Will Howie Roseman regret signing Saquon Barkley, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, along with other Eagles deals?

Howie Season got off to a rousing start. In the first three days of free-agent courtship, Howie Roseman extended the contract of his best young offensive lineman. He signed the most exciting young pass rusher on the market. He broke from his pattern and committed big money to a big back. Then he corrected his biggest mistake of 2023.

Now that the euphoria of spending money has receded, it’s proper to consider the real value of the investments, and to ask:

A year from now, will the Eagles have buyer’s remorse?

Roseman outfoxed the rest of the league in 2021 when, in the second round of the draft, he gambled that Landon Dickerson’s injury history would not cloud the guard’s NFL future. In his five years in college, Dickerson had torn the ACLs in each of his knees and, in between, injured both of his ankles badly enough to end that season. These injuries, and the likelihood that they would recur, were the only reasons Dickerson was available on Day 2.

Sure enough, once Dickerson had recovered from the ACL tear that ended his final college season, he became a stud guard for the Eagles. He has started 51 games, including five playoff games. He’s made the last two Pro Bowls. The first three years have gone well.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Howie Roseman steals Saquon Barkley, Bryce Huff from New York

Roseman figures the next five will be even better. With a year left on his rookie deal, Dickerson signed a four-year extension that can be worth up to $87 million, a record for guards. Certainly, if he continues to play this well or better, the deal willbe a steal for the Eagles.

As long as those legs stay healthy.

After a major knee injury in 2020 and an ankle injury in 2021, the Giants last year didn’t feel comfortable signing their best player to a big-money, long-term extension, so they hit him with the franchise tag.

After a more serious ankle injury in 2023, the Giants last week didn’t feel comfortable signing their best player to a big-money, long-term extension, so they let him test the market.

Roseman, however, felt comfortable signing Barkley, 27, to a three-year, $37.75 million contract, with $26 million guaranteed. It’s the biggest contract for a free-agent running back since the Jets wasted $27 million in guaranteed money on Le’Veon Bell in 2019, when Bell was 27 — a contract that has served as a cautionary tale for such backs ever since. Bell signed for four years. He was gone in a little more than one season.

Bell had injured his knee two seasons before he landed with the Jets (he sat out 2018 in a contract dispute), but groin, hamstring, and knee injuries chased him from the league after he signed the deal.

The differences:

Bell was a knucklehead. Barkley’s a prince.

And the Jets and Giants were, and remain, dumpster fires.

» READ MORE: Can Jalen Hurts survive Jason Kelce’s retirement from the Eagles?

The Jets signed Huff out of Memphis as an undrafted free agent. He collected 10 sacks last season after getting just 7½ his first three years.

Roseman has gambled three years and $34.4 million on Huff, who can make up to $51.1 million. Roseman has done this because he fancies himself a top evaluator of defensive ends.

In eight years as an Eagle, second-round end Vinny Curry compiled 30 sacks.

In six years as an Eagle, fourth-round end Josh Sweat has compiled 35 sacks.

In two years as an Eagle, Haason Reddick, signed as a free agent, has compiled 27 sacks.

Roseman might be right. He might be a top evaluator of defensive ends.

Then again, he also drafted Derek Barnett and Marcus Smith.

Last spring Roseman was faced with a choice. He could have retained playmaking safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was a 25-year-old wild card, or extend the contract of James Bradberry, the Eagles’ goat in their Super Bowl loss, who was a 29-year-old model citizen. He chose Bradberry. Bradberry fell off a cliff, had his worst season as a pro, and currently is the biggest contractual albatross since Carson Wentz.

Gardner-Johnson signed a one-year deal with the Lions, suffered a freak injury — a torn pectoral muscle — and wound up playing in just six games, counting three in the postseason. He has the same wild-card personality, but after a season of bad Bradberry and worse safety play, Roseman has acknowledged his mistake.

The questions for CJGJ: Can he stay healthy, and will he upset an already turbulent locker room?

We’ll know this time next year.