The Philadelphia Eagles recently finalized a number of front office changes. The announcement came at curious timing since a Friday night news dump is usually reserved for unpopular developments and it’s not like the Birds made any highly controversial moves.

Regardless, there’s a lot of changes to note. The Eagles had no shortage of positions to fill following a number of key losses this offseason. Here’s an overview.

---

TITLE CHANGES

FOOTBALL OPERATIONS

Jon Ferrari – Assistant General Manager

Alec Halaby – Assistant General Manager

Dom DiSandro – Senior Advisor to the General Manager/Chief Security Officer

Bryce Johnston – Vice President of Football Transactions and Strategic Planning

Paul Lancaster – Senior Director of Player Engagement

Connor Barwin – Director of Player Development

James Gilman – Director of Football Analytics

Jeff Scott – Director of Football Operations

Jon Liu – Assistant Director of Football Analytics

Kathy Mair – Player Resource Coordinator/Assistant Director of Player Engagement

Patrick McDowell – Player Development Assistant/Scout

Nick Still – Assistant Equipment Manager

SCOUTING

Dave Caldwell – Senior Personnel Director/Advisor to the General Manager

Alan Wolking – Director of Player Personnel

Phil Bhaya – Director of Draft Management

Max Gruder – Director of Pro Scouting

Ameena Soliman – Director of Personnel Operations/Pro Scout

Ryan Myers – Assistant Director of College Scouting

Matt Holland – Senior College/Pro Scout

---

NEW HIRES

FOOTBALL OPERATIONS

Zach Drapkin – Quantitative Analyst

Marlon Sanders – Video Assistant

Elsie Reyes – Administrative Assistant, Football Operations

SCOUTING

Matt Russell – Senior Personnel Director/Advisor to the General Manager

Brandon Hunt – Director of Scouting

Charles Walls – Director of Player Personnel

Jeremy Gray – Assistant Director of Pro Personnel

Jordon Dizon – National Scout

Jarrod Kilburn – College/Pro Scout

Rod Streater – Northeast Area Scout

Ben Ijalana – Scouting Assistant

---

THOUGHTS

• The Eagles have previously been reluctant to hand out assistant GM titles. By promoting Jon Ferrari and Alec Halaby to these positions, however, they are preventing teams from poaching them away for lateral moves. The Eagles can only lose them if a team is offering full blown GM power.
• One can wonder why the Eagles didn’t use assistant GM titles sooner. If they had done so, they wouldn’t have lost the likes of Brandon Brown, Ian Cunningham, Catherine Raïche, AND Andy Weidl. It’s too late now, of course. And the Eagles did make an effort to change a resolution to block scouting hires until after the NFL Draft, which could have helped them retain more talent had that rule already existed this year.
• From the outside looking in, Ferrari has a background in logistical matters while Halaby is (perhaps not very popularly) known for being an analytics guy. Interesting to see two members of the football ops side get assistant GM titles instead of one for football ops and one for scouting to balance things out.
• Big Dom continues to receive elevated titles. The Eagles really rely on the background work he does on players.
• Always cool to see Bryce Johnston, formerly of EaglesCap.com, continuing to rise in the organization. He was previously bumped up to “senior director of football transactions” around this time last year.
• Former Eagles outside linebacker Connor Barwin has a new position after previously serving in the “special assistant to the GM” title. I’m guessing his responsibilities won’t change much considering he’s seemingly had a hybrid coaching/front office role.
• Former Jacksonville Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell got a bump after joining the team as a “personnel executive.” Caldwell holds an identical title to new addition Matt Russell. The guess here is that Caldwell and Russell will split Weidl’s power as the former head of the Eagles’ scouting department in the vice president of player personnel role.
• Bhaya is being promoted from a scout to the director of draft management. It’s a unique title:

• After becoming a pro scout last year, Ameena Soliman is having director of personnel operations added to her title.
• The Eagles must be excited to finally add Brandon Hunt to the organization after previously pursuing him in 2016.
• Jeremy Gray is the son of former Vikings DB coach Jerry Gray. Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was Jerry’s top assistant in Minny from 2014 through 2017. Gannon overlapped with Jeremy in Minny for eight months in that stretch.
• Jordon Dizon was the Broncos’ assistant pro scouting director since 2015. Guessing he’s well-liked by Matt Russell.
• You may recognize Rod Streater and Ben Ijalana as former NFL players. Streater, a Burlington, NJ native, played in the NFL as a wide receiver from 2012 through 2018. He made 21 starts in 55 games. Ijalana, a Villanova alumnus, was the No. 49 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Eagles clearly value having former players on their scouting staff.