Palm Beach Howie

 

Howie Roseman spoke to the media from Palm Beach Florida during the Owners meeting today.  Here is an assessment of that dialog:

Eagles Lessons:

• Core: Howie- “We're building. We're not in a go-for-it, all-in situation. ...If you're building on a foundation, you don't start taking pillars off. The most important part of free agency was what we did during the season, signing a LT who's 24, a TE who we think is elite...”  Eagles Lessons: Add Avonte Maddox and Josh Sweat to the aforementioned Jordan Mailata and Dallas Goedart as 4 identified core players signed in 2021 to multi-year extensions.  The Eagles strategy is to identify, negotiate and resign those extensions in season, enabling assessment of current and future needs before free agency and the draft, so future core and role players can be assembled in March and April around the current core.
• Draft: Howie- “When you have the amount of high picks we have, we don’t want to block these (newly drafted) players from playing.”  Eagles Lessons: Since January, the team has insured several of their own players will likely remain on the roster next year (S Anthony Harris, DE Derek Barnett, DT Fletcher Cox, RB Boston Scott, OG Nate Herbig, WR Greg Ward, DB Andre Chachere, C Jason Kelce).  Added were 3 new free agent acquisitions: Hassan Reddick, Kyzir White & Zach Pascal.  Many of these signings were to provide reasonable depth so the Eagles are not FORCED to pick for a particular positional need.  Most of the signees do not represent draftee impediments, but were thus insurance for draft flexibility.   Cox and Kelce are likely entering their final Eagle seasons.  Hasson Reddick is the lone Post-Jan. signee that is a sure fire Eagle starter and core player.  Kyzir White has that potential, but is currently signed for 1 year.
• Jaylen: Howie- " “Just talking & hearing his plan to improve & the things he wants to do, he will explore every option to get better. He will do whatever it takes... I don't know that we've ever wavered from the level of commitment that we have had in Jalen, so I think when we say 'He's our guy,' and 'He's our starter,' and 'We believe in him,' we got to do whatever we can to help him and give him a chance to reach his potential… You are going to get as much as possible out of him as you can." Eagles Lesson: He is Mr. Right Now.  The Eagles are committed to Hurts for 2022.  He must prove himself for more.
• Free Agency: Howie- “We looked into a bunch of opportunities. Some of them we felt like just weren’t the right fit for us, whether from a cost perspective or a position perspective. I would just say this: We’re not even to April… If there’s an opportunity (to address a weakness) now, yes, we’ll look into that, if there’s an opportunity to do it in the draft, and the value fits, we’ll do that. If not, we’re going to circle back” (TO Free Agency)  Eagles Lessons: Free agent acquisitions are dictated by 5 things- The pool of available players, the player’s market value, each team’s current roster/needs/available resources, competing offers (whether they are below, at or above market) and then where the player decides it’s best for him.  And Free Agency is a 3-tiered exercise, with a “strike the iron whilst it’s hot” for the initial tier, then compete smartly pre-draft for tier 2 free agents (Kyzir White), and finally wait patiently for value post-draft in tier 3  (Last season, the Eagles acquired ’21 starting corner Steve Nelson two days before training camp).  The market changed (higher $) for receivers this year and though interested, the Eagles would not overpay (Christian Kirk to Jac.).  Also, the Eagles (as the best RUNNING team in ‘21) were not as desirable for other wide outs they competed for (Allen Robinson, Robert Woods… See Skill Player Targets below).  They also made a competitive offer to elite safety Marcus Williams but he chose Bal.  One of the better edges, Hasson Reddick, did choose Philly in part since he was coming home. 
• Skill Player Targets: Howie- "…DeVonta Smith had 118 targets," (Actually 104). "When you look at the players in Coach Sirianni's offense and the No. 1 receivers in the league, you're talking about guys getting 150 targets. When you talk about Dallas Goedert… he had 84 targets last year.” (Actually 76). “… tight ends of his caliber, you're talking about guys who are getting 120 targets per year. Even when you look at Quez, I think he had 60 targets (62, actually).  “And so we believe, in those 3 guys, specifically the first two guys, they're going to require, as their skill sets continue to get better and better, & as they get more comfortable in the offense, they are going to require more targets… So I think we have to look at, we're kind of saying, can we also satisfy players who are going to gobble up a lot of targets while we're trying to satisfy these young players that we think have a chance to be exceptional players.” Eagles Lesson: To both keep and attract top talent in the passing game, receiving opportunities (i.e. targets) need to exist.  A heavily run based offense is not ideal to attract those to receivers. 
• Derek Barnett: Barnett is an unpopular Eagle.  While this author will focus on the particulars of his recent re-signing once financial details become available… Howie- "I think that perception of Derek is probably not fair with the reality… He's a guy that if we we're looking at a different team and you'd go, '26 year old defensive end coming off his not best year,' we'd kind of look at that and go, 'Alright, maybe that's an opportunity.' His playing temperament is ideal, fits Philly. He understands… perception of him and the thousand untimely moments. But this is a guy who certainly contributes to a great defensive line. We've seen it with us. I think that going into free agency, he probably thought a little differently about where he would be… and he got to a point where it's a huge priority to us to have a wave defensive line that's really good. We know we can count on him." Eagles Lesson: If you can carry a starting caliber player in a backup roster role at backup cost, that’s a big win. 
• You got to know when to fold ‘em: Howie- “We’re not saying we put all our chips in the middle of the table this year. We want to win. We want to have a really good team, but we also want to do the right things.” Eagles Lesson: Once the core is ready, then take your shot.  Till then, build the core, be patient.