Former New York Jets General Manager Joe Douglas is making a return to the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.
Douglas played a key role in the Eagles’ front office from 2016-19, leading the scouting department as the team’s vice president of player personnel and working closely with General Manager Howie Roseman. Douglas was instrumental in the roster construction of the Eagles’ first-ever Super Bowl-winning roster in 2017.
The rest of Douglas’ tenure may not have been as flashy, but he did ultimately contribute to the team by adding core members Dallas Goedert, Avonte Maddox, Josh Sweat, and Jordan Mailata, who played a large role with the team not just for the years to follow but also for Philadelphia’s second Super Bowl victory this past February.
In 2019, Douglas leveraged that success into a multi-year deal with the New York Jets. While his time in New York did not reach the same levels of success, Douglas was let go by the Jets in November after a 3-8 start to the season; the blame can hardly be placed on his shoulders alone. The Jets have gone 14 years without a playoff appearance and have only finished with a record above .500 once in that time.
As Super Bowl-winning organizations do, the Eagles lost a couple of their senior scouts after the draft. Two of those scouts, Anthony Patch, who was with the Eagles for 23 years, and Brandon Hunt, left for the Las Vegas Raiders. The team also lost national scout Jordon Dizon to the Denver Broncos.
To be able to replace that loss with a familiar and proven face is certainly encouraging, but the return of Douglas is by no means a guaranteed return to a championship victory. It is also unlikely to be the final staffing change the Eagles see this offseason.
