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Despite his large and obvious role in the Philadelphia Eagles’ deterioration, Howie Roseman will remain with the organization in 2021. This much was reported by Jay Glazer on Fox NFL Sunday (bold emphasis mine):
“We’re going to go with guys I do believe are safe. Doug Pederson, couple weeks ago, didn’t look like that. He is going to have to make a bunch of changes on his staff. And also, his general manager, Howie Roseman? He looked to be on the hot seat. He’s not. He’ll return to Philly as well.”
Glossing over the Pederson part here since ESPN previously reported Doug will be back. The Glazer report serves as further confirmation in that regard.
When it comes to expectation, it’s not like Roseman’s return is a surprise. We previously heard that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie wasn’t even considering dismissing Roseman. It was also hard to imagine the Eagles keeping Pederson but getting rid of their general manager.
When it comes to merit, however, there’s a very strong case to be made for removing Roseman’s personnel control. Roseman undoubtedly deserves all the credit for building a Super Bowl winner in 2017. But that year is very much looking like an anomaly and not a harbinger of future success.
The Eagles are 23-26-1 since raising the first Vince Lombardi Trophy and they’re certainly not trending in the right direction. Roseman built the NFL’s second most expensive roster in 2020 and will likely have a 4-11-1 record to show for it. The reality is that the team is a mess with an unsettled quarterback situation and no clear path to improvement on the horizon.
Replacing Roseman would’ve inspired hope for the team’s long-term outlook. Instead, there’s every reason to feel apathetic with him staying around. Perhaps the Eagles will try to attempt some half-measure such as promoting John Dorsey (who was around for the 2020 NFL Draft when Jalen Reagor was selected over Justin Jefferson, by the way) in an attempt to make Roseman’s return more palatable. But such an effort is unlikely to result in meaningful change as long as Roseman has final say.
By running it back with Roseman and Pederson, Lurie is betting on two pillars of the Eagles’ championship success to rediscover their top form. But he might just be delaying the inevitably instead of ripping the band-aid off now.