PHILADELPHIA — General manager Howie Roseman has been a busy man since regaining control of the Philadelphia Eagles’ personnel department three months ago after the firing of coach Chip Kelly.
He negotiated contract extensions with three of the team’s core players — right tackle Lane Johnson, tight end Zach Ertz and safety Malcolm Jenkins.
He re-signed quarterback Sam Bradford and cornerback Nolan Carroll, both of whom were unrestricted free agents.
He managed to get rid of Kelly’s two most odious free-agent blunders, trading away cornerback Byron Maxwell and his $63 million contract to Miami and sending running back DeMarco Murray and his $40 million contract to Tennessee. Roseman somehow even convinced the Dolphins to swap spots in the first round, with the Eagles moving up from 13th to 8th.
Then he went to work in free agency addressing some of the team’s biggest needs.
He upgraded the interior line with the signings of Brandon Brooks (Houston) and Stefen Wisniewski (Jacksonville). He added cornerbacks Leodis McKelvin and Ron Brooks (both from Buffalo, where new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had coached them in 2014). He signed wide receivers Rueben Randle (New York Giants) and Chris Givens (Ravens). And he acquired a veteran backup quarterback (Chase Daniel), who is well-versed in new head coach Doug Pederson’s offense.
By addressing all of their most pressing needs in free agency, the Eagles can be disciplined in the draft later this month and take the best players on the board regardless of position rather than drafting for a specific need.
That said, there are positions the Eagles almost certainly will address in the draft. While the additions of Brooks and Wisniewski has helped them inside, there still is the matter of finding an offensive tackle.
Seven-time Pro-Bowl left tackle Jason Peters is 34 and is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he did not play very well. While Pederson has said he thinks Peters still has three or four more good years left in him, the truth is the Eagles will be happy if he can just stay healthy this season and give them one last productive year.
The plan is to eventually move Johnson from right tackle to left tackle. But that still leaves them needing a right tackle. A name that has been frequently linked to them with the eighth overall pick is Notre Dame tackle Ronnie Stanley, who may or may not still be on the board when they go on the clock.
Pederson has said the Eagles almost certainly will take a quarterback at some point in the draft.
He accompanied Roseman and owner Jeff Lurie on a cross-country tour a couple of weeks ago when they held private workouts and interviews with many of the draft’s top quarterbacks, including the two top-rated ones – Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.
Considering that they just re-signed Bradford to a two-year deal that probably will be restructured after the 2016 season if he plays well, it seems unlikely the Eagles would take a quarterback in the first round. But if Goff or Wentz drops to them and they believe he can be a franchise quarterback for the next 10-15 years, who knows.
But Pederson seems to believe in Bradford, who played very well in the second half of the season last year.
“I went in thinking he was going to be the guy, I honestly did,” Pederson said. “That was probably the No. 1 thing I did first and probably foremost when I got (to Philadelphia), was evaluate that (quarterback) position, evaluate Sam’s performance. That’s what led to him wanting to stay in Philadelphia. I wanted him to stay in Philadelphia, and we got him signed.”
That said, the Eagles still need a developmental quarterback behind Bradford and Daniel. At the very least, they are expected to draft one in the middle rounds. They have two third-round picks, so using one of them on a quarterback is a possibility.
They also are expected to add offensive linemen in the draft, despite the additions of Brooks and Wisniewski. While Brooks, who is expected to be the team’s starting right guard, signed a five-year deal, Wisniewski, who can play both center and guard, signed for just one year.