Everything is on the table for the Eagles and Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman, as it usually is around NFL Draft time. The league's masterful wheeler and dealer knows the way it works between now and the end of the 2025 NFL Draft: Work the phones relentlessly, leave no stone unturned, and keep an open mind.
Welcome, then, to the stretch run of preparation as the NFL Draft approaches. The Eagles hold eight total selections (all in the first five rounds), including No. 32 in Round 1. They were in this same position in 2018 and ended up trading the pick to Baltimore.
This time? Patience, please. We have a long way to go until April 26 arrives.
"You have to be patient, one. You have to allow things to come to you," Roseman said on Tuesday as he and Head Coach Nick Sirianni held a press conference to discuss the upcoming draft. "The chances that you're trading up into the top 10, top 15, top 20 are slim. That's hard to do. You have to really understand the strengths of the draft. You have to spend a lot of time being realistic about who you think you will have an opportunity to get, so you spend a lot of time with them."
Roseman went on to say that it's essential to know "those guys backwards and forwards," and so that's the task. That has been the focus. They are looking to build on an already-strong roster throughout the NFL Draft weekend, including the critical post-draft period.
You can be sure that Roseman will allow the first round of the draft to materialize and develop. After that? Once the draft is in its mid-20s? Roseman is going to have his ears perking.
Anything can happen, as we've learned so many times through the years.
"Maybe that's an example of being on the outside and looking at the league when I was studying it, before I got into the league, and then coming into the league and understanding that there were opportunities to maybe get aggressive," said Roseman, who joined the Eagles in 2000. "With that also comes risk, right? All those moves don't always work out and it's probably more conservative to just stand pat, stay where you are, whether it's with players on your team or during the draft, and kind of see what comes to you.
"When you trade up in a draft, you gotta deal with the consequences of who ends up being there with the side you move out on. Sometimes, you say, 'Man, I could have sat there and got this player.' So, you have to deal with that, too. For me, being aggressive has always been part of my DNA."
That is the Eagles' way, which is why Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie has for so many years talked about his disdain for being risk-averse. The philosophy has worked well enough for the Eagles to reach the postseason 19 times in Lurie's 31 seasons here, with two Lombardi Trophies in the NovaCare Complex display case.
Where will the Eagles focus their attention in this NFL Draft? As usual, there are no real clues. Roseman said that this Draft Class presents opportunities, as he says correctly every spring. The Eagles do not have 32 players with first-round grades – that just does not happen, Roseman said.
In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Eagles watched as quarterbacks flew off the board early – six of the first 12 selections were quarterbacks, and only five of the first 21 picks were on defensive players, so that when the Eagles started on the clock at Pick No. 22, they had their choice of the top cornerbacks and ended up landing Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell, who enjoyed a sensational rookie season. In very few of the Eagles' internal mock drafts prior to the actual NFL Draft did Mitchell make it to No. 22.
In that instance, Roseman let the draft come to him. In 2022, for example, he was in a let's-make-some-deals mood and the Eagles benefited greatly with Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis and a trade for Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown in Round 1.
"Luck plays a part in it, obviously. Everyone is looking at things differently, everyone has a different vision of what they are looking for for their team," Roseman said. "Everyone has a different vision for the particular players that they're looking at. You just hope that you're trying to make sense for what works for your football team."
