Another Deft Decision by Howie Roseman

The Eagles' GM wanted his choice of Miami's two 2022 first-round picks last spring and ended up choosing wisely

The Eagles’ have three first-round picks in April’s draft thanks to some deft Howie Roseman wheeling and dealing.

Turns out the first of those three selections is a lot better than it could have been thanks to Roseman’s evaluation skills.

Philadelphia starts the process with Nos. 15, 16, and 19 on April 28. Its own pick is 16th sandwiched by Miami’s original selection, acquired in a move down from No. 6 overall to No. 12 in last year’s draft, and the would-be Colts selection, which was surrendered in the Carson Wentz trade.

The Dolphins pick could have been San Francisco’s, however, had Roseman not read the landscape correctly, according to NBC’s Peter King.

When speaking to Miami GM Chris Grier and then-coach Brian Flores last spring, King was led to believe the Eagles’ insisted on their choice of the Dolphins’ two first-rounders in 2022: Miami’s own selection and the one acquired when the 49ers made a bold move up to get Trey Lance at No. 3 overall last April.

Remember at the time it was the Dolphins coming off a 10-6 season and the Niners were 6-10 after being devastated by injuries so those acting like the decision was obvious now are playing revisionist history.

Roseman correctly assessed the situation and expected a bounce back from San Francisco with highly-regarded coach Kyle Shanahan and a regression to the mean from the Dolphins as Flores clashed with owner Stephen Ross.

The former happened, but to be fair the Dolphins weren't exactly bad,

The 49ers, of course, finished 10-7 but made a playoff run, losing in the NFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams. The  Dolphins were solid again but finished 9-8 and ultimately fired Flores.

Self-evaluation is one of the toughest things to do in professional football and King noted that Flores was likely “confident” enough to assume the Eagles would take the 49ers’ pick and the organization as a whole backed up that thought process.

Fast forward and the Eagles gained 14 spots of draft capital by the correct evaluation, another example of why the perception of Roseman nationally is much higher.

On the antiquated Jimmy Johnson-inspired NFL Draft Trade Value chart, King noted the difference between Nos. 15 and 29, is equivalent to the 49th overall selection in the second round, the exact spot the Eagles drafted star TE Dallas Goedert in 2018.

The more modernized adaptations of the value chart don’t place the difference that high but it’s still significant when it comes to the valuation of assets.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven 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 both PhillyVoice.com and 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

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.