Developing Concept? GM Howie Roseman Makes a Double Take
PHILADELPHIA:When it comes to his roster-building philosophy, Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman isn’t banking on an overcorrection based on a smaller sample size, but he also isn’t running away from the team’s late-season collapse.
Alongside struggling head coach Nick Sirianni, Roseman stated at his season-ending news conference, “I believe we’ve always kind of had our own twist on roster building.” However, I’ve also said a lot of times that if you continue to follow trends rather than leading them, you’re essentially receiving the leftovers. You need to be in front of it.
“I believe we’ve been ahead of it when we’ve had our finest squads.”
The two No. 1 seeds going into Championship Weekend, Baltimore and San Francisco, have enjoyed the luxury of outstanding linebacking play this year. Many Roseman detractors feel the general manager has overvalued the position in Philadelphia.
Roseman specifically addressed that after he let free agents T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White walk in favor of taking a chance on second-year player Nakobe Dean, who had two separate foot injuries that ended his season, and pieced things together with veterans Zach Cunningham and Nick Morrow.
Before justifying himself, Roseman stated, “I feel like we’ve had a long history of success here developing the club in a specific way, and I believe maybe there are some preconceived notions that at the linebacker position, that we don’t care who we play at linebacker.” “Again, the linebacker play from those players was terrific for our two Super Bowl teams in the last six years.”
The issue with such defense is that in 2017, the Eagles possessed both the skilled Jordan Hicks and the seasoned Nigel Bradham. When the former was hurt, they could still rely on Mychal Kendricks, but in 2022, Edwards and White were so resilient that they hardly saw the field. This season, Philadelphia was left in a bind when the Dean basket collapsed, leaving all the eggs inside.
“I believe it’s my belief in the players we have, especially the younger ones,” Roseman remarked. “I really believe in Nakobe Dean, and I know Coach feels the same way.” I have faith in the athlete. I think well of the individual.
“Nakabe was waiting in the wings, and we lost two linebackers—two talented players from our Super Bowl squad—at that position. He was our choice for that part. It’s obvious that this year wasn’t the best for him. That doesn’t alter our opinion of the athlete.
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Roseman needs to have more of a backup plan going forward at the more underappreciated positions, at the very least, but don’t expect a significant change in the roster-building mentality overall.
Roseman said, “I think you’re not going to be ideal in roster building.” You will err from time to time. You may look at the four teams that are now in action, and I can assure you that we can discuss a few things that they would want to see returned. That’s a component of it.
Having a vision for how we want it to look is the most crucial thing we need to do. We must have the method that we desire. Occasionally, despite having a plan and a method in place, the outcome may not be what you had in mind. Therefore, you must ensure that you are not overreacting to a result that may have been an aberration at the moment and then consider whether the method itself may be at fault.
Roseman thinks his methodology has been validated by the bigger sample size in Philadelphia.
“It seems like right now, winning is the only thing that matters,” he remarked. “Putting out a product on the field that gives us the best chance to win a championship every year is all that matters. We know we can do that because we’ve done it. We’ll keep working as hard as we can to continue growing, learning from any adversity we face, and doing everything in our power to overcome it.”
