In Howie We Trust: Eagles enter free agency led by Roseman, the NFL’s best GM

It’s Howie SZN.

The smallest man in the Eagles franchise now somehow cuts the biggest figure. This is his time, from early March to Game 1 kickoff. He faces a monster extension for Jalen Hurts, free agency for 11 starters, and possibly losing seven starters from the No. 2 defense. He has modest cap room and draft assets.

But nobody in Philadelphia is worrying.

In Howie We Trust.

Hell, he already got Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham back. Clearly, there’s a plan.

Maybe Roseman thinks defensive tackle Jordan Davis and end Josh Sweat can make the defensive line dominant. Maybe he thinks Nakobe Dean will be a star at middle linebacker. Maybe he thinks the defensive backfield, which anchored the No. 1 pass defense, wasn’t all that great, so losing Darius Slay and James Bradberry wouldn’t be the setback it seems to be. Maybe he’s got his eye on a corner in the draft and a safety in free agency and a defensive lineman via trade that isn’t on our radar.

Relax. It’s in Howie’s hands.

» READ MORE: The Eagles have nearly 20 free agents set to hit the open market. How different will the 2023 roster look?

For the past five years, no evaluator and negotiator has pushed paper better than the one-time Gator. I never thought I’d say this. I never thought I’d say any of this. But among general managers in the salary-cap era, Howie Roseman has risen to the stature of studs like Bill Belichick, Ozzie Newsome, John Schneider, and Bill Polian.

Right now, he’s the best general manager in football. As a matter fact, he might be one of the best general managers in the history of football. He has mastered the salary cap. He understands how to get maximum value from minimum investment. He understands how to manipulate collective bargaining rules and salary-cap restrictions.

Twice in five years, Roseman assembled the most talented roster in the NFL and took it to the Super Bowl. The only reason he didn’t win twice is because the field was slippery in Arizona in February and because Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback alive.

Exiting the 2016 season, when he re-ascended to the GM throne, humility and logic trumped his pride and sentimentality, and that’s why the Eagles went to Super Bowl LII. Both the pride and the sentimentality resurfaced over the next three seasons, so 2021 was another hard reset. He’s made the most of it, with two winning seasons. He’s sown seeds in the form of young players that seem assured to bear fruit over the next three to five seasons.

And now, again, it’s Howie season. If you don’t believe he’s the best in the business, just consider what he did last year.

I’ll admit that I was among the legion of skeptics who was more comfortable with some burly, hair-knuckled former football grunt, than some scrawny dude with a law degree and a bottomless work ethic. It’s hard to believe he got the keys to Jeffrey Lurie’s kingdom 11 years ago. He’s been hard to like — his thin skin and his scant training served him ill and made life more difficult for him — but hey, glass houses and all that.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts was almost perfect in the Super Bowl for the Eagles. Pay him. $250 million, guaranteed.

Roseman’s 2015 exile at the behest of Chip Kelly changed him, to a degree. Collaboration turned a mediocre 2016 edition into a championship team in 2017, but for the next three years, Roseman listened too much to his lieutenants and too little to his gut. He flew solo in 2022, and he was never better.

Why can’t he do it again?

The big deals in the rear-view mirror are no-brainers. Haason Reddick for three years and $45 million? He’s earned $30 million of that already, with 19 1/2 sacks in 20 total games. A.J. Brown for a first-round pick, plus a $100 million extension? Bargain. He broke Mike Quick’s 40-year-old receiving yards record.

Consider the deftness with which Roseman landed James Bradberry; waiting for the Giants to release him in May, then pouncing nine days later with $10 million when other teams couldn’t.

Consider the value Roseman put on nickel corner C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a malcontent in New Orleans who wanted to play safety. Roseman traded a fourth-round pick for a one-year rental, who shared the league lead with six interceptions.

Consider the faith he had in Hurts, who grew from second-year project to third-year MVP candidate.

Roseman knew the Eagles would be fine with T.J. Edwards playing out his contract at middle linebacker and that Kyzir White would be serviceable playing outside, especially at a $5 million rental deal.

Fletcher Cox at $14 million? Hefty, but Fletch finished with seven sacks, third-most in his career, and he was, finally, the defense’s unquestioned leader.

Dean was a third-round pick last year. Cam Jurgens was drafted in the second round last year as a retirement replacement for Kelce at center, but he’s instead replacing right guard Isaac Seumalo, who’s likely to leave.

Roseman drafted injury-risk guard Landon Dickerson in the second round in 2021. Dickerson was named to the Pro Bowl in 2022. He drafted depth defensive tackle Milton Williams in the third round of 2021. Williams played almost as much as Graham did in 2022.

Roseman spent his first $6 million of the offseason to retain Graham, his first pick as a GM, for a 14th season. Graham just hit a career high with 11 sacks at the age of 34. There’s a difference between sentimentality and productivity.

Not every move has worked out. Robert Quinn for a fourth-round pick during the 2022 season didn’t pop. Not every pick has been great. Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson in 2020 might have spelled Roseman’s doom.

Don’t expect his doom to arrive any time soon.

Howie’s never been hotter.