If only Jonathan Gannon pressed the KC receivers like Mike Florio pressed Howie Roseman here:

Reaction to this clip is all over the place. Some Eagles fans think Florio is being a dickhead for pushing Howie, but there are plenty of people applauding him for seeking a real answer.

Your response to this exchange depends on how you feel about Jonathan Gannon’s departure. We all know that coordinators for successful teams are plucked and put into head coaching roles, so nobody should be surprised by the loss of both Gannon and Shane Steichen following the Super Bowl. The Eagles and Cardinals settled via trade, and the Birds got the third round draft pick that became Sydney Brown.

If, however, you’re one of those people who thinks the Cardinals’ involvement somehow compromised Gannon’s game planning or served as a distraction, then you’re likely putting a lot more stock into the tampering story, and interested in real answers. Personally, I’m skeptical of the thought that Gannon lost focus because he was studying the Cardinals roster or putting together a staff or something along those lines. I think Kansas City just played an amazing second half and found a way to exploit the Eagles’ penchant for rotating their safeties to combat pre-snap motion. Andy Reid just had the better game overall. I don’t think the Eagles defense sucked in the second half because of anything related to Gannon and Arizona, I think they just got cooked by a generational coach and QB combo.

For what it’s worth, Florio quoted the CB tweet and said this:

“Howie wasn’t mad at me, I wasn’t mad at Howie. We both have a job to do. There’s a story about the Gannon tampering that they’re keeping under wraps. I’m curious as to what really happened. Fans should be, too.”

In a writeup on the PFT website, one of Florio’s conspiracies is that the timeline “could potentially strengthen a claim that Brian Flores could make regarding Arizona’s failure to hire him for the job, in retaliation for his pending litigation against the league and multiple teams.” That’s interesting to think about, i.e. the Gannon thing crossing over into some sort of legal/racial territory. If that’s the case, obviously Roseman isn’t going to talk about it.

The larger-level takeaway here is that teams with coaching vacancies probably should not be allowed to begin the interview process until after the season concludes. You can put a short list together, but no contact and no hiring until the Super Bowl is over. That way you’re not compromising assistants and screwing with teams that are still playing for a trophy. It just makes so much more sense to do it that way. Even if you don’t get your head coach in place until March 1st, for instance, you’ve still got at least six weeks to plan for the draft and get on the same page with the GM and the owner and front office.

Full interview here: