Former Eagles executive still regrets missing on Russell Wilson

With the way that the NFL has evolved over the past few decades, there’s something that all 32 franchises, the media that covers them, and the fans can all agree on, even if it seems like we’re often hard-pressed to agree on anything else. The teams that win consistently have one thing in common. They have all figured out who their franchise quarterback is. A long time ago, 2012 to be exact, the Philadelphia Eagles had a solid opportunity to land theirs.

Two rounds of 2012’s version of the NFL Draft had passed and five quarterbacks were taken before the Seattle Seahawks selected Russell Wilson 75th overall, in the third round of the selection meeting. He was someone the Eagles truly wanted. Instead, they drafted Fletcher Cox in Round 1 (there should be no complaints about that idea) and both Mychal Kendricks and Vinny Curry in Round 2 (Those are both 50/50, but both decisions worked out fairly well).

If you haven’t noticed, Fletcher Cox has pretty much stamped his ticket to Canton, Ohio. Wilson has also crafted a Hall-of-Fame career, and the decision to gamble on ‘whether or not he’d be around’ when Philadelphia finally rolled the dice and scribbled his name on a draft card is a decision one former Eagles executive still regrets.

Ex-Eagles president Joe Banner calls ignoring Russell Wilson his biggest regret.

With the rumors swirling about the Eagles’ potential interest in wooing Wilson away from Seattle (and the theories that he may not want to come to Philadelphia), Russell’s name has been floating around lately.

In 2012, it was Joe Banner, not Howie Roseman, who owned the title of president. Philly’s decision to ‘wait and see’ if they could wait and take Wilson at a lower point in the process was a decision that was made in their war room, a decision that failed. It’s a decision that Joe Banner still regrets even though he hasn’t been employed by the Eagles since 2012.

Recently, he appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Take Off podcast with John Clark and had this to say:

"I’m not even there anymore, and (there’s still a reaction) when I see him play… How close that was and frankly how big a mistake we made with trying to finesse waiting… Maybe that makes sense if you’re picking a linebacker or something, (but) you’re picking a guy that could be a quarterback for the next decade. To start worrying about (whether or not) to pick him at 55 versus at 65 or 70 was really a big mistake on our part."

So, here’s the moral of the story. If you’re wondering why the Eagles make decisions to trade up twice to draft Carson Wentz in 2016 or why they take Jalen Hurts in Round 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft, this would be the reason. They know, again, that in order to win, the franchise quarterback must be in place.

They may have that in Jalen Hurts. Then again, they may not. Debates continue to rage about that as Hurts continues to grow, mature, gain experience, learn, and improve.

No one doubts whether or not he has the intangibles or the correct mindset to play in the NFL. No one doubts that his evaluation will be continual, but here’s what shouldn’t be questioned. Taking him in the second round a little over two years was a wise decision because it’s doubtful that there will be any franchise quarterbacks in the next draft.