Why Eagles Howie Roseman Isn't Punting on 2026 Season by Trading Cam Jurgens

The general manager has a track record of success, so he is still all in on this season, but if a stretch of games before the trade deadline doesn't go well, it might be time to punt.

Here's what the Eagles' recent Cam Jurgens trade actually says about GM Howie Roseman's vision. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Howie Roseman isn’t punting on the season. He leaves those duties to his punter, Braden Mann, on fourth down.

So, while it may appear the Eagles’ general manager is facing a fourth-and-long this season, especially after Lane Johnson retired and trading away his two-time Pro Bowl center, Cam Jurgens, to the Ravens, he isn’t in the business of giving away seasons.

In the last nine years, the GM has constructed three Super Bowl rosters, has won two Lombardi Trophies, and has gone to the playoffs in eight of those seasons, including a run of five straight postseason berths.

“As good as anyone in the National Football League,” Roseman told reporters earlier in the week. “I think that it's easy to just go to the negative, and I think that the reality of it is, is that we've had an unbelievable run of success, and we're planning to have another unbelievable run of success. And so, I think there is a little bit of a benefit of the doubt that we didn't all just lose our minds and forget how to do our jobs.”

As tough as it was, and will be, moving on from Jurgens along with a seventh-round pick in 2027, the GM made the right call.

As surprising as the move was, trading Cam Jurgens was the right decision by GM Howie Roseman. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It was all about the value he got back, which included a fifth-rounder next year and an all-important second-rounder in 2028. That gives the Eagles two first-round picks in 2028, including their own and the Patriots’ first-rounder in the trade of A.J. Brown, and two second-rounders, their own and now the Ravens’.

“We're trying to win every year, and we're always trying to retool and get better, and again, it's hard to get first- and second-round picks,” Roseman said. “They give you a lot of options. You can certainly use those on players and picks. You can trade up in drafts with those picks. You can use them for players, and we've done all those things. And I think one of the things that it gives us is flexibility.”

Jurgens was never the same player he was before his back surgery in the 2025 offseason. He may never be that player again.

For the Eagles, it’s easy to begin salivating now for the future.

2028 will be a big year for the Eagles

The next two years are big for them in terms of expiring contracts. Having four picks in 2028 is huge because of the number of players who have expiring deals after that season, including:

• Jalen Hurts
• DeVonta Smith
• Jordan Mailata
• Landon Dickerson
• Saquon Barkley
• Quinyon Mitchell
• Jake Elliott

Several key Eagles could be hitting the open market in 2028, including QB Jalen Hurts. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Presumably, some of them will get extended. Others will not. New talent must be identified.

Contracts that expire after the 2027 season, include:

• Zack Baun
• Cooper DeJean
• Nolan Smith
• Jalyx Hunt
• Will Shipley
• Jeremiah Trotter, Jr.
• Tay Wicks

Again, some will be extended. Others won’t. The Eagles have seven picks in 2027, including a likely third-round compensatory pick for losing Jaelan Phillips this past offseason and the fifth-rounder they got from the Ravens in the Jurgens trade.

Roseman still has a month before the trade deadline to assess this year’s team, which faces a pivotal stretch of games coming up. After playing the Jaguars in London on Sunday, the Eagles will be home for three of their next four games, the final one of which is against the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field two days before the trade deadline.

If the Eagles haven’t shown any signs of life after that stretch, or some of the young players are slow to develop, then it might be time for Roseman to punt.

“I think nothing has changed in terms of our goals and when we're trying to win this year,” he said. “From my perspective, just looking at what is the ultimate goal, which is to win the last game of the year, and then to have a run like we've had. … you wanna have an extended run. My job is to look at how we can have sustained success for a long period of time.”

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