The 2023 NFL Draft is over and what a weekend it was for Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Philadelphia’s general manager was aggressive on the trade market for future picks, current selections, and primetime players throughout the three days and had arguably his best draft since becoming the team’s leader in the front office since 2010.
It’s crazy to think about for a GM that has built a Super Bowl-winning roster over the last few years but Roseman’s ability to trade for top targets on expiring contracts and make top draft choices was apparent throughout the 2023 Draft.
With four of the seven selections made coming out of the SEC and the college’s best teams, the philosophy has been clear for the Eagles.
“It started in 2021. We started with two Alabama guys and it just reminded us that the other stuff matters. The competition matters. You see those guys play in the biggest games in the biggest competitions,” Roseman explained. “It takes the part of the big jump in competition. The guys they are playing against are the guys they’ll play against on Sundays.”
Eagles continuing the trend…
Bringing in blue-chip players like Jalen Carter, Kelee Ringo, and Nolan Smith wasn’t just simply a Georgia-fueled gauge from Roseman and the Eagles. In fact, it was a group effort from everyone in the building.
“So many people contribute to the process. It reminds me of putting a gameplan together week to week,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni explained.
But Roseman didn’t just turn heads in the draft through trade-ups for top Bulldog talent. On day three, the Eagles sent a 2025 fourth-round pick to Detroit for talented running back D’Andre Swift. While there wasn’t any indication the Eagles were looking to upgrade at running back, they couldn’t pass up an opportunity to bring a hometown player back to the City of Brotherly Love.
“When they (Detroit) took Gibbs at 12, we thought it was an opportunity. We knew he was in the last year of his rookie deal. It wasn’t in our mind that that was a position we were looking to upgrade. We felt really good about the player, and person, and it adds a tremendous player and a person to the locker room,” Roseman explained.
NFL Drafts cannot be judged right away. It takes years to see how a class works out with plenty of context being added or removed in the process.
But there hasn’t been a team with a better process in the last few years than the Philadelphia Eagles.
And there hasn’t been a general manager at the top of his game like Howie Roseman.
Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire
