Philadelphia Eagles Roseman Wins First Fight of Long War

The Philadelphia Eagles sure have found a way to make headlines when there is no more football to be played. The final day of the calendar year brought the final day of employment for former Eagles VP of personnel Tom Gamble. Gamble, praised just days earlier by head coach Chip Kelly, was brought to Philadelphia when Chip Kelly first arrived. And now, owner Jeffrey Lurie and General Manager Howie Roseman have drawn a line in the sand. The power over player personnel has shifted to Howie Roseman, which has caused speculation about Chip Kelly’s future in Philadelphia.

Howie Roseman’s Reaction to the Draft

"“When you’re picking 22, you have to have some plans. For us, we had a bunch of plans and you have to understand that it’s not always going to go according to how you think it’s going to go.” -Howie Roseman"

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There are going to be a lot of opinions on what went wrong in the top tiers of the Eagles hierarchy, but what is clear is that the power struggle between Howie Roseman and Tom Gamble was a core factor in the ultimate decision. It’s my belief that the rift widened almost immediately following the NFL Draft back in May.

The Philadelphia Eagles under Gamble and Kelly have drafted seven players from the Pac-12 conference, which accounts for 46.67% of the draftees by the Eagles in the past two seasons. Of those seven players, only Zach Ertz and Josh Huff likely will be Eagles next season as Matt Barkley has disappointed in his limited exposure in midnight green. While this is not an indictment against drafting players from the same conference, the consistent reliance on familiarity might be shaping up to be a thing of the past for Chip Kelly. However, if Howie Roseman wants to point fingers for ineptitude, he doesn’t need to stray far from a mirror.

Draft Woes of Howie Roseman Can Not Be Forgotten

"“We learned a lot from it, and I think that was kind of the tipping point for us, in terms of how we were going to do things” – Howie Roseman on Danny Watkins"

Call it a random bust when discussing former guard Danny Watkins Call it a fluke when defensive end Brandon Graham underwhelmed his first few seasons in the league. Throw some blame at former Director of Player Personnel Ryan Grigson for the selection of Mike Kafka and Daniel Te’o-Nesheim. Or maybe you can see that a common trend in the recent struggles of the Philadelphia Eagles personnel evaluations is Howie Roseman.

With the recent story from ProFootballTalk emerging about Howie Roseman showing interest in the recently vacated New York Jets GM position, it shows that the discord is more than just water-cooler talk. And if the same situation emerges in Philadelphia as it did in San Francisco, the blame can solely be placed on Roseman and Lurie. Chip Kelly, like him or not, has led the Eagles to back-to-back 10-6 records in his first two seasons as head coach. While Kelly’s decision making has left some, including myself, frustrated, it does not warrant this type of response by the Eagles brass.

The Philadelphia Eagles fan-base deserves more than this squabbling. We deserve a franchise that is working together in order to win a playoff game. The city of Philadelphia deserves a chance at winning a Super Bowl. And if Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie want to continue their vindictive behavior in order to hold power over the head coach, the fans deserve a regime change. This is not how successful organizations operate. Gold standard my tuchus.