As the Eagles pillaged the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, the NFL world saw a man laughing with the Birds. Dressed in formal attire, he had a smile on his face, joking with OT Mekhi Becton. He was their GM Howie Roseman. It was years of laborious preparations for drafts, trades, contract negotiations, and preparing the lines so they never run out of power. He did it all. Finally, his chance to shine came.

3-time Super Bowl winner Mark Schlereth came out with a sound message for the 31 NFL teams on the Rich Eisen Show on Feb 10. While explaining how the Eagles did it, he said, “So, it’s easy to say hey there’s the blueprint, but it’s really hard for teams to have actually go about doing it because they get enamored by workouts…by 40 times…things that don’t matter. And that’s why the draft..the procurement of your football team is such a difficult thing. It takes discipline and understanding to actually attack it that way.” And he gave the perfect example.

The Eagles lost the game Super Bowl LVII to the Chiefs in the 2022 season. But that same year, they drafted Cam Jurgens from Nebraska. They already had a powerful center, Jason Kelce, who was there for 11 years. But the GM had a different plan. Find and prepare rookies for the NFL competition! And the HC Nick Sirianni couldn’t say no.

In 2022, Cam Jurgens played 17 games but started none of them. In 2023, they gradually pushed him into the fire by starting in 11 of 11 games. And finally, in the 2024 season, he was ready, playing all 17 regular season games, ultimately winning the Super Bowl. In 2024, when the elder Kelce retired, his absence didn’t even pinch them.

Schlereth poked fun at other teams, claiming they hire positions not required. It impacts their teams. But there is another thing. The Eagles GM is a different beast.

Howie Roseman – A non-traditional GM in the NFL

While in high school, the GM used to send job letters to NFL teams. In 1999, he connected with the NY Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, but things didn’t work out. Finally, his wish was fulfilled in 2000 when he joined the Eagles as an intern to work on salary cap issues. It changed his life.

Instead of going the traditional NFL route of working as a scout, he rose through the ranks as the director of football administration in just 3 years. Within a decade, he won the trust of the entire front office, becoming the GM. But it came with its own set of challenges.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie sided with the HC Chip Kelly during their feud in 2015. He changed Roseman’s duties to executive vice president of football operations, making Kelly the GM. Roseman wanted to sign with another team, but no one showed interest. Things turned back to normal when he became the Eagles GM again in 2016. After a year, they won the Super Bowl LII, their first in the Super Bowl era.

This year, they assembled a team that just outplayed the Chiefs in every department. It was unprecedented. The other 31 teams will also try to implement the same plan. This year is indeed interesting.