NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
Being the GM of any sports team is a tough job. While the coaches and players take the heat for wins and losses, the next man on the totem pole is usually the GM. The owner can get away with many things. He’s the check writer. If the team fails, what are they going to do, fire themselves? Not happening. But the GM, he’s the bridge between success and failure. For Howie Roseman, he’s seen the ups and downs firsthand while occupying that position with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Roseman has had success in drafts, free agency, and trades. But as Eagles’ fans love to point out, he’s also had his share of failures as well. But let’s not focus on that too much. What we’re here to focus on is what Roseman did this offseason.
The Eagles began the offseason armed with 10 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. All signs were pointing to a strong draft but Roseman had other plans. Even before the draft, Roseman began to make moves. While most will argue that it began with the swapping of picks or the restructuring of a contract, Roseman really set the stage with his backing of QB Jalen Hurts.
As the Eagles head into the 2022-23 NFL season, all eyes were set on Hurts, not on Roseman. Did he have enough cap space to provide Hurts with weapons and what would he do with his draft picks? Now we can say, that despite all the criticism Roseman has taken over the years, he knocked one out the park this offseason.
It all began with the signing of LB Haasan Reddick. The Eagles were desperate for help at the LB position and Roseman pulled off a miracle with Reddick. In 2021, Reddick registered 11 sacks while with the Carolina Panthers. While that was a great deal, Roseman wasn’t done. The very next day, Roseman released Fletcher Cox but that was done to save cap space for the moves that were coming next. Fans not understanding why Roseman made the decision were rejoicing just 2 days after when the Eagles re-signed Cox to a cheaper deal.
Howie Roseman Was Just Warming Up
With Cox and Reddick signed, Roseman took care of RB Boston Scott by resigning him to a new one-year deal. In just a few days, Roseman retained Scott and Cox, and signed Reddick. There was still a week and a half left in March and Roseman was not about to let those days go to waste. Before March was out, Roseman would have signed WR Zach Pascal from the Indianapolis Colts and resigned DE Derrick Barnett.
After those moves is when Howie Roseman began to earn his flowers this offseason for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Howie Roseman then added more depth to the Eagles’ LB core with Kyzir White then he decided to take aim and blow the competition away at the 2022 NFL Draft. Roseman would do his normal wheeling and dealing as he traded picks to the New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Detroit Lions. Roseman would then go on to draft DT Jordan Davis, C Cam Jurgens, TE Grant Calcaterra, LBs Nakobe Dean, and Kyron Johnson. Oh wait, in between all these selections, he managed to make a trade with the Tennessee Titans for stud receiver AJ Brown.
But wait, Howie still wasn’t done with the moves.
With two more moves, Roseman would short up an Eagles’ secondary that was in desperate need of a facelift. He would go on to sign CB James Bradberry away from the New York Giants after he was released then did the same with San Francisco 49ers starting S Jaquiski Tartt. And there you have it, what other GM in the league had a better offseason than Roseman? While some made bold singular moves, Roseman made a handful of them without breaking a sweat.
Philly fans can be tough. For years there has been a tough love/hate relationship with the fans where Roseman is concerned. he’s had his share of ups and downs, but this offseason, Howie Roseman did nothing but do his job the right way. And for that, fans of the Philadelphia Eagles must tip their hat to their GM and give him his flowers for a job well done.
