March 26, 2024
On Monday, Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman spoke on a variety of topics at the owners meetings in Orlando, Florida. Here are my five biggest takeaways.
"I would say our history is maybe a little different than is being portrayed," Roseman explained about the running back position. "I was in the front office when we paid Brian Westbrook. In 2012, LeSean McCoy got a $9 million per year contract when I was the GM.
"It's hard to find special players at any position. We think Saquon is a special player. We think he's a special person. And so when you're trying to find those guys, they're hard to find, especially on the open market.
"And then you [think] about the dynamic about, has the pendulum swung so far at this position [that running backs are now undervalued]."
#JimmySays: The Eagles are paying Barkley $37.75 over three years. Factoring in increases to the salary cap in 2025 and 2026, if Barkley gets paid his $37.75 million in full, he will account for about 4.6 percent of the Eagles' cap over a three year span. That's for a player who will touch the football around 300 times per season if he stays healthy.
This is not like when Todd Gurley, for example, got a $14 million per year contract when the salary cap was $80 million less in 2018 ($177 million) than it is in 2024 ($255 million).
It's also probably worth noting that in terms of the value of resources, paying a running back $12.6 million per year isn't anywhere near the same level as drafting one with the 10th overall pick, for example, which the Eagles were never going to do last year with Bijan Robinson.
Is Barkley "special?" The Eagles say he is. We'll see. If so, he'll be worth the money he got. If not, he won't. #Analysis.
It's interesting that Roseman noted that valuation of running backs league-wide may have swung too far in the "running backs are worthless trash" direction (my words, not his), but I don't think that this signing means that they're going to start building their roster like it's 1980.
Roseman was asked a question about new linebacker Devin White, and he gave a typical answer about the strengths of White's game and how he'll fit into Vic Fangio's defense.
But it was a follow-up on White's chippy play demeanor that coaxed an interesting response from Roseman.
"Obviously, we want talent with these guys, but I think that's accurate to say," Roseman acknowledged. "We were looking to regain our swagger mentality back and obviously what happened at the end of the year didn't feel good and wasn't really acceptable for any of us. And so so we wanted to get players who can kind of bring that and have that motivation and mentality."
#JimmySays: The moment that stands out to me is when the 49ers walked right through the Eagles' defensive backs drills, and the Eagles didn't do a damn thing about it.
49ers interrupt the Eagles’ DBs drills… pic.twitter.com/5O0vHKqnoW
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) December 3, 2023
Guys like Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Devin White would never take that s**t. There would have been a pre-game fight.
"One of the things you look for is his skill set," Roseman said. "Bryce is heavy-handed, he understands leverage, he's got explosiveness in his body. The Jets did an unbelievable job of having that edge rusher position filled with five or six guys when I look at their depth chart. Joe Douglas did a great job of bringing those guys in. They were trying to find roles for guys and get guys playing time, based on the amount of guys they had — first round picks, guys under contract.
"We see it on tape. 90 percent of the time we believe in kind of having these fastballs off the edge and getting guys in the game. But I think this perception that he's kind of a liability against the run, obviously we'll see. We know that he's got the tools in his body to make a difference and we're excited about him."
#JimmySays: Roseman is essentially acknowledging that Huff's ability against the run is a projection, but he is also saying here that they place a far greater value on their edge rushers' ability to get to the quarterback.
For what it's worth, Jets head coach Robert Saleh was asked a similar question about Huff.
Jets coach Robert Saleh on Bryce Huff: "Bryce, elite, elite pass rusher. Closes games. People want to say that all he does is rush the passer, but all Mariano Rivera did was close ninth innings. So he's a pretty darn good pass rusher and he'll be great for Philadelphia." pic.twitter.com/BBmqi6W2pY
— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) March 25, 2024
So, you know, he ignored the part about Huff's ability to play the run.
"I think it's obvious to everyone, including JB, that JB didn't have the year that he was expecting and we were expecting," Roseman said. "I think obviously he understands that, and he's driven to show that he's the player he was in 2022.
"He has had some adversity in his career and he bounced back from that. Obviously when we signed him to the extension, we believed that he was going to be part of this team for those three years. We did it based on the data we had on him and obviously watching him play. And so, we had some objective and subjective criteria that we were looking at.
"He's working hard, but we're not shying away from the fact that he didn't have the year that he expected and we expected."
#JimmySays: If the Eagles release Bradberry, it will very likely be after June 1. I remain of the belief that they will indeed part ways with Bradberry, but it's not a certainty. The Eagles have made big moves for corners in the past, like with Ronald Darby in 2017 and Darius Slay in 2020. It wouldn't surprise me if Roseman got aggressive in the trade market for a corner once again.
"We're not going to talk about anyone's contract situations," Roseman said.
#JimmySays: The Eagles have Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, a 2023 first-round pick in Nolan Smith, a newcomer in Zack Baun, and another newcomer in Bryce Huff, whose $17 million per year contract makes him a higher-paid player than Reddick. All signs point to Reddick being dealt.
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