Philadelphia Eagles: Howie Roseman has learned from his draft mistakes

There was a particularly awkward moment on Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft, where Howie Roseman and Tom Donahoe had an ever so heated exchange in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room that was unfortunately caught on camera for the world to see.

In the exchange, which you can watch here, Roseman attempts to fist bump Donahoe after the selection of Milton Williams 73rd overall but was met with a hostile hand and some choice worlds we may never be privy to, which likely occurred because of the former’s decision to trade down four spots in the third to net only a 2021 sixth-rounder.

While some will look to this exchange as a classic example of the Eagles’ front office being dysfunctional or worse, a toxic work environment, I think about it through a slightly different lens.

Sure, it’s uncomfortable to see two execs have a heated exchange over presumably losing out on drafting UCF’s Aaron Robinson, who was picked by the New York Giants a pick later, but the fact Roseman stuck to his board and felt confident enough that there were enough quality players left to move down a few spots and net a future pick out of the deal is a new level of restraint that is oddly refreshing for a GM often criticized for falling in love with a specific player.

Howie Roseman’s newfound restraint should serve the Philadelphia Eagles well.

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When news broke that Howie Roseman disregarded the grades of his scouting department to select Jalen Reagor and Jalen Hurts over players like Justin Jefferson, J.K. Dobbins, and Jeremy Chinn with the 21st and 53rd overall picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, it felt like a massive black eye on a second-tenure of a general manager that wasn’t exactly beloved in a city known for being particularly loving.

Had the picks worked out, and Roseman’s quest for speed been rewarded with a fourth-straight trip to the playoffs, maybe, just maybe Doug Pederson would still have a job, Carson Wentz would still be a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, and the hype heading into the forthcoming season would overtake the current frustrations fans the world over currently feel about their favorite team’s future.

Fun fact: That didn’t happen.

No, due to a confluence of events both predictable and impossibly so, the Eagles collapsed under the weight of their overly inflated salary cap and have since had to shed fan favorites across the board to just get cap compliant, let alone start the process of retooling around a young quarterback that few expected would be ready for this situation, not one year prior when he was going through the pre-draft process.

So naturally, with very few options to add marquee free agent talent through free agency – though, admittedly, the Eagles did pretty well with the additions of Eric Wilson and Anthony Wilson – Roseman would have to absolutely crush the 2021 NFL Draft if he wanted to limit the number of playoff-less campaigns he’d have to suffer through before bringing winning ways back to South Philly, with his job security waning with each compounding L.

Fortunately, it would appear Roseman did just that by putting his personal feelings aside and playing the BPA game for all 11 of the team’s picks, including the ones he traded away for one reason or another.

From the decision to flip a first and a third to move up a few spots to steal away the final marquee-level player available in the first round from the New York Giants, to the decision not to trade up to select Zech McPhearson at the end of the third round – instead, allowing him to naturally fall to the team at 123 – and even flipping a pair of late Day 3 picks to Washington for a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, which is near-continuously considered a deeper class, Roseman stuck to his board, made picks based on value, and walked away with a class The Athletics’ Dane Brugler called the best of the best in his rankings column (subscription required).

Why, you may ask, did the Eagles use four of their nine draft selections on defensive linemen? Well, because Milton Williams, Marlon Tuipulotu, Tarron Jackson, and Patrick Johnson were all surely the best players on the Birds’ board when they came on the clock, and no player, not even DeVonta Smith, is a sure thing. If, say, Jackson transcends the group and becomes the next Danielle Hunter, no one will care that he was picked after Williams. If Jackson becomes the second coming of Deion Jones or Kwon Alexander, I don’t think anyone will care that the team opted to pick him in the sixth over, say, Jabari Cox in the fourth.

And honestly, the decision to go with Landon Dickerson over a cornerback like Kelvin Joseph, who is a high-upside player at a position of need, highlights just how committed Roseman was to drafting the right way, as his completely attainable upside as a 10 year Pro Bowler is insane value to land in the second round, let alone at 37.

But hey, don’t just take my word for it, even Tom Donahoe, who you may remember from earlier in this piece, spoke glowingly about this years’ drafting process, telling Chris Mortensen of ESPN, “I thought Howie and Andy Weidl led as good a draft as we’ve had in my 10 years.”

Now, why do you think that would be? As pretty much anyone will tell you, no one can accurately evaluate a draft class until at least two-three years in the future, so could Donahoe confidently call this as good a draft as the team has had in 10 years? Could it be because Roseman stuck to the board and remained confident in the evaluations of his scouts regardless of position or need?

That’s the feeling I certainly get from the quote.

Next. Jalen Hurts has been hard at work this offseason. dark

So what gives? Has Howie Roseman turned over a new leaf and will attempt to build a contender the “right way” moving forward? Or have the pressures of a few bad drafts shortened the leash healed by an owner who certainly doesn’t like huge exposes about his franchise’s dysfunction every month or so? Maybe a little bit of both? Well, whatever the reason, the real winner of this year’s best player available draft class has to be the Philadelphia Eagles, as it could help to set a fine foundation for a speedy rebuild under new head coach Nick Sirianni, which is all anyone really wants.

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