The Philadelphia Eagles are a bad team right now. You don’t need me to tell you that. But perhaps the most alarming thing surrounding the franchise right now is the clear dysfunction that’s seeped into every crevasse of the organization.
Many fans point to Howie Roseman when handing out blame for the Eagles current position. When “Fire Howie” chants break out at a Phillies game, just about a week before the NFL Draft, there’s no denying Howie is on thin ice with this fanbase. And to the fans’ credit, they have every right to be angry with Roseman.
While he played a huge role in constructing the Super Bowl roster — winning NFL Executive of the Year in the process — his role has been equally as large in the downfall of the organization since that championship.
The team doesn’t have superb young talent at any position heading into 2021, and that’s on Howie.
So it begs the question, can Howie afford another bad draft in 2021? And if it is bad, will Jeffrey Lurie actually part ways with his right hand man? While many fans believe Roseman will stay here as long as he likes because of his close relationship with Lurie, I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that he remains as the team’s GM past this year.
Looking at the state of the Eagles from Lurie’s perspective, you have a once respected franchise that was tight-knit and seemingly had a franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz. Now, we get new reports of internal dysfunction almost every month, and it all stems back to Roseman and Lurie.
Whether it was the coddling of Wentz, or the now infamous Tuesday meetings with Doug Pederson where the GM and owner critiqued his every decision, it’s starting to feel like this situation can’t be solved with Roseman in charge.
The bad draft picks aside, the culture of the team is clearly not up to par. There was a clear divide between the management and the coaching staff last year, and for years before that.
The bottom line is that winning cures everything. So if the Eagles come out next year and are able to field a .500 football team, which could win the division and get them to the playoffs, Roseman will be back next year. If the struggles on the field continue and the team remains a laughing stock, Roseman should be gone — and he probably will be. For the simple reason that Lurie isn’t dumb. It’s easy to say he is from our perspective, but in reality he’s been one of the best owners in the NFL since 2000.
He typically understands when a situation is unsalvageable. He moved on from Andy Reid in 2012, he quickly cut ties with Chip Kelly in 2015, and while I still don’t believe Pederson should’ve been fired this offseason, the dynamic between him and Howie was clearly not going to work, so Lurie stuck with his guy.
We also can’t forget that the Eagles could potentially have three first round picks next year. If Roseman is unable to find any kind of legitimate talent in this year’s draft, can Lurie justify allowing him to have the reigns again next year? He’s already beginning to lose the fanbase a bit, giving Roseman three first round picks after another debacle of an offseason would just be disastrous.
There will come a point when Lurie needs to part ways with his long-time GM. If Howie whiffs on another draft and the team doesn’t manage to win more than 5-6 games, that time will be here sooner than some think.