Eagles farcical personnel head search over, but end will hold Roseman accountable
What a farce.
The Eagles have suspended their search for a "personnel head" until after the draft, NFL sources said.
If it wasn't clear before, there is no dispute now -- Howie Roseman is in complete control of Eagles personnel. He will head the draft, free agency and every move the team makes this offseason.
Jeffrey Lurie declined two weeks ago to define publicly Roseman's role – or how he planned to hold him accountable – but by streamlining the front office to the point that there is only one man at the top, the Eagles owner doesn't need to do either now.
So when a Danny Watkins or a Marcus Smith is drafted, it's Roseman's decision. When a Nnamdi Asomugha is signed in free agency it's Roseman. When the 90th man on the roster is released and some no-name is picked up off the street, it's Roseman.
Of course, Roseman was already chiefly responsible for those past moves, but the organizational accountability chart was cluttered to the point that it was often hard to say who was responsible for what.
"Trust me, as soon as we finish this search, accountability will be 100 percent," Lurie said on Jan. 19, the day Doug Pederson was announced as head coach.
Lurie was asked repeatedly that day how Roseman would be held responsible, and nearly each time he said answering the question would compromise the search for the new "personnel head."
"Given that search and given the competitive nature of that search, what I'd like to do is really talk to you more about structure and the exact nature of those once the search is over, because I don't want to sort of telegraph anything we're doing," he said.
If Lurie had ever thought that he was going to get someone with clout or someone Roseman would end up reporting to, he was deluded. It would be naïve to think that he didn't know as much. He had already announced in December when he fired Chip Kelly that Roseman would be on the three-man search committee for the new coach.
Roseman was the queen piece of the coaching search. The new coach knew that he would remain part of the structure and that he would have to work very closely with the vice president of football operations. Whether that impeded the search or not is unclear, although the Eagles conducted the affair as if they settled.
After flirtations with Adam Gase, Tom Coughlin and Ben McAdoo – and there was more than a flirtation with McAdoo – the Eagles selected Pederson, who wasn't interviewed by any other team.
Lurie, of course, said Pederson was the No. 1 choice all along. Pederson will certainly factor into offseason decisions, and perhaps be the loudest voice on what the Eagles will do at quarterback, but it's all Roseman's show.
Lurie said in December that senior adviser Tom Donahoe would run the "day-to-day operations" of the personnel department, but the former Steelers executive is based in Pittsburgh. He might have been in Mobile, Ala. for the Senior Bowl last week, but he wasn't visible during any of the practices.
The Eagles interviewed several candidates for the "personnel head" vacancy. They went after former Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominick first. He has been out of the league for a few years and has worked as an analyst for ESPN. He declined their offer, per sources close to the situation.
Roseman then met with Steelers pro scouting director Brandon Hunt, former Browns vice president of player personnel Morocco Brown and in-house candidate Dwayne Joseph. Any one of those scouts would have had to report to Roseman.
Most scouting contracts are up in May after the draft. The Eagles might feel they have a better chance of getting someone if they wait until then. But didn't they know that going into the search?
It was a charade, a process once again designed to protect Roseman. His contrite news conference on Jan. 19 – the first time he had spoken in 13 months – now seems even more insincere.
Roseman took responsibility, but he declined to elaborate on Kelly's firing or how and why former executive Tom Gamble was ousted a year ago, or even why handfuls of other front office members and coaches have departed and he still remains.
"I didn't just put my head in the sand and just say everybody was wrong," Roseman said then. "I felt like I had to look into myself and figure out a way to make people know that I cared about them and make time for relationships."
But Roseman was back to himself at the Senior Bowl. He didn't seem anything near a changed man. Does that mean he hasn't become a better evaluator or coworker? It remains to be seen.
Roseman has talent. He's adept with the salary cap and contract negotiations. He's very good at gaining leverage in trades. His record as an evaluator is spotty, however.
Most general managers would have been fired after six seasons without a playoff victory. Never in the history of the league – at least as far back as anyone can remember – has someone in Roseman's role regained power after being demoted by the same team.
Lurie has shown loyalty and patience before with Andy Reid. But the former Eagles coach had reached a certain level after so much winning. What has Roseman proven so far?
Lurie has acted swiftly before, though. He said he gave Kelly full authority last year to hold him accountable, and when the Eagles regressed in 2015, he fired Kelly. Lurie might not have said so publicly, but this could be Roseman's one year to save his job.
No one thought Lurie would ever part with former team president Joe Banner, and he iced him in 2012. So there is precedent. But Lurie ultimately opted for Roseman over Banner, who at the least was part of the Eagles' longest tenure of winning.
Never before has Lurie invested so much faith in someone.