Remembering the Saints-Eagles Trade for Jon Dorenbos That Saved His Life

NFL long snappers don't receive much publicity and they're hardly prominent subjects in trade talks. However, a trade between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints quite literally saved the life of one of these players.

His name is Jon Dorenbos, a former two-time Pro Bowler with the Eagles. He spent 11 seasons in Philadelphia before he was dealt to the Saints in August of 2017 in exchange for a conditional 2019 seventh-round draft pick.

Before these sort of trades can be completed, all players involved must pass physicals. As it turns out, the inspection performed by Saints doctors discovered an aortic aneurysm and Dorenbos was immediately ordered to undergo open heart surgery.

It's awful just thinking about it, but had the Eagles not been shopping Dorenbos or had New Orleans not accepted the deal, who knows if the 39-year-old would still be with us. Without the trade, there would have been no diagnosis. Without the diagnosis, Dorenbos never would have known about the aortic aneurysm.

The Saints placed Dorenbos on the non-football injury list and he was eventually released by the team. For obvious reasons, the UTEP product never played another snap in the NFL.

Dorenbos is currently living in good health with his wife, Annalise. If not for the trade and the amazing work of New Orleans' team doctors, this story likely would've had a tragic ending.