Perception Of Eagles' GM Is Off Base

The national perception seems to be that Howie Roseman is calling all the shots in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - The perception nationally is Eagles GM Howie Roseman has been running the show in Philadelphia for years.

The latest indication of that sentiment comes from The Athletic's Dianna Russini and her new podcast “Scoop City.”

Russini, who is incredibly plugged in around the league, is hearing “Howie Roseman has all the power now.”

“Roseman having power is nothing new in Philadelphia, but in terms of moving forward into 2024, Roseman had his hands all over every decision,” Russini explained. “That included the new coordinator hires: Kellen Moore on offense and Vic Fangio on defense.”

There is no question that head coach Sirianni surrendered some of his power after the collapse to end the 2023-24 season, namely stepping back from his own offense as a proactive move to own a decision that was surely set to come from team owner Jeffrey Lurie if push came to shove.

Things change all the time in the NFL and reporters will get a better feel for what’s going on at the NovaCare Complex when we get down there next week.

Previously at least, Sirianni did not even report to Roseman and both he and the GM were on even footing when it came to reporting to Lurie.

The context to that, though, is Roseman does have more power and always has as Lurie’s most trusted advisor.

When it comes to the coaching staff, like the tortured decision to demote then-defensive coordinator Sean Desai last season, something Sirianni began to mull at the bye week when the Eagles were 8-1, the head coach has steadfastly stuck to his guns claiming that was his domain.

He is also on record, claiming he decided to hire Moore and Fangio.

“Mine,” Sirianni said when asked whose idea the changes were. "Just like it was my idea to let Shane [Steichen] call the  plays, just like it was my idea to hire Vic Fangio or Sean Desai or Jonathan Gannon. Just like it was my idea to switch from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia.

“That doesn’t mean that you don’t collaborate with everybody, right? Because you do. You’d be crazy not to. But at the end of the day, a hard part of this job is to gather the information and try to make the best decision."

The Fangio hire is white noise because everyone was on board with that and he would have been the DC last season if the timing worked out with Gannon’s exit after Super Bowl LVII.

So really this is about Moore and the collaboration aspect could be the disconnect.

Previously, if Sirianni did not have a ready-to-go target for a coaching position, Roseman helped to assemble candidates for Sirianni to interview and the coach made the decision.

The buck stopped with Sirianni.

Meanwhile, most of the offensive coaching staff is back, including Sirianni’s closest confidante associate head coach and passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo, as well as assistant/head coach running backs Jemal Singleton, receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, offensive line coach and run game coordinator Jeff Stoutland, and tight ends coach Jason Michael. 

Stoutland is an outlier because he’s bridged three head coaches but overall the continuity on the staff is an indication Sirianni still has some significant sway with his staff something Russini noted is the typical way of doing business in the NFL.

“If you’re watching “Hard Knocks” right now, about the Giants’ offseason, you saw Brian Daboll walk into Joe Schoen’s office and say, 'Hey, I’m going to make a hire at the defensive coordinator position.' There’s an understanding that the head coach puts together his squad of coaches, based on the beliefs that he has,” Russini wrote.

Ultimately, Russini pointed to Roseman’s belief in his own performance as the foundation for seizing more power.

“Roseman, though, believes that he has built a championship roster, and that they should have gone much further than they did in 2023,” said Russini. “He made the decision to bring in Moore and Fangio. And that’s why Moore will have more control of the offense than Brian Johnson had a year ago. And as far as the defense goes, as always, Vic Fangio is going to do what Vic Fangio wants to do.”

Sirianni is certainly on shakier footing this season but he wasn't ordered to hire the coordinators by the GM and Roseman isn't the overbearing puppet master some presume.

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