Philadelphia’s general manager learned from the aftermath of his first Super Bowl win.
The Eagles had a problem in 2018.
Fresh off winning Super Bowl LII, the NovaCare Complex was filled with people figuratively pointing at themselves and beating their chests, ‘It’s me, it’s me. I did this.’ Everyone was so busy taking credit for winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history that they forgot what was eroding beneath them, a football team’s foundation crumbling in its inability to draft and develop in-house talent at a high level since Andy Reid left. Some of the Eagles’ biggest contributions were from outside acquisitions, other than the drafting of Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce and Zach Ertz.
It is mistake Eagles’ general manager Howie Roseman vowed he would never make again.
Roseman had filled the roster with quick-fix mercenaries, like Chris Long, Patrick Robinson, LeGarrette Blount and Alshon Jeffery, who signed a one-year deal in March 2017, then later had his contract extended in December of that year.
This time, Roseman has done it right. He has built a sustainable model. The roster he has created, despite the free agent losses of drafted players like Josh Sweat, Kenneth Gainwell and Milton Williams, who is the most significant of the Eagles’ offseason departures, will continue to be Super Bowl contenders.
The Eagles have lost major contributors to their Super Bowl LIX success in cornerbacks Isaiah Rodgers (Vikings) and Darius Slay (Steelers), and in safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (traded to the Texans). Stepping right in will be Moro Ojomo (DL), Kelee Ringo (CB), Jalyx Hunt (DE), Sydney Brown (S) and Will Shipley (RB). By all indications of this past season, they appear to be capable of handling the additional workload. And they all have something distinctively in common—they were all drafted by Roseman and the Eagles.
The first time around, Roseman and the Eagles did not know how to handle the weight of success.
This time, they do.
Roseman is putting money aside and cutting to create more available future cash for when big ticket deals, like the one pending with Jalen Carter this time next year in keeping as many foundational players as possible. Over the last 10 years, no NFL team has spent more cash than the Eagles.
Last month, an interview on the “Pardon My Take” podcast, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow praised the Eagles for their ability to retain their essential players and keeping their core intact, “The Eagles are paying everybody. That seems like the way, whatever they’re doing.”
“The Eagles have learned to handle this now, and they understand how to maintain the gold standard they preach,” said Barrett Brooks, one of the stalwarts on NBC Philadelphia’s Eagles Postgame Live show, and who is as locked into the Eagles as anyone. “That (2017 Super Bowl) team had to undergo a totally different makeover. You did have a bunch of mercenaries on that team. You had veterans on the back end of their careers that came in for a year or two, and look who they brought in. The core group of this team has been drafted. Their offensive line, with the exception of Mekhi Becton, were all drafted by the Eagles. Look at the current structure of their defense, the only significant player not drafted is (linebacker Zack) Baun. They would like to keep all of their guys, but they are putting faith and trust in who they drafted.
“Howie had to reinvent himself after the big contract they gave Jalen Hurts. That 2017 team was an older team. This is one of the youngest teams in the NFL and they are the defending Super Bowl champions. This team has come up through the ranks together. This defense is comprised of players on rookie deals. Free agency may have hurt some depth, but they have a lot of younger guys coming up who got time this past season and who the Eagles believe can step in.”
The 2017 Eagles’ team also invested a lot of power in Carson Wentz’s hands. He had “the direct line to the Bat Phone,” meaning he could call Jeff Lurie anytime he wanted and had some input. The organization internally will not make that mistake again.
“Because the Eagles have paid their quarterback, they have to do tighten things by necessity,” Brooks said. “What Howie has done, and done it brilliantly, is build through the draft. He hit on Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean, Cam Jurgens, guys like that. This is a team that is far more together. It’s because most of them came in together.”
Roseman has lost some valuable pieces of the 2024 Super Bowl champion.
“The Eagles will continue to win because they have Howie and they have quality coaches,” NFL expert analyst Mike Mayock said. “If you can breathe a winning attitude in a city like Philadelphia and pay your guys, a lot of coaches will stay. Okay, Vic (Fangio) did a great job in the Eagles winning the Super Bowl but look at Jeremiah Washburn (the Eagles’ edge/outside linebackers coach who has been with the team for six years). He does an amazing job. You have Clint Hurtt, a former player who is great, and we all know about Stout (Jeff Stoutland). One thing I know about NFL players is they recognize very quickly the coaches that can help their careers, and help them get better, and help them get to a Super Bowl, versus the guys that can’t. The Eagles are fortunate because they have the staff that can get them back there again.
“The Eagles got better during the season because their players got better. They know the system and can fly around even more on defense and have to believe that they will lean on that offensive line again and run Saquon Barkley. Teams knew what the Eagles were going to do and they still could not stop them. Then when Kansas City schemed to shut down Barkley in the Super Bowl, look what happened there.”
Sweat, Williams, Gardner-Johnson, Rodgers and Slay are gone.
Does it matter?
Because of their departures will the 2025 Eagles really need a season-ending three-game winning streak with some help to even make the playoffs, as the defending Super Bowl champion 2018 Eagles did?
Not with the returning talent this team has.
It looks like Roseman and the Eagles have indeed learned valuable lessons from winning, so they can win again—now, not seven years from now.
