How Good Is The Eagles' Howie Roseman? Ask His Peers

In one of the more amazing transformations in professional sports, Eagles GM Howie Roseman has slowly transformed from the young outsider in what was once a world run by “football guys,” into arguably the NFL’s best personnel executive.

That was on display in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine when two former Eagles’ employees who’ve since climbed the ladder to the GM positions in other cities spoke glowingly about their former boss.

The Tree Keeps Growing

Las Vegas GM John Spytek, who was a college and pro scout with the Eagles from 2006 to 2009, when Roseman was the Eagles’ vice president of football administration and then VP of player personnel, was asked what it’s like discussing a trade with his old boss.

"Howie is great, and he's one of the best at what he does, and he finds value in places,” Spytek said. “So, and I mean this with respect to Howie, I always watch myself a little bit when he calls because he's so good at what he does, but he's been great.”

Former Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff, who became good friends with Roseman, once joked that he had to tell Roseman to stop asking for second-round picks in every trade conversation, highlighting the executive’s notorious, uber-aggressive style of negotiation.

Roseman and Spytek pulled off a player-for-player deal last August when the Eagles sent defensive tackle Thomas Booker to the Raiders for speedy cornerback Jakorian Bennett.

Early returns there are advantage Spytek with Booker playing 603 snaps in a rotational role with the Raiders, while Bennett was injured early in Philadelphia and never regained his footing with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

However, Spytek also showed his respect for Roseman by hiring away two Eagles’ personnel staffers last year: Brandon Hunt to be his VP of Player Personnel, and Anthony Patch as a senior personnel executive.

Patch was honored by Inside the League in Indianapolis as one of the league’s best scouts in an executive position.

“He's been a great mentor to me. He's taught me a lot,” Spytek said of Roseman. “I learned a lot from him in the year and a half, two years I was with him in Philly, when he moved into the personnel department.

"And he's been a great resource for me as I've got this job."

Another former Roseman acolyte got the big chair in Atlanta when Ian Cunningham was named the Falcons GM a month ago.

At his first combine as the ATL GM, Cunningham was asked about his days in Philadelphia from 2017 to 2021, when he rose from director of college scouting to assistant director of player personnel under Roseman.

“He's awesome, man. He's energetic. He's passionate. He loves ball. He's always thinking. He's thinking outside the box,” Cunningham said if his old boss. “(I’ve) really taken away roster building and construction from him and finding different methods of doing that. Whether that be via free agency. Whether if that be a trade, or through the draft. It feels like he's always a couple steps forward.

“So, really trying to take his brain on how he does those things. But I still don't know.”