Eagles need to get rid of their biggest problem: Howie Roseman

All good things must come to an end especially, Howie Roseman’s time with the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Howie Roseman is the executive vice president and general manager for the Philadelphia Eagles. Roseman has been with the Eagles since 2000 and has been in the role of general manager since 2010.

The Eagles have had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows during Roseman’s tenure. The Eagles have won a Super Bowl and multiple NFC East divisions. Also, the Eagles have had multiple four-win seasons.

Roseman played a huge part in that magical season of 2017 with the signing of Alshon Jeffery, Nick Foles, Chris Long and LeGarrette Blount. Also, Roseman played a huge part in trading up from the 14 to the second pick in the 2016 NFL Draft to land Carson Wentz.

The 2017 Eagles are my favorite team ever and they gave me so many memories. The night they won the Super Bowl and the day of the Super Bowl parade with my cousins was among the top five moments of my life. I will forever be grateful for what Howie Roseman did for the 2017 team.

But the 2020 Eagles were one the worst teams in Eagles history with a record of 4-11-1. The 4-11-1 record was led by bad decisions by Roseman, bad coaching by Doug Pederson and bad quarterback play by Carson Wentz.

With only a few good young players, 90 million over the salary cap and a roster that has more holes than a Pennsylvania road, the Eagles decide that the organization needs a rebuild. So far the Eagles have made moves that show they are starting a rebuild.

So far during this offseason, the Eagles have made some major moves. On Jan. 11 the Eagles fired head coach Doug Pederson, on Feb. 11 traded franchise quarterback Carson Wentz to the Colts and announced they will release Alshon Jeffery, Desean Jackson and Malik Jackson when the new league starts, which is March 17.

The move that was not made that should have been was the firing of Howie Roseman. I still cannot believe that the Eagles fired their only Super Bowl-winning head coach less than three years after the Super bowl. Also, trading the franchise quarterback 20 months after signing one of the biggest extensions in NFL history. But the guy who built this roster, coaching staff and gave Wentz the extension still has his job. 

In football, the general manager, head coach and quarterback are three of the most important people in the franchise. If all three are good and all have good relationships the franchise will be successful. 

With how involved the general manager is with the head coach and quarterback it’s unexplainable to keep the general manager while getting rid of his head coach and his quarterback. 

Roseman now got to pick his third head coach and now gets to decide who the next franchise quarterback is. There are very few general managers that get to hire a third head coach but none within 10 years. 

Keeping Roseman after firing Pederson and Wentz are telltale signs of a dysfunctional franchise. And a national embarrassment like mentioned earlier.

The job of a general manager in the NFL is to draft and sign players, hire a head coach, manage the salary cap and build relationships between coaches and players.

Bad Drafting

There are many reasons why Roseman should be fired but the biggest reason why is drafting. Drafting is probably the responsibility of the general manager. Drafting is the best way to fix your roster with young cheap talent. Roseman has had some all-time draft misses especially the last few years. The most recent draft misses are passing on Justin Jefferson and DK Metcalf.

Roseman has got a lot of criticism for passing on Jefferson because he broke many rookies receiving records while the Eagles picked Jalen Reagor who is also a receiver. Reagor was the 21st pick in the 2020 NFL draft while Jefferson was the 22nd pick. Many draft experts had Jefferson higher ranked the Reagor. 

Here is a video of the Minnesota Vikings who the 22nd pick in the 2020 NFL draft reaction of the Eagles passing on Jefferson for Reagor.

In one of the shocking picks in recent draft history, Roseman drafted Jalen Hurts a quarterback in the second round. Hurts is a quarterback which is the same position as Wentz. This pick came after 10 months of signing Wentz to that massive extension.

Many Eagles were confused and upset with the Hurts pick including me. Right after the Eagles picked Hurts I shaved my beard because I was so depressed.

Roseman after picking Hurts mentioned he wasn’t going to pass up Russel Wilson again like he did in 2012 and he wanted to make the Eagles a quarterback factory. 

I believe if Hurts was not selected by the Eagles Pederson and Wentz would still be here and the Eagles would have won the NFC East. 

Also, since taking over the draft responsible in 2013 Roseman has picked 47 players since 2013-2019. Only 14 of the 47 players are still on the team. This is a huge reason why the Eagles are in the position they are now.

Managing Salary Cap

Managing the salary is not an easy thing to do. The NFL sets a cap on how much money each team is allowed to spend on salary for its players. It is a hard cap so you cannot go over the total amount.

This was one of Roseman’s strengths by always having the Eagles under the cap ready for a big move. The way Roseman did it was always pushing money to the future. This year with COVID-19 the NFL cap dropped to 180 million. This puts the Eagles over 70 million dollars over the cap. There will be many favorites gone because of Roseman’s cap mishandling.

It doesn’t help that Wentz now has the highest dead cap hit in NFL history with his trade to the Colts. Wentz’s dead cap hit is 34 million dollars, which is 18 percent of the Eagles cap next year.

Bad Relationships

Roseman is not a well-liked guy in the Eagles organization and around the league. One agent is quoted as saying if Howie is talking you know he is lying. 

Both Pederson and Wentz were happy to leave the Eagles organization to get away from Roseman. Roseman would not let Pederson pick his own coaching staff. Every other Super Bowl-winning head coach gets to pick his staff. Pederson stood his ground by telling Roseman to fire him if he can’t pick his own staff.

Wentz demanded a trade from the Eagles due to the Hurts picks and the lack of weapons on the offense of the last few years. The Eagles missed out on getting Wentz good receivers whether it was through the draft, free agency or a trade. Many good receivers have been available over the last few years. 

I do not blame Pederson or Wentz for wanting to leave this crappy organization.

Since Roseman is still the general manager I fear for the worst. With his good relationship with Lurie, it seems to me that Roseman won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. 

The Eagles could be a bad football team for many years if Roseman can’t get it together.

 I always thought Roseman was not great at his job and the past few years have confirmed that for me. 

I will always root for the Eagles even if I think they are being run by a too involved owner and a power-hungry cap nerd.

Go Birds and #FireHowie.