Reasonable theories for why the Eagles may have delayed Brian Johnson's dismissal

Okay, ladies and gents, here we go again. The Philadelphia Eagles have a lot to talk about this offseason. They need depth at cornerback and wide receiver. They have huge holes at linebacker. A workhorse running back would be nice. Stop us if any of this sounds familiar.

If it seems like we have been here before, it's because we have been. Many of these concerns, if not all of them, are voiced every offseason, and for the second year in a row, our guys need both an offensive and defensive coordinator.

Last February, the Birds were raided because of a successful season. The Indiandianapolis Colts hired Shane Steichen and the Arizona Cardinals hired Jonthan Gannon to fill their respective head-coaching vacanacies.

This time around, an unacceptable close to the campaign precipitated two firings, dismissals we saw coming. It was announced that Philly parted ways with Sean Desai on Sunday. We learned that Brian Johnson would officially receive his pink slip a few days later. What took so long in the latter move? Some have asked that recently. Here's an attempt to answer that question.

The Eagles could have received consideration for compensatory picks had Brian Johnson landed with another team... maybe.

Three NFL teams requested Brian Johnson interviews this offseason: the Tennessee Titans, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers backed out, but there was already speculation about how those interviews were birthed.

Some would like to believe Johnson earned his interview opportunities on his own merit, that his work with Jalen Hurts caught the attention of other franchises. Many of those same people believe he was handcuffed by Nick Sirianni's bland offense and that he would shined while running his own system. Others believe he may have been aided by the NFL's Rooney Rule.

Said rule states teams in need of head coaches and senior football operation staff members must interview at least two external minority candidates for head coaching vacancies and one external minority candidate for coordinator positions. In recent years, hiring quotas have been established. At least one member of each team's offensive coaching staff must be either an ethnic minority or a woman.

Let's say the Rooney Rule was in play and that aided Brian Johnson. That would explain Philly's reluctance to dismiss him earlier.

In 2020, the NFL's owners approved a system intended to reward teams for developing minority candidates into potential head coaches or general manager candidates. If any team loses a coach or minority executive to another team, they would receive a third-round compensatory pick for two years.

In any event, if teams lose both a coach and a personnel member during any offseason, a compensatory pick would be extended for a third year. The Philadelphia Eagles are already expected to be given the maximum allowable comp picks for the coming 2024 NFL Draft, but another guaranteed comp pick would have been nice.

Again, all of this is speculation. Still you can understand the reasons for waiting to see if it were possible that Johnson ended up elsewhere.

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