Howie Roseman, Jeffrey Lurie’s consigliere, has made Eagles plans long past the NFL draft | Marcus Hayes

To the legion of Eagles fans who despise Howie Roseman and hope the 2021 draft will be his last:

Simmer down. He not going anywhere any time soon.

Not if the 2021 draft class bombs the way the 2020 draft class bombed. Not if this year’s Day Two receiver busts the way JJ Arcega-Whiteside busted in 2019 and 2020. Not if Jalen Hurts finishes with another 77.6 passer rating as he did as a rookie last season. Jeffrey Lurie will just look at his general manager, give him a hug, and send him back to the drafting board.

Roseman knows it. That’s why he said this Wednesday: “Looking forward to next year, and already having four picks in the first two rounds, that’s exciting.”

If you don’t like Roseman running the Eagles, then those words should freeze your bowels.

Those are not the words of a man worried about his future. A former Eagles employee who predated Roseman’s arrival 21 years ago and who witnessed Roseman’s ascension told me last week, “He rules the roost.”

So he does.

Roseman held his annual pre-draft press conference at midday Wednesday with a degree of elan that did not reflect his recent draft disasters. Since 2013, the Eagles have drafted one player who made a Pro Bowl. That was Carson Wentz, whose historic regression last season cost the Birds a playoff spot.

Worse, of the 49 players the Eagles selected in those seven drafts, only three on the current roster would assuredly be starters elsewhere. Those are tight end Dallas Goedert, running back Miles Sanders, and guard Isaac Seumalo. A fourth player, linebacker Jordan Hicks, now plays for the Cardinals.

There are some arguable cases. Defensive end Derek Barnett might play most places, but he probably would not start. Former Eagles receiver Nelson Agholor will start in New England but would not at most places, And, of course, Wentz, now with the Colts, got benched in Philly last year. The Eagles won’t even name Hurts their own starter.

So, at most, seven of 49 players over seven years can be considered NFL starters. That’s 14 percent.

How has Howie survived? He’s convinced Jeffrey Lurie that the team’s 22-25-1 record and one playoff win since Super Bowl LII is everyone else’s fault. And that Super Bowl LII was mostly his doing.

Brilliant.

» READ MORE: Howie Roseman has staying power

Lurie cast the Eagles’ salary cap limitations for 2021 as a one-year setback. When Lurie fired Doug Pederson in January, he endorsed Roseman as the pilot that he wanted to guide the franchise “back to the success we’ve had and what we’re used to in the next two, three, four, five years.”

Three. Four. Five years.

So Roseman will last at least as long as it takes to fully evaluate last year’s top two picks, receiver Jalen Reagor and Hurts. That’s at least two more years.

And Roseman will last at least as long as it takes to fully capitalize on the flood of salary cap space the Eagles will enjoy in 2022, which currently would be more than $30 million under the projected cap of $200 million. That’s two years past 2022, or three more years in all.

Finally, Roseman will last at least as long as it takes to evaluate not just the 2021 draft but the 2022 draft, which is projected to be among the most talent rich in history. As Roseman mentioned, the Birds could have as many as four picks among the top 64. So, three years past 2022.

Four more years in all.

When’s the last time the phrase “four more years” made you wince like that?

I’ve not been a part of the #FireHowie chorus; not lately, anyway.

» READ MORE: Hayes: If accountability matters for Eagles, Roseman must go

However, I have been the lead singer, if not the soloist, in the Stop Saying Ridiculous Things choir, but that’s an entirely different ensemble. We appreciate Roseman’s foresight, his math skills, and we have faith in his professed reform. If he’s going to run the show, he should run it like a king, not a president.

» READ MORE: Howie Roseman needs more power if the Eagles hope to thrive | Marcus Hayes

Lurie can be maddeningly loyal and relentlessly patient; after all, he kept Andy Reid around five years longer than he should have. If you don’t like Howie Roseman, you might want to start giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I know I always do.

; )