proven to be "deep and strong'' ... which is one of the reasons they continue to pursue a trade for the 49ers' Brandon Aiyuk.

So the Commanders take their lost ... but get a third-round pick to salvage the situation. And the Eagles take their new toy ... and celebrate their success. One trade. Two sides. NFL law.