PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles were the only NFL team at the trade deadline to actually move a player, sending disappointing nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga to the injury-plagued New England Patriots.
The teams will also swap a pair of late-round picks in the 2014 draft as part of the deal, with the Patriots sending their fifth-round selection to the Eagles while obtaining Philadelphia's sixth rounder.
Sopoaga, a supposed run-stopping specialist who signed a big-money, three-year contract with the Eagles in free agency this past March, totaled 18 tackles in eight games with Philadelphia and was basically a non-factor.
The Eagles will now lean heavily on rookies Bennie Logan and Damion Square at nose tackle following the trade.
The 32-year-old joins a Patriots team that has had some depth issues at defensive tackle, with five-time Pro Bowl selection Vince Wilfork out for the season with a ruptured Achilles, and fellow veteran Tommy Kelly having missed the last three weeks with a knee injury.
The Samoa native was a nine-game starter for NFC champion San Francisco last season and has recorded 226 tackles and 7 1/2 sacks over 132 career games.
The Patriots will now be responsible for $529,412 remaining on Sopoaga's 2013 base salary of $1 million. However, the Eagles already paid Sopoaga a $2.75 million roster bonus and $470,588 in salary for little to no production.
Sopoaga was always a bad fit for Philadelphia. He was the weak link on the 49ers' defensive line yet GM Howie Roseman talked about him like he was a given dating back to the preseason.
Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie can't blame this signing on Andy Reid either.
That said, the one check mark you can put in Roseman's column here is that he quickly admitted a mistake and moved on. Most NFL personnel people are loathe to do that.
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