Howie Roseman sat in his office on a difficult Tuesday. The Eagles logo might have gleamed on his polo. But something heavy rode shotgun in his chest.
The Philadelphia Eagles general manager faced the grim task of roster cutdowns. It’s the NFL’s version of a brutal seventh-game playoff elimination, repeated thirty-seven times in a single day. For a team builder, it’s pure agony.
Then, Roseman decided to change the script. He turned to Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and suggested they deliver some good news. "It's not a great day for us. And I turned to Nick, and I said, 'let's give someone good news for a change,'" Howie said.
That’s when undrafted rookie Darius Cooper entered the story. Roseman revealed this emotional pivot during the Eagles Radiothon on 94WIP. He described the "worst part of the job" and the powerful moment that made it worthwhile.
"Talking about Monday and Tuesday, you're really starting the season by letting go 37 guys. 37 guys that you bring in here because you like them as players. You like them as people, and then you got to basically tell them bad news. And from my perspective, from Nick's perspective, that's the worst part of the job," Howie admitted.
They had just informed numerous players that their dreams were paused. The process is universally dreaded across the league. However, Roseman identified a need for a moment of positivity amidst the turmoil.
They called in Cooper, the longshot receiver from Tarleton State. The young player had no idea why he was summoned. Roseman recalled, "We just asked him, 'Hey, you know why you're in here?' and he's like, 'Just to talk to you two guys.' But you know, just first of all, he's sitting in my office, and you look at him sometimes cuz you see him, he's in pads. You see him at practice, and... this guy's lower body, man. I mean, it is so strong and so powerful, and you just look and go, 'Man, what can this guy do if we really developed him?'"
The underdog story immediately resonated with the Philadelphia spirit. So did Roseman's passionate monologue. The Eagles, under Roseman, have always valued talent identification. Finding a gem like Cooper is a testament to their scouting. Howie even called himself a psychopath.
The Howie Roseman Philosophy
"He's sitting there, and that's what I'm thinking, like a psychopath. I'm thinking about what this guy can be in two years if we develop him, but just seeing how grateful he was about the opportunity in front of him. And that's what it is," Roseman said before uttering the cold, harsh truth of the game.
"Again, like nobody's on scholarship here, and we tell all our young players that they got to keep earning it throughout the course of the season," the GM added.
Cooper earned it. His preseason performance... especially the 82-yard touchdown made him impossible to ignore. The GM’s excitement is evident. And the initial stats are promising.
Cooper is the first undrafted Eagles rookie WR to make the Week 1 roster since Hank Baskett in 2006. His college production was staggering: 1,450 receiving yards in his final season at Tarleton State. This raw talent now enters one of the NFL’s best receiver rooms.
His role, however, will be earned through dirty work. Coach Sirianni emphasized blocking and special teams. Cooper must excel in areas he never focused on in college. His ability to adapt will define his early career. The Eagles need contributors, not just pass-catchers.
For Roseman, team building is all about this. It’s the painful cuts and the euphoric discoveries. It’s a relentless pursuit of talent that never sleeps. The journey of Cooper is just beginning.
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But for a day, it provided a perfect reminder of why they do it. As the great writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The reward of a thing well done is having done it.”