PHILADELPHIA — Howie Roseman was in a reflective mood early last February shortly before the Eagles boarded a charter flight to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX.
He was fielding any and all questions about arguably the greatest season in franchise history, which would end eight days later with the franchise’s second Super Bowl title in eight years.
“I know that the season really starts with the front office and that starts with me,” the Eagles general manager said. “And so when we have good offseasons, it usually leads to success during the regular season. And so I think that’s our responsibility and that’s my responsibility and we’ve seen it. The three best years we’ve probably had as a front office has led to three Super Bowls.”
Following consecutive losses, including the most recent one to a last-place Giants team desperate to become relevant again, we are left with some serious doubts about Roseman’s most recent offseason work.
As head coach Nick Sirianni has talked this week about rebounding from adversity, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of the Eagles’ issues have to do with talent rather than scheme and execution.
Siranni has been adamant about not assigning blame for what took place during the Eagles’ losses to the Giants and Denver Broncos.
“It’s always about finding solutions,” he said. “We feel like we did some of that” (during the extra time off following their Thursday game with the Giants).
“Now, we’ve got to put it to work and I’m excited about that opportunity,” Sirianni said.
We have to wait until Sunday when the Eagles play a road game against the Minnesota Vikings to see if Siranni, his coaching staff and the players have indeed figured some things out or if the problems go deeper than simply executing better.
“Yeah, it’s not a capability thing,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said after the Eagles’ loss against Denver. “We don’t have a capability issue. We know what we’re capable of. We’re just not doing those things yet. But we will.”
Things didn’t change four days later against the Giants. In fact, they got worse. The offense looked good in the first half, then disappeared in the second half. The defense never showed up. The injury concerns grew larger, testing the team’s depth, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“We always want to stay (with) the process,” Sirianni said. “There are times the ball bounces a certain way, and you don’t win the game, or you don’t coach well enough, or you don’t play well enough.”
True.
This, however, could be one of the times when Roseman didn’t GM well enough in the offseason and if that’s the case it makes the job of the coaching staff and players extremely difficult.
It’s no secret, of course, that Roseman went about his business a little bit differently during the offseason. Owner Jeffrey Lurie’s willingness to spend up-front cash and absorb dead money has served as an asset for the Eagles, but it impacted the way Roseman operated at the start of the new league year in March.
With an approaching need to pay core players like defensive tackle Jalen Carter and some other, the general manager cleared some payroll, resulting in the exits of valuable veterans Darius Slay, C.J. Gardner Johnson, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Mekhi Becton and Isaiah Rodgers.
CJGJ, twice released this year, is the only defensive player on that list not currently having success.
Rodgers was the only one of the players mentioned above the Eagles wanted to pay, but he got a two-year deal from the Vikings worth up to $15 million and he decided to take it, leaving the secondary without three of its most vital contributors from last season.
Those subtractions have been glaring.
Adoree’ Jackson opened the season as the starting cornerback opposite Quinyon Mitchell, but he sat out Week 4 against Tampa Bay with a groin injury and Kelee Ringo started the next three games. Ringo, however, struggled mightily against the Giants and was benched after two series by defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
His time on the sideline only lasted a couple of plays because Mitchell suffered a second-quarter hamstring injury and did not return. Mitchell was out on the practice field for the team stretch Wednesday and he was listed as a limited practice participant.
With or without Mitchell, the Eagles are weaker at cornerback this season than a year ago because of the absence of Slay and Rodgers.
They’re also weaker at safety with the loss of Gardner-Johnson. Rookie second-round pick Andrew Mukuba has stepped in as the starter there and he had a half sack and huge interception in Week 2 against Kansas City. But he has struggled in recent weeks, including a missed tackle that led to a Giants’ touchdown in Week 6.
After finishing first in pass defense a year ago, the Eagles are 12th in that department this season.
The departures of Sweat, Williams and, yes, even Bryce Huff have also weakened the defense. Add in Brandon Graham’s retirement and the Eagles went into the season very thin in the pass-rushing department.
A triceps injury that sent Nolan Smith to injured reserve in Week 3 and this week’s retirement by Za’Darius Smith have further accentuated the Eagles’ lack of depth along the defensive line.
Sweat leads the Arizona Cardinals with five sacks (just four fewer than the Eagles’ entire team) and 21 pressures, which would be tied with Moro Ojomo for the team lead in Philadelphia. Huff, meanwhile, has 19 pressures and three sacks in San Francisco. He leads the 49ers in both categories and those numbers would lead the Eagles’ edge rushers, too.
Offensively the Eagles mostly stood firm in the offseason, believing stars like Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and “the best offensive line” in the NFL could build upon the success they have last season.
So far that hasn’t happened.
Maybe Roseman can find help before the Nov. 4 trade deadline. That’s the last big order of business a GM can conduct to help his team’s roster. Right now, it appears as if Roseman’s offseason decisions are having a negative impact on what’s happening with the team during the 2025 season.
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