Howie Roseman spent 2015 reflecting, keeping a positive attitude and finding new ways to learn as much as he could about the NFL, the game of football, leadership and the ways he could improve himself. Now the calendar has turned and Roseman, the Eagles' executive vice president of football operations, met the media on Tuesday for the first time since the team restructured its front office in early 2015, giving then-head coach Chip Kelly full control over player personnel.
Kelly, of course, was released from his contract with one game remaining in the '15 season and Roseman has re-emerged in the front office's big picture as part of the team's "collaborative" approach to player personnel decisions.
"I think it's just to help the team, to help the Eagles," Roseman said at the NovaCare Complex. "That's all I know in this business is to be a part of this organization. I care about this organization, I care about the people here and you realize that relationships are important to you in life and that people are important to you. You get that perspective when you are away from it."
Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said the Eagles are "about to do a search for a player personnel head. That will really be an important search that we are all participating in, starting this week." Lurie also said that his "No. 1 priority going into this offseason is accountability."
That includes Roseman, who was part of the search committee that brought Doug Pederson into the fold as the 23rd head coach of the franchise.
Why didn't it work out for Roseman with Kelly, who was given control of the personnel following the 2014 season? Roseman looks at himself for that, and he also accepted accountability for the draft of 2014, which produced linebacker Marcus Smith with the 26th pick overall in the first round. Smith came on a bit in the final few games of 2015, but he has not had the impact the team hoped he would make on a defense in need of another pass rusher.
"I need to do a better job in some things, and that's what I used the year (2015) to do," Roseman said. "All I can do is move forward here and work on myself and improve what I bring to the team."
The perception that has emerged that people around the league are wary of working with Roseman is something that impacted him, and he says he's done something about it.
"When this happened last year, that was something that I took to heart," Roseman said. "I think that goes back to, 'What was really important to me?' and that was relationships.' I didn't put my head in the sand and just say, 'Everyone is wrong.' I felt I had to look into myself and figure out a way to make people know that I cared about them, make time for relationships. Sometimes, when you're in a busy job you overlook those things. I felt that wasn't the right thing to do and I was going to work on that."
