Eagles trade JJ Arcega-Whiteside, a former second-round draft pick, to the Seahawks for a defensive back

The Eagles traded JJ Arcega-Whiteside to the Seattle Seahawks for defensive back Ugo Amadi on Monday.

Arcega-Whiteside was selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2019 draft. He fell well short of justifying that pick, although the former Stanford receiver had been a willing special teams contributor the last few seasons and tried to make the transition to tight end this offseason.

Arcega-Whiteside played just eight snaps on offense in Friday’s preseason opener against the New York Jets. He was targeted only once and did not have a catch. He wasn’t at practice on Sunday, and his absence was deemed “not injury-related.”

The 25-year old added about 20 pounds to account for the position change, but he didn’t stand out in training camp. The Eagles had starter Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll, rookie Grant Calcaterra, Noah Togiai, and Richard Rodgers ahead of Arcega-Whiteside on the tight end depth chart.

The Eagles cited his size (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) and contested-ball ability as reasons for selecting Arcega-Whiteside so high in the draft. But they passed on other receivers — as did other teams — who would go on to far surpass Arcega-Whiteside, including DK Metcalf and Terry McLaurin.

Arcega-Whiteside had been deemed by some within the Eagles organization as an “analytics” pick because its department had endorsed his catch radius in college. Owner Jeffrey Lurie had also pushed for selecting the receiver, according to reporting first done by The Inquirer.

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In 40 games, Arcega-Whiteside caught just 16 passes for 290 yards and one touchdown.

Amadi, a fourth-round pick in 2019, had 12 starts in Seattle. He played in all 17 games last season and recorded 54 tackles, six pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble. Most of his playing time came at slot cornerback, but he has also filled in at safety.

The Eagles have a need at both positions. Josiah Scott, primarily a slot corner, has recently played more at safety. Amadi would give the defense another versatile defensive back if he were to make the 53-man roster.