Philadelphia Eagles VP and GM Howie Roseman explains passing on Clowney

Philadelphia Eagles VP and GM Howie Roseman made an appearance on 94 WIP-FM on Tuesday morning. As you’d imagine, the decision to pass on a couple of free agents came up.

At this point, is there anyone who’s going to second guess the decision-making process of Philadelphia Eagles vice president and general manager Howie Roseman? There’s a couple of phrases that have been floating around the Eagles fan base for a while. ‘In Howie, we trust’ is one. ‘Howie Season’ is the other.

After several franchise-altering decisions that have worked out, he’s earned the trust of the Eagles’ franchise, its’ players, and the Philly media.

It was Roseman who traded up twice to allow the Eagles to select Carson Wentz. Roseman was a part of the decision-making process that sent Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings that landed the Eagles a draft selection, one that became the selection of Derek Barnett. Who knows how he does what he does. All everyone knows is it works.

During the offseason leading up to Philly’s championship run, it was the moves he made that made the difference. Here are a few:

He took a chance on an injury-prone Patrick Robinson, who picked off four passes during the regular season and made a game-changing interception in the NFC Championship Game. He added Chris Long, LeGarrette Blount, and Alshon Jeffery in free agency. He even brought Nick Foles back to Philly to serve as Wentz’s backup, and you know how that wound up.

We won’t even bring up a midseason trade that brought Jay Ajayi in.

While teams are overspending for talent and watching key pieces threaten to sit out of entire seasons, guys are expressing an interest in playing in Philly, and the Eagles are turning guys down.

Recently, the decisions about whether Philly ought to trade for Jadeveon Clowney or bring LeSean McCoy back almost split the Eagles fan base in half. Roseman explained the decision-making process for declining on Clowney in a recent talk with Angelo Cataldi on 94 WIP-FM. Here’s some of what was said.

"Every single person that is available, every player that is available, we look into. We have the discussions. It’s not like we sit there, see a pass rushing defensive end is available and we don’t pick up the phone and figure out what it is going to cost, don’t look into it and don’t spend a lot of time doing that… We aren’t just trying to collect talent, we are trying to build a team, and with that, you can’t always have everything exactly that you want."

As mentioned, Philly spent a draft choice they scored by moving Sam Bradford on Derek Barnett. Much is expected of him in his third NFL season. Roseman spoke on that as well.

"..And then at defensive end, you talked about (Clowney) who is an incredibly talented player and certainly, it is our job to make sure we look into that, but we have put a lot of resources into that position. We drafted (Derek Barnett). It goes without saying and you’ve heard it from a lot of people that we are excited about Derek and his opportunity on this field. We re-signed Brandon Graham, brought back (Vinny Curry). Really, it is important for one of these young guys as our fourth defensive end… We drafted two guys in the fourth round, (Daeshon Hall) was drafted in the third (by Carolina). Those guys need to step up. If they don’t, we’ll address that at that time."

The general consensus is that theory is also what led to the organization’s decision not to bring LeSean McCoy home. While seeing both ‘Shady’ and DeSean Jackson both back in Eagles green is attractive Roseman credits drafting ‘a guy in the second round in Miles Sanders, a guy that we are really excited about’ as a big reason to decline on the idea.

Here’s more from Roseman on Philly’s running back situation.

"Jordan Howard has the third-most rushing yards in the NFL over the last three years. Darren Sproles looks healthy and rejuvenated. He has a role on this football team. And then (Corey Clement)… He may have been, if not for Nick Foles, MVP of the Super Bowl. He has a role on this team. He can play all four downs. That position we feel good about."

No Eagles supporters would disagree with any of that, but then again, it’s Howie. How could you? We’ll see how this retooled roster will look in 2019. It all begins on Sunday.