Howie Roseman reportedly top reason why Brandon Staley ignored Eagles

Think back to the most recent offseason. Time had run out in a game in which the Philadelphia Eagles had decided that they’d stop competing for fear of damaging their position in the 2021 NFL Draft. We all were pretty well aware, at that point, that someone, whether it be former head coach Doug Pederson, the franchise quarterback at the time (Carson Wentz), or the much-maligned general manager (Howie Roseman) wouldn’t return.

Then we started getting thrown some weird-looking curveballs. Doug Pederson appeared in a season-ending press conference with Howie Roseman. No coaching change appeared to be on the horizon at that time, but Doug left anyway.

There were whispers that, had a decision come down to keeping Doug or Carson Wentz, Philly would have kept Wentz. Pederson and the Eagles’ brass determined that the best decision was for them to part ways. Some of us thought that would make Carson happy, but in the end, he decided to leave anyway.

Though there’s no way to prove this now, had you taken a poll before any of that happened, Howie probably would have been the guy that most of the media and general public would have liked to see leave, but we figured that wouldn’t happen.

Guys like former Eagles president Joe Banner spoke to the theory that Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie wanted Roseman to remain as Philly’s general manager, and after months of speculation, Howie Roseman was indeed the last man standing.

The Eagles have been paying for that decision ever since.

Howie Roseman reportedly turned Brandon Staley off of the Eagles job.

There’s an often-mentioned narrative that’s floating around NFL circles if you haven’t heard it, and here it is. The Eagles’ job is no longer attractive to potential head coaches. How else do you explain the hiring of Nick Sirianni? He wasn’t on anyone’s radar. He wasn’t an Eagles target initially. They just kind of ended up with him because they didn’t have any other options apparently.

One of the guys that they did want was former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator/current Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley. He wasn’t interested.

The stories about Philly’s meddlesome owner, Jeffrey Lurie, and the power-hungry general manager have been floating around since someone released Howie from the equipment room that Chip Kelly buried him in. Many believe that it’s Roseman and Lurie that turned so many potential head coaches off during the most recent offseason, and when you read a very well-written piece like Jeff McLane’s Monday column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, those theories aren’t going to slow down at all.

McLane mentions Howie Roseman as the chief reason Brandon Staley ignored Philadelphia’s interest. Here’s a quote:

"It starts at the top with owner Jeffrey Lurie, of course. He made the final call to hire Sirianni. Every major decision is made with his involvement in mind. Howie Roseman has survived more head coaching fires than any other current general manager partly because he has successfully managed up. And managing up, in this sense, is allowing for Lurie to be his football confidant. The owner can do so as he pleases. It’s his team. But his closest advisor is a sycophant."

Stinging analysis indeed, but wait. There’s more.

"The co-dependent relationship at the top clearly influenced the Sirianni hire, in that it needed a coach who wouldn’t block Lurie or force Roseman out. Lurie certainly didn’t want to bring in a failure. He has done fairly well in identifying unproven coaches. But he may have finally crapped out on his first roll."

Keep in mind the fact that Staley wasn’t the only hot candidate that gave the Eagles the cold shoulder. Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll also reportedly wasn’t interested, per Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press. Philly’s decision ultimately came down to Nick Sirianni and Josh McDaniels who no one would confuse as ‘top choices’.

Who would have thought that Chip Kelly would have been right and that the rest of us would be wrong? It’s a sad state of affairs in Philly. Team captains are frustrated. So are the fans. This team makes horrible personnel decisions, and by the looks of things, this is going to get much worse before it gets better, especially if Jeffrey Lurie doesn’t pull the trigger and move on from Howie Roseman.

Somewhere, right now, a ‘Fire Howie’ chant is breaking out in a company breakroom or at an outdoor sandwich shop.