Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

What If…Trent Dilfer

Posted June 21st, 2026 | No Comments »

There weren’t any compelling sporting events going on Saturday night so I decided to do some cleaning in my office. I went through my old football notebooks and stumbled across a story I had completely forgotten about. Trent Dilfer was almost an Eagles draft pick.

The story came from Gordon Forbes, who was a key NFL writer for the USA Today back in the 1990’s. I clipped the article and filed it away in one of my notebooks. They are filled with all kinds of goodies from the old days. So let’s go ahead and get into the story.

Jeffrey Lurie was in the process of buying the Eagles in the spring of 1994. He didn’t technically finish the transaction until May so he didn’t have the power to force things until that point. That doesn’t mean he didn’t try to share his ideas and vision for the future.

Lurie had been a Pats fan his whole life. He saw them go 2-14 in 1992 and then draft franchise QB Drew Bledsoe in 1993. The Pats went 5-11 that year and were much more competitive. Bledsoe gave the franchise a future. The Dallas Cowboys were coming off consecutive Super Bowl wins. The fate of that franchise changed with the drafting of QB Troy Aikman in 1989. Lurie saw that you needed a franchise QB and wanted one for his new team.

The Eagles had Randall Cunningham and Bubby Brister as their QBs at that point. Cunningham, who had just turned 31, was still a great talent, but had season ending injuries in 1991 and 1993 so durability was a major concern. He had been inconsistent when he did play in 1992 and 1993. And he had only one playoff win at that point, a wild card victory over the Saints. Brister was a solid backup, nothing more.

Lurie saw this and decided the Eagles needed to be bold. They needed a young franchise QB to build around. The Rams held the fifth pick in the draft. The Eagles had the 14th and 29th picks in the first round. Lurie had John Wooten, the team’s key personnel guy, call the Rams and propose a trade. The Rams would get Cunningham and both first round picks. The Eagles would get the fifth pick and were going to draft Trent Dilfer.

That obviously didn’t happen. The Rams traded the pick to the Colts, who then drafted Trev Alberts. That led to this famous exchange.

Dilfer went to Tampa with the sixth pick. The Eagles drafted OT Bernard Williams at 14 and traded pick 29 to Cleveland. They moved down and took DT Bruce Walker. I covered Williams and Walker in a recent post. Williams played one season at LT before getting suspended for drugs. Walker was cut in August, never playing a real down for the Eagles.

Dilfer played for Tampa from 1994-1999. He went 38-38, throwing 70 TDs and 80’s INTs. The Bucs were dysfunctional when he got there, but improved over time. Dilfer won the Super Bowl in 2000, but that was largely due to having an all-time great defense on his side, the 2000 Ravens. Dilfer was 7-1 that year, with 12 TDs and 11 picks. He never became the true franchise QB that anyone envisioned, but he wasn’t a bust like Heath Shuler, who was drafted three spots ahead of him.

What would have happened if Dilfer came to Philly?

He would have played for Rich Kotite in 1994. He would have had a better supporting cast than what he had with the Bucs as a rookie. The Eagles had Fred Barnett and Calvin Williams at receiver. They had Herschel Walker and Charlie Garner at RB. The OL was competent, but nothing special. Dilfer sat behind Craig Erickson for most of his rookie year. He did start two games, going 0-2 with a TD and 6 picks.

1995 is when things would have gotten interesting. Dilfer would have played for OC Jon Gruden. He’d have had Ricky Watters and an improved OL to play behind. Garner, Williams and Barnett were still around. That offense could have been interesting. With top coaching, Dilfer might have had a very different career. Gruden, for all his faults, is a terrific OC and can coach QBs.

The Eagles were in QB purgatory from 1994-1998. Cunningham started 1-3 in 1995 and lost his job. Rodney Peete replaced him and won games, but it wasn’t pretty. Ty Detmer came to Philly in 1996 and played when Peete got hurt. Ty showed real promise at times, but had physical limitations. Then came Bobby Hoying and Koy Detmer. Lurie didn’t get his franchise QB until 1999 and the drafting of Donovan McNabb.

It is interesting to wonder how different things might have been if they got Dilfer and he did become a franchise QB. There are no guarantees that would have happened, but he would have had a better chance in Philly with Gruden than he did in Tampa, which skewed toward defense and running the ball. They were highly conservative under Tony Dungy.

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Here is a good video for you to enjoy.

Happy Father’s Day to everyone, even Jimmy Bama.

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