Some Highlights from Howie Roseman's Press Conference
Howie Roseman just wrapped up his annual year-end press conference which the local media will cover like the signing of a major international peace treaty. He didn’t say that much that was interesting or particularly noteworthy, but there were a few, um, highlights:
- Roseman said that VP of Player Personnel Joe Douglas, whom the Eagles hired last May after an exhaustive search, will compile the draft board but that he (Roseman) will have final say on who gets picked. Roseman pointed to Douglas’ time as a scout in Baltimore, constructing the sort of team that would be a fit for this city (presumably hard-nosed and overmatched), for what sort of players we can expect Douglas to target.
- Roseman was asked about Eric Rowe, who had a good year for the 14-2 Patriots, shut down A.J. Green, and was called a “steal” and “lockdown-esque” corner by NESN, while Eagles cornerbacks were ranked 79th, 108th and 120th out of 120, and he said that you can only deal with the information that you have at the time* and that there were no plans to sign him to an extension despite him only playing one year here: “We did make that determination based on the defense that we have, the scheme that we have, and after talking about our corner position with the coaches. We were concerned about getting the same value if it was the same situaition going forward. Obviously, you can only do with the information you have at the time.” Bill Belichick had the same information.
- Roseman took a number of subtle shots at recently fired Chip Kelly– one of which he referenced a DeLorean: “It seems like a long time ago we were leading the NFL in 20+ plays, and I don’t have a DeLorean time machine to go back in time and get some of those guys back. We have a young group, we have a young room, they need to continue to grow and it’s one of the things, among others, that we need to look at.”
- A few questions later, Jeff McLane, who is just having a bad week, followed up and what followed was the most awkward exchange you’ll ever hear between a reporter and exec:
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More McLane: After being kicked out of the game the other day, he tweeted a quote from Lane Johnson that appeared to have been sent to him in a text “Lane Johnson, via text message, after the Eagles game” he wrote. It made him look good that even though he wasn’t in the locker room he was still getting quotes from players. But last night on The Rob Maaddi Show with Anthony SanFilippo, Johnson said he didn’t text McLane but that McLane had contacted Johnson’s agent, who asked Johnson what to say, and Johnson told him whatever he came up with was fine. So the text was from Johnson’s agent, not Johnson. To be fair, it was a similar sentiment to what Johnson told reporters in the locker room. But still, McLane’s Tweet was misleading.
- Roseman said some of the things the Eagles have done over the last few years have been to get to 10-6, which isn’t good enough to get a first round bye. He was essentially making an argument for The Process and saying that the Eagles need to take a slightly longer view in building the team. Indeed, he called many of their cornerback acquisitions “band-aids.” Ouchie.
*I hate this argument from GMs, because it’s almost literally their job to predict how a player might be in the future.