Prior to the 2017, when Howie Roseman captured the first Super Bowl in franchise history, it was the result of him hitting on move-after-move for two-straight offseasons.
Chris Long, Patrick Robinson, Nick Foles, LaGarette Blount — nearly every free agent signing Roseman made prior to 2017 worked out. Even the long-term players signed in 2016, like Brandon Brooks, Nigel Bradham and Rodney McLeod were home-run signings. They call came together in 2017 to bring the Eagles a title and make Roseman look like one of the best general managers in the league.
Since that day in Minnesota, however, Roseman's batting average has slipped considerably — and the Eagles are in a tough spot because of it.
Being a general manager is not easy and nobody is going to hit on all of their moves, but at 3-3 on the season and 12-10 in their last 22 regular season games, it is hard to ignore the poor decisions by Roseman that have lead to an Eagles' roster with some real problems at multiple spots.
Heading into Dallas this Sunday, the Eagles have issues at wide receiver, cornerback, linebacker and defensive line because of decisions Roseman has made over the last two offseasons.
Let's take a look back at where things started to go wrong.
In 2018 Howie Roseman made 13 notable moves not involving draft picks. Of those moves, only the decision to re-sign Bradham is currently still helping the team. Roseman's big move that offseason, trading for Michael Bennett, worked last season but his decision to trade him away this offseason has hurt the current roster.
The majority of the signings Roseman made in the 2018 offseason missed. His signings of linebacker Corey Nelson and Haloti Ngata did not help the team at all. Although Roseman can't control injuries, the reality is that Mike Wallace, Paul Worrilow and Richard Rodgers didn't contribute much at all either. His decision to trade a third-round pick for receiver Golden Tate was a complete disaster.
The swings-and-misses are still hurting this current team, as essentially an entire offseason was wasted with little-to-no talent added. The 2018 Draft is still in some ways in its infancy, but of the five picks Roseman made, only one could be considered a starter — cornerback Avonte Maddox. Tight end Dallas Goedert has flashed some serious potential, but when your first pick in the draft is only playing around 45% of the snaps, it is hard to view that pick as a true difference-making selection.
So far, in 2019, his moves are not looking great either.
Roseman made 18 notable decisions during this past offseason, not including the Carson Wentz extension. Of all the moves he made, forcing Rodney McLeod to take a pay cut instead of cutting him might have been the best one — McLeod has been great in the secondary and looks fully recovered from his season-ending injury last year.
Among the new players Roseman brought in, none are currently contributing. Part of that is due to injury, obviously, with Malik Jackson and DeSean Jackson. Players like L.J. Fort, Vinny Curry, Andrew Sendejo, Zach Brown and Blake Countess are either not on the team or barely playing, however, leaving the team with issues at key spots.
Roseman's decision to not bring in any kind of speed option outside of Jackson, however, is looking worse-and-worse. The Eagles correctly identified they needed a speed threat down the field. With Jackson's injury history, however, the decision to make a speed threat such a huge part of the offense without any kind of suitable backup behind Jackson was a major mistake.
Roseman's decision to pass on adding proven veterans at key areas of need, such as Jadeveon Clowney and Jalen Ramsey, should also be taken into consideration when looking at the job he has done. Roseman not only had the draft capital, but also the cap space, to easily add either -- or both -- players.
It is way too early to truly judge the draft, but so far there is at least one clear miss in quarterback Clayton Thorson. Defensive end Shareef Miller and receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside have been unable to get on the field despite both positions needing help. Running back Miles Sanders has played well and is contributing, which is what is most important overall, but his initial showing on the ground has been average at best.
Overall, Roseman has got to start hitting on more of the moves he makes, otherwise this team is only going to get worse and in need of talent at more-and-more spots.
Here is a move-by-move look at all of the decisions Roseman has made:
** Keep in mind that it is considered a hit if the move is currently helping the team, a miss if it isn't. Some of these will definitly change -- for better or worse -- but this is just a look at each move as of right now **
2018 Free Agency (13 moves):
Re-signed Bradham (Hit)
Traded for Michael Bennett (Hit)
Traded away Torey Smith (Miss)
Signed Corey Nelson (Miss)
Signed Haloti Ngata (Miss)
Signed Mike Wallace (Miss)
Signed Paul Worrilow (Miss)
Signed Richard Rodgers (Miss)
Signed Markus Wheaton (Miss)
Signed Matt Jones (Miss)
Signed LaRoy Reynolds (Miss)
Signed Kamar Aiken (Miss)
Signed Corey Graham (Miss)
2018 Draft (5 moves):
2nd: Dallas Goedert (Hit)
4th: Avonte Maddox (Hit)
4th: Josh Sweat (Hit)
6th: Matt Pryor (Miss)
7th: Jordan Mailata (Miss)
2018 In-Season moves (2 moves):
Traded for Golden Tate (Miss)
Signed Cre'von LeBlanc (Hit)
2019 Free Agency (17 moves):
Re-signed Rodney McLeod (Hit)
Re-signed Brandon Graham (Hit)
Re-signed Jason Kelce (Hit)
Re-signed Jason Peters (Miss)
Signed Malik Jackson (Miss)
Signed/Traded for DeSean Jackson (Miss)
Traded away Michael Bennett (Miss)
Signed L.J. Fort (Miss)
Re-signed Ronald Darby (Miss)
Signed Andrew Sendejo (Miss)
Signed Vinny Curry (Miss)
Re-signed Richard Rodgers (Miss)
Traded for Jordan Howard (Hit)
Re-signed Timmy Jernigan (Miss)
Signed Zach Brown (Miss)
Claimed/signed Blake Countess (Miss)
Signed Orlando Scandrick (Hit)
2019 Draft (5 moves):
1st: Andre Dillard (N/A)
2nd: Miles Sanders (Hit)
2nd: JJ Arcega-Whiteside (Miss)
4th: Shareef Miller (Miss)
5th: Clayton Thorson (Miss)
Overall: 30 misses, 11 hits, 1 N/A
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
