Practice No. 1, in the books after about 75 minutes, an emphasis for the morning on first and second downs . Eagles Training Camp, 2024, is officially underway. It looked crisp. It felt great with fans in attendance, everyone just so happy to have the season here and so much ahead.
Eagles Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman walked off the field with Head Coach Nick Sirianni and spent some time talking with Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie and then paused: His 24th season with the Eagles is one greeted with great promise and expectations and, as usual, a cautious, day-by-day approach.
"You know how quickly things can change in this sport and for me, I'm constantly growing, constantly trying to get some perspective," Roseman said. "The minute that you start looking ahead you miss the moment that you're in and some of the details get lost in that translation. I'm not telling you I'm perfect with that – I know what we have to start the regular season, the game in Brazil, and that's going to be an incredible experience – but at the same time we've got to get through today, tomorrow, and we have to evaluate every step.
"That's what this time of the year is all about. We have to be right on our guys. My biggest nightmare is letting go guys that we didn't have enough information on and then seeing them have a great career somewhere else. We want to keep the very best 53 players for our active roster, then build our practice squad, and have a full team where everyone has a part in it and everybody is contributing. That's the goal here. So, you learn not to get ahead of yourself because, man, it can all go off course so fast."
So, look, it happened last season for the Eagles, didn't it? Going off course. From 10-1 to a first-round playoff exit, and the challenge for the Eagles is to both learn from the missteps and to move on from them. That's what they've done, largely because the Roseman-led offseason saw the Eagles gas up the roster engine with an active free agency, a series of creative and resourceful moves to build depth, and then an NFL Draft that they feel really good about.
In fact, it's the latest NFL Draft that has helped build the core of this roster: Roseman points to the last three drafts as roster-bolstering springs. And while we all ooohh and aahhhh at the moves in free agency each year, the truth is that the teams that have had the most success historically in the NFL draft well.
And Roseman is banking on these last three Eagles draft classes.
"When you look at these last three drafts, we have a lot of confidence in the players that we drafted," he said. "Because of how good our team was the last few years, those players really haven't had an opportunity to kind of show themselves. I think now, where we are, we've lost some of the greatest players in the history of this franchise (Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox) and it's time for people to step up. Where we are, going forward, that's going to be a big part of it. We talk about development all the time. We have great people here who can develop players and now we're in Training Camp and we have faith in our people on and off the field to do those things.
"It's exciting to us. Those players were special in college for their teams and we want them to play their best football here with the Philadelphia Eagles."
The roster, then, is much more than all of the stars Roseman and the Eagles have collected and that dominate the headlines. Players like center Cam Jurgens and defensive tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter and cornerback Kelee Ringo and linebacker Nakobe Dean and so many others have their shot right now. It's directly in front of them.
Thus, the excitement for Roseman as he watches this team build.
"It's incredibly exciting to come back knowing we have a lot of good people that we can evaluate and give them an opportunity to make this team and help us make a run," Roseman said. "I know how good of an opportunity that we have with the players and coaches here on this field. You don't always have this kind of situation. So, what do we do with that? It's very humbling to be out here and know what we're part of.
"You learn to enjoy every moment, keep pushing to get better in every way, and see where it goes. I feel so fortunate to be here in this position and to be here with this team, with these fans in a great football city, I'm pumped up and ready to go."
