Philadelphia Eagles: Howie Roseman stole Duke Riley from the Falcons

The Philadelphia Eagles got a starter and a pick for 27 snaps of Jonathan Cyprien.

The NFL season is a fickle, fickle thing, especially if you’re a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles.

In the lead up to Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season, many fans were on Cloud 9. Sure, the team had questionable depth across the board, contractural dysfunction, and was losing starters at an alarming clip over the summer’s abbreviated training camp, but their opening day opponents didn’t even have a name for crying out loud; how could they lose?

Yeah, just like that, the Eagles went from presumed NFC East champions to a team destined for a 4-12 record in the eyes of emotional fans the world over.

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And no one, except maybe Carson Wentz and Doug Pederson, received more criticism than the Eagles’ Executive Vice President of Football Operations, Howie Roseman.

But hey why be so gosh darn negative? I mean sure, Roseman ignored adding veteran depth on the offensive line, thoroughly botched the Jason Peters–Cordy Glenn situation, and pushed so much guaranteed money into the future that the team presently has a negative $63 million cap number in 2021 but that doesn’t mean he’s exclusively made bad deals as of late. In actuality, Roseman might have pulled off a massive steal right under our collective noses that few fans even remember.

Allow me to elaborate.

You see, in 2019, the Atlanta Falcons really needed a strong safety. They’d just lost former first-round pick Keanu Neal to a season-ending injury and despite having a pair of competent safeties to fall back on in Damontae Kazee and Ricardo Allen, general manager Thomas Dimitroff really wanted a hard-hitting strong safety to fill the Kam Chancellor-role in Dan Quinn‘s Seattle-adjacent system.

Enter Howie Roseman, who just so happened to have a player available who fit that very bill.

Initially joining the team on August 2nd, Jonathan Cyprien was never a particularly good fit in the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive secondary, as he’s much more of a hitting box safety than your prototypical do-it-all coverage ace. Stuck behind starters Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod, in addition to fellow one-year signee Andrew Sendejo on the depth chart, Cyprien found a home on Dave Fipp’s special teams unit – earning 75 special teams snaps in four games of action versus only 15 on defense.

Clearly, Cyprien was a better fit on the other Birds than wasting away his prime years as a special teams-only performer, and believe you me, Atlanta was willing to pay handsomely for his services. We’re talking Duke Riley, who had largely underperformed his draft slot with the Falcons but immediately slotted into Cyprien’s spot on special teams, and a 2020 sixth-round pick, in exchange for the 29-year-old safety and a 2020 seventh-round pick.

Seems rather inconsequential, right? Well, not so fast my friend.

Fast forward one year into the future and Riley is one of the Eagles’ three starting linebackers alongside T.J. Edwards and Nathan Gerry and was arguably the best of the trio in the Birds’ Week 1 loss to Washington – recording seven tackles and half a sack while playing 81 percent of the team’s defensive snaps (81 percent).

As for the pick? Well, the Eagles actually traded it on draft night to the San Francisco 49ers for Marquise Goodwin and the 210th overall pick, which eventually was used to select Auburn left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho. Granted, PTW wasn’t able to make the Eagles’ initial 53 man roster and Goodwin opted out of the season, but both will presumably be back in play next summer for a more expansive role in 2021.

And as for the Falcons? Well, Cyprien did end up starting his first game with the team but suffered an injury that landed him on IR. Once his contract expired at the end of the season, Cyprien signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers, was waived, and now sits on their practice squad waiting for his next opportunity. His final snap count with the Falcons? 24 on defense and three on special teams.

But hey don’t feel too bad for the Falcons, as they ultimately decided to use the Eagles’ seventh-round pick on Syracuse punter Sterling Hofrichter, who averaged 50 yards on his two Week 1 attempts against the Seattle Seahawks. That’s… something.

dark. Next. 5 positive talking points from the Week 1 loss

While it’s still up in the air as to Duke Riley’s future in the City of Brotherly Love, as he’s in the final year of his four-year, rookie scale deal, any time a team can land a starter for a part-time player is amazing value, even if said starter is only on the team for a season and a half. Should Riley finally come into his own and look like the defensive lightning rod that got him drafted on Day 2 out of LSU, the Eagles may finally be able to put their linebacker issues behind them once and for all. Howie Roseman, you killed that deal, my friend.

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