Reports: Top OC picks Mike McDaniel, Brian Daboll spurn Eagles. Are they ‘dumb,’ ‘stupid,’ or justified?

Jake Rosenberg is Howie Roseman‘s former salary cap wizard who left the Eagles two years ago for greener pastures. Rosenberg now is a consultant for college athletes and administrators, as well as a headhunter for doctors. Quite the CV.

He’s also a hardy tweeter.

On Tuesday night, after Brian Daboll interviewed with the Eagles for the vacant offensive coordinator position, Rosenberg quote-tweeted a report from The Athletic’s NFL reporter, Diana Russini, refuting her answer to a question posed during her appearance on 94-WIP’s afternoon show that painted the Eagles’ job as unattractive: “I think coordinators on this list are aware that navigating Philly is difficult.”

Rosenberg, a fiery sort, called both the question and the answer “dumb,” as he issued what you would have to assume was a state-sanctioned response, with a list of nine reasons.

Cleaned up from its Twitter-speak abbreviations, the post read thus:

“Ask dumb questions get dumb answers. ...

“1. Talent at skills positions and quarterback. 2. Market. 3. Head coach with five straight playoff appearances and two Super Bowl appearances. 4. Two offensive coordinators who got head coaching jobs. 5. Best GM in league. 6. Max prime-time games. 7. Offensive line. 8. Draft resources. 9. (Generous) Ownership.

“I’m sure an OC wouldn’t want this job. So stupid.”

» READ MORE: Marcus Hayes: Sean McDermott’s firing could make Eagles’ pursuit of Mike McDaniel, Brian Daboll for OC much harder

Minutes before Rosenberg’s post, Russini, among others, reported that Mike McDaniel would take the Chargers’ OC job if he didn’t get one of the head-coaching jobs still in play.

A league source said Wednesday that McDaniel made his decision after a lengthy virtual interview with the Eagles early this week.

On Wednesday morning, Russini, among others, reported that Daboll would take the OC job in Tennessee if he wasn’t hired as Sean McDermott’s replacement as the Bills’ head coach. Whatever happened in Philly on Tuesday convinced Daboll by Wednesday that Nashville and Buffalo were better places for him.

If the reports are correct, it’s a scathing indictment on what appears to be a prime NFL job. Until you look a little closer.

Then you see the cracks in the Eagles’ foundation, and you realize:

Maybe it’s not so prime.

The Eagles aren’t the only team with QB talent. Bills star Josh Allen and Chargers starter Justin Herbert are simply better than Jalen Hurts. Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick by the Titans in 2025, has a much higher ceiling than Hurts has ever displayed.

Yes, Hurts is the reigning Super Bowl MVP, but he has arm strength that is no better than average. After five seasons as a starter he’s shown himself to be slow to process what defenses present him, and often he is blind to open receivers. After several injuries including a late-season concussion in 2024, he is ever more reluctant to run, which, in his first four seasons, was his superpower. Also, in an era of 6-foot-4 passers he’s just 6-foot-1. As we all know, every inch counts.

Yes, Philadelphia is a big, vibrant market, but lately that passion has boiled over into abuse. The environment for any coordinator or head coach in Philadelphia is especially toxic. It takes a thick skin to survive a fan base that has treated the last two defensive coordinators and two of the last three offensive coordinators horribly. A few days after a Black Friday home loss, Eagles fans egged the house of former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ key offensive players were better (or worse) than you might have thought, the advanced stats say

The toxicity is driven by two sports talk radio shows and endless podcasts and local TV shows, an ecosystem of which I am a part as a host on 94-WIP. It also is driven by a print and online press corps, also of which I am a part. Finally, it is driven by a hot-take national media industry, mainly podcasts and analyst gaggles, populated mostly by retired athletes and coaches who recklessly farm engagement.

The combination creates a stressful situation that would affect any human being, as well as his family. None of that is going to change, but, given a choice, you can understand why some candidates would decline to engage with the unique Philadelphia experience.

Roseman might be the best GM in the NFL over the last nine years, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to have the best roster in 2026. Any top OC candidate is looking at the Eagles job as a one-year stepping stone to the 2027 cycle of head-coaching vacancies. The 2026 Eagles are richly talented on paper, but they are saddled with far more questions than answers.

» READ MORE: Which Eagles should Stay or Go next season? Swipe and decide.

Further, the Eagles could not land their top candidates when they hired both Nick Sirianni in 2021 and Doug Pederson in 2016. One big obstacle: Eagles head coaches have little say over roster construction, and Roseman can be difficult to work with.

Why would this matter to an offensive coordinator hire? Because, if the offense shines in 2026 but the team does poorly, Sirianni could be fired. His OC would be considered for the vacancy — a vacancy made less attractive by Roseman’s imposing presence.

While Sirianni has made the playoffs in each of his five seasons in Philly, he’s also suffered unceremonious defeats in three of those playoff trips. He also has displayed an inability to control his emotions, which causes distractions, whether it’s with his players, like A.J. Brown or Jalen Carter, or with fans, both home and away.

And, while it might have been entertaining, pairing Sirianni with a combustible coach like Daboll would have been like smoking a cigarette in a gunpowder factory.

When healthy and rested, left tackle Jordan Mailata, left guard Landon Dickerson, center Cam Jurgens, and right tackle Lane Johnson are the best combination in the business. However, Dickerson, Jurgens, and Johnson have lingering, if not chronic, health concerns.

Jeffrey Lurie is generous and supportive, but he can be ... a lot.

Mostly through Roseman, Lurie monitors the day-to-day machinations of the team more closely than most owners, more often than not watching practice at Roseman’s hip. Also, after every game, Lurie talks with Sirianni and sometimes with other coaches, very extensively, usually before Sirianni addresses the press — a delay of an hour or more from the game’s end.

» READ MORE: Mike Sielski: Nick Sirianni may have figured out how to last as the Eagles’ head coach. Here’s his secret.

Other owners talk to their coaches, too, but not to this degree.

Again, for better or worse, anyone who succeeds Sirianni as head coach will be subjected to these weekly postgame interrogations.

Brown might be the best receiver in Eagles history, but he is, without question, the most distracting. His constant public complaining the past two years, especially on social media, prompted Lurie to publicly reprimand him during a practice in November.

Also, Brown often did not complete routes and did not make catches he usually makes, particularly in the wild-card playoff loss to the visiting 49ers.

When asked last week if he planned to trade Brown, Roseman did not say that he would not, despite the crippling salary-cap repercussions that would accompany any trade or cut.

Regardless, the new OC will inherit the fallout of Brown’s seasons of discontent.

Other issues include the drop-off in production from Saquon Barkley and the fact that the Birds have no frontline tight end under contract, but these are issues that will accompany most positions.

The rest of the issues?

They paint a much less appealing picture.