For all the Eagles fans calling for Howie Roseman’s job, it’s time to put down the pitch forks and call it a day.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Paul Domowitch, who’s talked to sources within the Eagles organization, firing Roseman is “not even something [Jeffrey] Lurie has contemplated.”
Many fans, including myself, have come down hard on Roseman the past few seasons. Since the Super Bowl year, the team has often been riddled with injuries (Roseman is in charge of hiring the medical team) and they’ve struck out on numerous draft picks, plummeting the franchise to where we are today.
Obviously, not all of the blame falls on Howie for how things have unfolded this season. Doug Pederson has made a handful of head scratching gameday personnel decisions, and his play calling has been forgettable. If Carson Wentz would’ve played better this season, maybe this conversation wouldn’t even be taking place. But the franchise QB has failed every step of the way in 2020, leading the league in turnovers and holding the 34th ranked QB rating (72.8).
Lurie and Roseman have long had a great working relationship. Roseman’s been a part of the organization since 2000, when he started off on the salary cap staff counsel. Since then he’s worked his way up to become one of the most recognizable front office heads in the NFL. He has a Super Bowl under his belt as the GM in 2017, and his team has made the postseason three straight years before 2020.
But, since that magical 2017 season, there has been a steady decline in the talent the Eagles have to work with. The only Pro Bowl player Howie has drafted since returning to power in 2016 has been Wentz, who’s future is up in the air at the moment.
He’s made some savvy moves, there’s no denying that. Flipping Sam Bradford for a 1st round pick right before the 2016 season started, pretty much every free agent move he made leading up to the 2017 season, and snagging guys like Josh Sweat and Jordan Mailata in later rounds seem like they’re starting to payoff. But as we all know, for every good move Roseman’s made, there’s been about two to three bad ones.
I’m not going to list them all out because I assume you already know the majority of them.
If Lurie doesn’t fire Howie, he and Roseman need to put their heads together to find a top personnel guy to help in the draft and free agency. When Roseman was promoted back to general manager in 2016, the one stipulation Lurie had was that Howie had to find a top personnel mind, which ended up being Joe Douglas. Andy Weidl was promoted from within to fill that vacancy, but Howie still clearly has the final say in draft picks and peronnel moves.
Howie has proven that he can’t run a Super Bowl contender without some help in the front office. Going outside of the organization, finding someone with a similar philosophy, could remedy some of the issues that Howie has been allowed to perpetuate throughout the organization. A fresh set of eyes can never hurt, and the Eagles desperately need any help they can get right now.
It’s impossible to know what changes, if any, we’ll see this offseason. But it’s safe to say Howie Roseman getting fired will not be one of them.
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