In this era of football, it’s extremely rare to build such a talented roster like the Philadelphia Eagles have. Rookie-scale contracts make it so hard to keep good players and the turnover is so big that teams must draft well, and a lot, to have a chance.
So ahead of the Super Bowl, wide receiver AJ Brown knows how is the main responsible for the Eagles’ recent success.
It’s Howie Roseman, who pulled off the huge trade to acquire Brown from the Tennessee Titans to the Eagles three years ago.
Self-consciousness
This offseason only, the Eagles signed running back Saquon Barkley, guard Mekhi Becton, and linebacker Zack Baun in the offseason. They drafted Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.
Howie Roseman himself knows his role in what the Eagles have done, and why the team has had so much success.
“I know that the season really starts with the front office, and that starts with me,” Roseman said. “So, when we have good offseasons, it usually leads to success during the regular season. I think that’s our responsibility and that’s my responsibility and we’ve seen it. The three best years we’ve probably had as a front office have led to three Super Bowls.”
And when a good offseason happens, results can be immediate. That’s especially true when a team gets impactful veteran players like the Eagles did, because they are ready to make a big impact from the get go.
“There’s some sort of correlation between how we do our job and the opportunity it allows everyone in the organization to do their job well throughout it,” Roseman added. “It’s inspiring. Obviously, the resources change from year to year. I think an underrated key to getting back here was that we really had resources and in the draft 2022, ’23, ’24 to have some flexibility.”
Roseman had a unique path to this position. He’s been with the Eagles since 2000 as a front office intern, salary cap staff counsel, director of football administration, vice president of football administration, vice president of player personnel.
He was promoted to general manager in 2010. However, when the Eagles hired Chip Kelly, he became an afterthought in the franchise’s decision-making structure.
Promoted to executive vice president of football operations, Roseman regained full roster control after Kelly was fired in 2016. One year later, the Eagles won their first Super Bowl. In 2019, he was elevated to the position he is now, as an executive vice president and general manager.
Efficiency
Since taking over the general manager role in 2010 for the Philadelphia Eagles Howie Roseman has drafted four All Pros, and 15 Pro Bowl players. Six of those star talents are still on the Eagles roster heading into Super Bowl LIX: QB Jalen Hurts, OT Lane Johnson, DT Jalen Carter, OL Landon Dickerson, OL Cam Jurgens, and EDGE Josh Sweat.
Roseman absolutely stole All Pro wide receiver AJ Brown from the Titans in what became one of the all-time best trades in Eagles franchise history. He also traded for perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay, who continues to thrive well into his 30s.
Then Roseman of course always dominates the free agency market too. All Pro running back Saquon Barkley. All Pro linebacker Zack Baun. C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Mekhi Becton. Oren Burks. All free agent acquisitions now playing critical roles on the Eagles Super Bowl LIX team.
Yes, head coach Nick Sirianni and his staff have done a wondrous job getting all of Roseman’s playmakers on both sides of the ball in the best positions to succeed, but it’s clear that the most significant orchestrator of the Eagles’ success is the general manager.
Roseman and his Philadelphia Eagles have already won one Super Bowl (in February of 2018 over Tom Brady). Can they take down the reigning champions in the Kansas City Chiefs? If so, the credit likely lies with the greatest general manager in the NFL right now.
