Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has struggled with holding onto players past their prime during his tenure with the franchise. It’s one of the few criticisms Roseman continues to deal with despite the team’s recent success.
Roseman has even acknowledged his bias toward proven, veteran players in the past. Yet, his actions this offseason have proven that Roseman continues to learn from his mistakes.
Philadelphia Eagles Continue To Make Tough Decisions as They Embrace Younger Players
In the past, we’ve seen Roseman and the Eagles sign older players to surprising contract extensions. Jason Peters and Alshon Jeffery are two players that fit that category, as the Eagles opted to reward them for their previous accomplishments instead of planning for the future.
Many believe Roseman made the same mistake last offseason by signing Darius Slay and James Bradberry to contract extensions. Fast forward just one season and the Eagles would surely love to have their decision to re-sign Bradberry back.
Yet, as this offseason has progressed, Roseman is clearly emphasizing getting younger and allowing players to walk despite their previous accomplishments for the franchise. If this were a few years ago, Roseman would have absolutely signed Haason Reddick to a massive extension this offseason.
However, that obviously wasn’t the case this offseason, as Roseman traded Reddick to the New York Jets in exchange for a conditional 2026 third-round draft pick. While Reddick could surely still produce at a high level, Roseman wasn’t about to sign the 29-year-old pass rusher to a huge contract that he would possibly regret in a year or two.
Offseason Moves Indicate Howie Roseman Is Focused on the Future
Reddick isn’t the only older veteran the Eagles have moved on from this offseason. Obviously, the retirements of Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox will force Philadelphia to embrace a youth movement as well, as Kelce will be replaced by 24-year-old Cam Jurgens and Cox will be replaced by 23-year-old Jalen Carter.
Philadelphia also released 30-year-old safety Kevin Byard, who struggled to find a groove with the Eagles after being acquired by the team in a trade last season. The Eagles replaced Byard with 26-year-old C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who brings the energy and swagger that Philadelphia’s defense was surely missing during last season’s collapse.
Adam Schefter of ESPN joined 97.5 The Fanatic on Wednesday to discuss Philadelphia’s offseason and how the team emphasized getting younger.
“In a perfect world, you want to keep Haason Reddick, but it wasn’t the world they were operating in. They chose not to pay someone over 30. They paid Landon Dickerson, Bryce Huff, Saquon Barkley — at some point, DeVonta Smith. You can’t pay everybody,” Schefter said.
Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer also joined 97.5 The Fanatic on Wednesday and mentioned that age was likely a factor in Sweat returning over Reddick this offseason.
“I think the Eagles have to be willing to move on from players once they reach a certain age,” McLane said. “Haason [Reddick] is going to be 30, Josh Sweat is still 26, and I think that also factors into why Sweat is still here and Reddick is not.”
Since the start of free agency, Philadelphia has signed or traded for 13 new players. Only one of those players was over 29 years old, and that was wide receiver DeVante Parker. Yet, Parker’s one-year deal with the Eagles includes $0 in guaranteed money.
Despite years of success, Roseman continues to evolve as a general manager each offseason. While he has stubbornly held onto veteran players past their prime in previous years, that isn’t the case this offseason. Now, we’ll wait to see if Roseman’s decision to embrace a youth movement in Philadelphia will pay off in 2024 and beyond.