Howie Roseman's Impressive Juggling Act was Potentially Franchise-Altering
In this story:
PHILADELPHIA - Whether you understand it or not, Thursday proved to be a bit of a franchise-altering day for the Eagles, who left the night with two potential difference-makers, one on each side of the football, essentially in exchange for five draft picks and over $75 million in guarantees once Jordan Davis inks his slotted rookie deal as the No. 13 overall pick.
It seems like eons ago that we were talking about Philadelphia entering the 2022 draft with Nos. 15, 16, and 19 in the first round.
By the time Day 1 of the draft was over there were three trades and GM Howie Roseman didn't use any of those actual selections but still came away with Davis, the unicorn of a defensive tackle from Georgia, a proven commodity at receiver to help Jalen Hurts and complement DeVonta Smith in A.J. Brown, and an extra 2023 first-round pick.
The latter came part of that came earlier in the process when Roseman again proved he's near the top of his peers when it comes to the valuation game while the players garnered came from an impressive juggling performance in real-time.
The first domino was a targeted move up to No. 13 for Davis, a player that the organization was very high on but felt wouldn't get past Baltimore at No. 14. So, The Eagles sent picks 15, 124, 162, and 166 to leapfrog the Ravens and ensure they landed Davis.
My own speculation was that Roseman would do exactly that but use No. 101 in the third round to secure Davis.
RELATED: Eagles Trade up for Jordan Davis - Sports Illustrated
Turns out, the shift to more volume down the board was because the GM was juggling an even bigger move, sending the 18th pick, a spot that was garnered in the pre-draft deal with the Saints, and No. 101 to Tennessee for the two-time 1,000-yard receiver in Brown.
Making that part even more complicated was working out the needed contract extension with Brown that ended up being four years for $100 million with $57M of that guaranteed.
When the last piece of the puzzle was put into place Roseman put down the assets he was juggling and took a bow in the NovaCare Complex Auditorium.
In a few hours, Eagles fans went from "we're not ready" to "let's [expletive] go" and that's the definition of franchise-altering.
“I think the hardest part was trying to balance it all," Roseman acknowledged after pulling everything off.
The Davis part was pretty straightforward from a trade perspective and there were some nitpickers as always.
What predictive models don't take into account, however, is the actual intelligence organizations possess and the Eagles had thought for weeks that Davis wasn't getting past Baltimore even if the ESPN computers gave it a 55% chance of happening.
Not that Ravens veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell is in the war room with Eric DeCosta or John Harbaugh but the star seemed pretty sure what was going to happen if Roseman played the blind odds.
The Brown part was far trickier because Roseman was dealing with the Titans and their needs as well as Brown's agent, Tory Dandy, and the contract needs of a proven player.
Oh yeah, and there's a 10-minute clock that doesn't re-set for the team trading in.
"The timing that was going on and trying to be fair to the Titans, as well [was an issue],” Roseman admitted. “Obviously, they had to make a pick and get on the clock if we were going to make this trade. ... It was getting tight. It was really getting tight.”
The contingency to the trade wasn't about some of the younger receivers that were already off the board, however, it was solely about the contract for Brown, according to Roseman.
“The trade was contingent on us getting an extension,” Roseman said. “So [that was] something we were working on during the course of the draft. We were just kind of trying to balance finishing that and if we didn't finish that, making sure we also got the right players. We were just trying to balance it all, and I'm very fortunate to have a great staff.”
RELATED: Eagles' Trade for A.J. Brown was Contingent on Speedy ...
This wasn't fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stuff, though. Nothing was left to chance and the groundwork was already done.
Although the trade and the contract were both finalized as the draft marched on, the seeds for that outcome had been planted for weeks.
“We had a plan, and so it wasn't like anything was on the fly,” Roseman said. “We had a very detailed plan. I thought this whole group did an unbelievable job of organizing and detailing everything. We made it like coaches on game day, and we knocked it off. Boom, boom, boom.
"When the opportunity came, it wasn't hard because we had made these decisions in calm times.”
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
