Joe Douglas has a lot of good things to say about Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman

It hasn’t been long since Joe Douglas left the Eagles front office and took the General Manager position for the Jets. He joined NFL Insider Adam Schefter to talk about his new opportunity, why he made the move, and a few other Eagles tidbits.

On how his family felt about being “uprooted” and having to move, he told Schefter:

“I think they’re excited, I really do. We were able to make a lot of really great friends in the Philadelphia area, living in South Jersey, and we’re going to miss some of those people but the good news is we’re only an hour and a half away.”

Douglas was also asked to reflect a little bit on his time with the Ravens, Bears and, of course, the Eagles, and specifically what he learned from guys like Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman.

“Just the way Doug handled his first year. We started off 3-0, things were looking great, we lost some guys, we hit some pot holes along the way, we finished the season 7-9 and the way that he attacked that offseason and how he was able to unify the team with his messaging. And the type of guy he is, he’s as genuine and authentic of a person as you’ll ever meet. He’s a guy who says what he means, and means what he says, and players believe in him and they believe in his aggressive mindset, and so I love how he managed the team.

And Howie, can’t say enough great things about how, the moves that Howie made to position that team. You talk about the Carson Wentz trade, you talk about all the home-grown players when he came back he re-signed to make the locker room feel like a safe place, the additions that we were able to add to that team, the culture we were able to build in that locker room. I feel like it all came together in that 2017 season and it really made that a special year.”

Schefter went on to joke that given the right amount of money, Howie would be willing to trade one of his kids. And while Douglas wouldn’t go that far, he did elaborate on Roseman being a family-first kind of guy.

“It was great to have a person that you work with that believes in that, that believes in a lot of the same things you do. If there was ever an issue with family, it was family first all the way and that was awesome.”

Douglas later mentioned that he prepared for his interview with the Jets by watching a lot of game tape in order to be able to discuss some of the intricacies of the team. He did note that the film study came after he spoke with Howie Roseman about the opportunity.

The new General Manager admitted that the whole situation is pretty surreal and he’s been doing a lot more talking than he’s used to — which also includes opening up to Albert Breer at Sports Illustrated as well.

And while he’s excited for the opportunity, it wasn’t that easy for him to make the decision to leave this Philly team, according to Albert Breer:

“I really feel like that franchise, that football team, they’re firing on all cylinders,” Douglas said. “It’s as deep of a team as I’ve ever seen there. And that’s including the ’17 team. There’s a lot of good going on. And so that made it a really tough decision.”

When talking to Breer, he echoed that same sentiments he made to Schefter about Howie Roseman wanting to prove to the players that there was stability in the locker room following the Chip Kelly era.

“[Roseman] knew the building was fractured,” Douglas said. “He knew that the players needed a safe harbor. And he wanted to send a message to the homegrown players that if you do right, you’re going to be cared for—we’re not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And I think that went a long way.”

Douglas also mentioned to Breer that the Eagles had previously shown interest in Avery Williamson as a 2018 free agent, and liked a lot about tight end Chris Herndon ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft — who was taken by the Jets in Round 4.

So, Douglas may be moving 90 minutes north, but there’s still love between him and the Eagles organization, especially Howie Roseman. That’s a relationship that was built on respect and will continue in that fashion even as he takes a new post with the Jets.