Examining the Eagles' Lack of Aggression in Free Agency

Results don't reveal anything about the process in the NFL's offseason

Howie Roseman’s reputation as an uber-aggressive general manager has taken some hits in recent years as the Eagles entered into a post-Super Bowl window phase designed to re-set the salary cap in advance of the pending 2023 explosion when the new television revenue money hits the books around the NFL.

Maybe the best example of that happened this week when the Eagles hit the CTRL-ALT-DEL button on Fletcher Cox’s over-leveraged contract and were able to begin again on a more palatable year-to-year basis with one of the best defenders in franchise history.

Roseman is still in many heads, though, as evidenced by the long line of observers – both fans and media alike – who assumed that the Eagles’ GM would pop his head up at the last minute like a game of Whac-a-Mole before fitting Deshaun Watson for his new Eagles’ jersey.

No matter how many times the believers were told the Eagles' elimination was real and Philadelphia wasn’t allowed in on Watson due to the embattled quarterback’s fondness and respect for Jalen Hurts, the conviction remained until reality and $230 million fully guaranteed won the day.

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In the past few days, I’ve been getting a number of ‘are you surprised about Roseman’s lack of aggressiveness so far?’ questions after the Eagles started free agency with one splash (depending on your definition) by bringing edge rusher Haason Reddick home, and some less-than sexy housecleaning moves when it comes to the family business.

My answer comes from a debate between scientists and philosophers for years, “the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”

Take wide receiver.

The Eagles obviously need an upgrade and it probably should be of the veteran variety but the only move so far has been bringing back Greg Ward on a one-year deal at something less than the $2.4 million right-of-refusal tender.

The absence of anything other than that to date is evidence to some that Roseman is not being aggressive enough but the real story is a duck sitting serenely on top of a still lake.

Underneath the surface, that duck is paddling furiously to stay afloat. Similarly, behind the scenes, the Eagles have been trying to uncover just about every rock they like at WR.

The organization thought it had a deal in place to acquire Calvin Ridley until the betting scandal derailed the Alabama product’s career for at least a year. The Eagles also were as interested in Christian Kirk until Jacksonville decided to pay him like the 2022 version of Jerry Rice.

Allen Robinson was a natural fit and the Eagles were in on the bidding but here came the Super Bowl champions with a high-octane offense and a volume passer in Matthew Stafford.

The domino from that signing was Robert Woods becoming available.

Woods has some issues in that he will soon turn 30, has significant money left on his deal, and is coming off a torn ACL but he is one of the most fundamentally sound receivers in the league as both a route-runner and blocker, the kind of veteran that would be tailor-made to help DeVonta Smith and Quez Watkins continue to improve.

Woods, however, was shipped to Tennessee for a paltry sixth-round pick.

While the Eagles’ interest in Ridley, Kirk, and Robinson has been confirmed by various NFL sources, any interest in Woods hasn’t been independently verified by SI.com’s Eagles Today but at least one reporter has claimed Philadelphia was in on the conversations and noted Woods’ camp steered the conversations toward Nashville.

Eagles, Browns and Bears were all very interested in Robert Woods. Green Bay also but moved too slowly. Woods loved the idea of going to the Titans, and the Rams made the move.

— Michael Fabiano (@Michael_Fabiano) March 20, 2022

Safety is another example where the Eagles made a competitive bid for the consensus No. 1 available player at the position: Marcus Williams.

Some have claimed that the deal Roseman proffered to Williams was similar to the one that the Ravens landed the player with although one NFL source told SI.com’s Eagles Today that Baltimore and the New York Jets had better financial offers.

Either way, the Eagles were serious when it came to Williams.

All of that is highlights “the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” theme.

In a results-driven profession, results are all that matters but in the more subjective question on intent, the Eagles have been no less aggressive than normal in the opening days of free agency.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen