Eagles GM Howie Roseman's Free-Agent Redemption Tour About To Begin
PHILADELPHIA – Howie Roseman’s redemption tour begins Monday with the legal negotiating period ahead of Wednesday's new league beginning, and with it, free agency signings that can become official at 4 p.m.
The Philadelphia Eagles general manager must do better than he did last year, doesn’t he?
None of the players he brought in are likely to return this year.
In case you forgot, here are those players he signed during free agency:
Quarterback Marcus Mariota. The Eagles wanted a backup for Jalen Hurts, and Mariota was fine, though Hurts ended up starting all 17 games.
Safeties Terrell Edmunds and Justin Evans. Edmunds was dealt to the Tennessee Titans at the trade deadline with some draft picks for safety Kevin Byard. Evans was hurt early in the season and played just four games.
Marcus Mariota during last preseason.
Dan Shrensky/SI Fan Nation Eagles Today
Running back Rashaad Penny. Nobody needs to be reminded just how bad this signing was considering Penny never played. OK, he did make it onto the field for 31 offensive snaps.
Linebacker Nicholas Morrow. He showed flashes and had three sacks in one game, but he simply was not good enough. Linebacker Zach Cunningham was added in August, and he may have been the team’s best at that position. Maybe he returns again during this free agency period.
Cornerback Greedy Williams. Like Penny, this one generated some excitement. Except Williams showed what the Cleveland Browns had already known – he couldn’t play.
Tight end Dan Arnold. There was some excitement around this signing, thinking he could become a target in the passing game. He never made it out of training camp.
Defensive tackle Kentavius Street. Playing time was hard to come by with the crowded Eagles’ defensive front, so he was eventually traded to the Atlanta Falcons.
Others. Once the season began, Roseman added receiver Julio Jones, linebacker Shaq Leonard, and punter Braden Mann, who may have well been Roseman’s best free agent acquisition from the start of the process in March to the end of the season.
Roseman has some real free-agent hits on his resume.
Here are his top 5 from No. 1 to No. 5:
Safety Malcolm Jenkins, 2014. You have to go back 10 years to find his best, but there’s no denying what Jenkins did when he arrived. He was one of the leaders in the Eagles’ Super Bowl run in 2017 and played 100 percent of the snaps in five of his seasons here.
Guard Brandon Brooks, 2016. You could make a case that Brooks was more valuable than Jenkins, and I wouldn’t argue. He was another lynchpin in delivering the Lombardi Trophy to Philly and was one of the best right guards in football for four years until Achilles’ tears ended his career.
Quarterback Nick Foles, 2017. He could be higher, sure, but Foles is tricky since he was originally drafted by the Eagles in 2012. He had been gone for just two years when he was brought back to backup Carson Wentz and he ended up fishing the job Wentz began, taking the Eagles to Super Bowl LII, beating Tom Brady and the dynastic New England Patriots, and being named MVP.
A free agent, yes, but the Eagles initially began developing him when he arrived in the league.
Edge rusher Haason Reddick, 2022. In just two years, Reddick has done his job exceedingly well, piling up sacks (30, including the playoffs) and in his first year after he was signed, forced five fumbles while defending three passes. He is signed for one more year at a deep discount given his production, and it would be bad if the Eagles let their best defensive player walk due to a difference in money.
LeGarrette Blount, 2017. The running back was perhaps the most underrated piece on the Eagles’ Super Bowl championship team. It was tempting to put receiver Alshon Jeffery in this spot, because he put up great numbers in his first season with the team, helped take Wentz’s game to the next level, and elevated his game in the postseason.
Blount, though, made that locker room fun, traveling to all parts of it to talk to his teammates, and kept it loose with his fondness for competition, whether it be ping-pong games or on the Pop-A-Shot machine that was installed in the back of the locker room that season.
He was coming off a Super Bowl season with the New England Patriots, running for 18 touchdowns and more than 1,100 yards when the Eagles signed him, but he was willing to share the load with Corey Clement and, eventually Jay Ajayi, who was brought in at the trade deadline. Not once did he complain.
