Howie Roseman 'Wins' Trade, Kicks QB Can Down the Road
It’s not difficult to suspend your disbelief and picture Howie Roseman speeding over the Causeway Bridge to get the heck out of New Orleans.
After all, the Eagles’ general manager is surely about to be indicted on charges of grand larceny after fleecing the Saints on Monday in a pre-draft trade in which Roseman essentially gave up one of his three first-round picks for the extra 2023 first-rounder he really wanted.
And oh yeah, Roseman also got the No. 101 overall pick in the 2022 draft (a third-round compensatory pick) and a 2024 second-round pick for his troubles.
Philadelphia started the 2022 draft process with five selections in the first 83 picks and still has five in the top 101.
For 2022, the Eagles now have picks No. 15 and 18 in the opening round.
In the world of valuation that is the Moneyball era of sports, Roseman is actually what so many Sixers once fans built Sam Hinkie up to be. The Eagles' GM rarely, if ever, "loses" a trade.
Call this one a "Howie Heist."
Roseman’s former boss, Joe Banner, called Monday's haul one of the most lopsided deals he’s seen in a long time on social media.
Eight picks shifted in the deal with the Saints getting Nos. 16, 19, and 194 in 2022 for picks No. 18, 101, and 237, plus the 2023 first-round pick from a team that looks closer to the bottom 10 in the league in the post-Sean Payton era than the top 10, and the 2024 second-rounder.
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From a strategy standpoint, the Eagles no longer have to budget for three first-round contracts while getting the extra one next year which they can use to get a quarterback in what’s expected to be a better class or build around Jalen Hurts if he takes the baton and runs with the second and final year of his evaluation process.
To those who know him, Roseman views draft capital value as an investment, and the value of draft slots in certain years elevates with the strength of the QB class.
The belief this year to those close to the organization is that Pitt’s Kenny Pickett was the only QB with what would be considered a first-round grade to those outside the building.
There were, however, four others considered potential bridge picks and entered April with a higher grade than Hurts when he went 53rd overall to the Eagles in 2020.
The early 2023 QB class, which is expected to be headlined by Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, was always the goal when it came to optionality for Roseman.
The Saints, meanwhile, have three picks in the top 50 this year to build up in a conference that doesn’t look that deep on paper.
Self-evaluation is often the toughest thing in sports, however, and with no Payton, Terron Armstead, Marcus Williams, and Malcolm Jenkins with Drew Brees long gone, the Saints seem to be lying to themselves.
It's a lie that could benefit the Eagles if New Orleans, with a new head coach and a difficult schedule, ends up being one of the worst 15 teams in the league and the Eagles have a top 15 pick in 2023.
The only bad news for the Eagles here is the valuation of assets is laboratory work, not real-world football efficacy and Philadelphia has extended the Jeffrey Lurie-coined transition another 12 months in the same environment New Orleans believes is an opportunity.
-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
