Philly GM Roseman says out with the old, in with the new
The reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are already eyeing a second straight Lombardi Trophy, but will have to do it with a reshaped roster.
The Philadelphia Eagles are less than two months removed from their second Super Bowl in franchise history, but they have already had to make a couple of offseason moves that will affect their roster in their run for a repeat.
See you, C.J.
It’s not easy building a dynasty. The problem with having a stacked roster full of great players is sooner or later you have to pay them like great players. That’s where the trouble comes. Sometimes you invest in some stars and are forced to sacrifice others in order to abide by the salary cap.
That’s what makes winning at a consistent level for a long time so difficult. The Eagles have had to watch players who were vital parts of their Super Bowl title this season walk out the door. The biggest star to leave the City of Brotherly Love was safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson who went to Houston in a trade that brought in Kenyon Green to Philly and opened up some cash for the upcoming season.
“Well, I think if you’re just taking the C.J. move in a vacuum, obviously, it’s kind of not giving the whole perspective of where we’re at,” said Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. “Chauncey did a great job for us in both the years that he was with us, obviously making the Super Bowl twice in two years with him as our starting safety. When you look at our team and you look at the amount of highly paid players who have earned their contracts -- we’ve got eight guys who are making $15 million or more.
Saquon sets another record
A couple of other holes have to be filled on the defensive side of the ball as Josh Sweat, Milton Williams departed Philadelphia over the last month. On the offensive line, Mekhi Becton has left to as the Eagles opted to extend the contracts of O lineman, Lane Jonson and running back Saquon Barkley.
The Eagles have been able to scout talent, and groom them into winners, and that’s what they plan to do in this year’s NFL Draft. “We have, from 2022 to 2024 drafts, we have eight starters who are on the Super Bowl team. None of those guys have long-term contracts. In those drafts, we probably have five or six players that will be competing for starting jobs. So you have a lot of players coming through that aren’t under long-term contracts, plus a lot of guys who are on long-term contracts, and we never want to be in a situation where we have one year where we’re getting rid of 20 guys.”
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Drafting players and having them succeed in their first years in the NFL is the secret to success and longevity as a contender, but eventually those players expect to get paid more. The Eagles know you can’t pay everyone. Roseman summed it up saying, “every dollar that you spend is a dollar less that you can spend on some of these younger players that maybe you want to retain.”
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