Howie Roseman Still has Some Work Ahead

Less than two weeks remain until the Eagles are scheduled to open training camp, and eight of their 10 draft picks remain unsigned. Uniform Numbers for players who arrived as undrafted free agents shortly after the three-day draft ended still have not been handed out.

That’s going to make for a very busy time from now until July 28, when the practice fields at the NovaCare Complex are set to open. Probably Lincoln Financial Field, too, as the Eagles will practice social distancing as best as they can with 91 players by dividing up the team for various practices.

The corporate tents that pop up like dandelions along the sidelines at NovaCare Complex every August won’t be there this year. Nor will the mouth-watering smells from the food being served waft from beneath the white-roofed tents.

The 200 or 300 fans that had been able to attend training camp practices won’t be around, either, and that means the line of fans patiently waiting for autographs as players leave the field and into the cool hallway that leads to their locker room won’t exist.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of it.

Anyone who has seen footage of the Phillies summer training at Citizens Bank Park knows how strange it will all feel.

Still, there is work to be done by the front office before it can all begin for the Eagles.

An organization that in the past couple of years announced the signing of all their draft picks in one fell swoop, has signed offensive tackle Prince Tega Wanogho and receiver Quez Watkins, both sixth-round selections this past spring, as of Thursday evening, 12 days before camp.

It will get done, but the slow process is another impact of the coronavirus because players are unable to come to town for physicals.

That will end soon enough.

Eagles coaches are expected to be in town by Friday if they aren’t already, and self-quarantining.

Quarterbacks, rookies, and select veterans are expected to follow at some point next week, which means there should soon be a wave of draft pick signings to announce.

Maybe the final eight will all come at once.

They are:

Jalen Reagor, Jalen Hurts, Davion Taylor, K’Von Wallace, Jack Driscoll, John Hightower, Shaun Bradley, and Casey Toohill.

Matt Leo, a defensive end assigned to the Eagles through the NFL’s international program who is exempt from counting against the 90-man roster, is also unsigned.

If the nine aren’t signed by the time the first practice is scheduled to begin, then that will be a problem because, after a virtual offseason where there was no on-field practice, the rookies cannot afford to miss being on the field and getting a feel for the game at the highest levels of pro football.

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