4 Philadelphia Eagles moves Howie Roseman should be applauded for

The Philadelphia Eagles make major moves in free agency.

Going into the NFL’s free agency period, the Philadelphia Eagles did not have much cap space to work with. Many thought they wouldn’t be able to sign any free agents. Howie Roseman made lemonade out of lemons.

Restructuring contracts is now common practice across the league, but Howie Roseman pioneered it years ago. Depending on who you ask, restructuring contracts is either a good thing or a bad thing. GMs can create cap space by ‘kicking the can down the road’ so to speak. Roseman did what he had to by restructuring a handful of veteran contracts like the ones belonging to Darius Slay, Rodney McLeod, and Brandon Graham.

No one expected the Eagles to be big buyers in the free-agent market. They were never going to be able to sign a top-tier guy. Howie Roseman went after players who were great value pickups. He signed guys like Anthony Harris to a one-year $4M deal, a man who was the top safety on the market and commanding big money a year ago. He also signed Eric Wilson to a team-friendly one-year deal after having his best season as a pro in Minnesota.

Two of Howie’s best signings did not come in the thick of free agency. The signing of Ryan Kerrigan, which was a surprise to many, did not happen until mid-May. The final piece, and depending on who you ask, his best signing came just days before training camp kicked off by signing cornerback Steven Nelson to a one-year $4 million deal.

Based on what he came into the offseason with cap-wise, and the value he was able to get with the scraps he had, deserves a lot of credit. Howie made sure that even during a ‘transition period’ there would be no tanking. This team will continue to compete.