Philadelphia Eagles: Not your typical Super Bowl roster construction

The Philadelphia Eagles have gone through some major roster overhauls in the past few seasons. They are not your typical Super Bowl contender…

The Philadelphia Eagles have everything going for them right now.

They have the best record in the NFL at 10-1, one of the most beloved young quarterbacks in the league in Carson Wentz (who is tearing it up in year two), and really when you look at their roster on the whole, there are not many faults.

How has general manager Howie Roseman done it so quickly?

Roseman has been with the Eagles since 2000, which seems like a lifetime for anyone to be with one NFL team nowadays. he’s seen this roster constructed, deconstructed, and repeated over and over again as Philadelphia seeks that elusive Super Bowl title.

But the strategy he has employed the past couple of seasons has been one of the most aggressive I can remember in recent years. The only other general manager that I think has manipulated so many different avenues (draft, trades, free agency, waivers) is John Elway of the Denver Broncos.

It wasn’t that long ago, but does anyone recall what pick the Eagles actually owned the year they drafted Carson Wentz second overall? The Eagles traded five draft picks to the Cleveland Browns, including the eighth overall pick in 2016 and a first rounder in 2017 to get up and make the selection of Wentz.

At the time, Roseman noted that you have to be willing to take risks sometimes if you want to be ‘great’ in the NFL.

He hasn’t always gotten it right as a general manager, but in the past couple of years, he’s pushing all the right buttons.

One area where Roseman has been particularly impressive is in making trades.

Not only the trade to go up and get his franchise quarterback in Wentz, but look the veterans on this Eagles team right now because of trades made by Roseman:

Running back Jay Ajayi, defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, and cornerback Ronald Darby.

Moves to go and get those types of (young) players are very bold moves by a general manager, moves that indicate this team is in a ‘win now’ mode, despite having such a young quarterback.

Roseman has also proven in recent years that he can somehow manage to get quality free agents to come in and play for the Eagles at a pretty fair — almost low — price.

The acquisition this offseason of Alshon Jeffery at wide receiver, a player expected by many to land a multi-year deal with a ton of guaranteed money, signed a one-year contract with Philadelphia for $9.5 million.

As far as receivers with the ability to produce like Jeffery can, that’s an absolute bargain.

Roseman also brought in Torrey Smith to help stretch defenses with his speed, on a contract worth less than $5 million this season and a team option for two more years, $10 million after this one.

Consider this when looking at the overall construction of the Eagles’ roster:

No single player is counting more than $9.8 million against this year’s cap.

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How have the Eagles been able to create a Super Bowl caliber roster so quickly? That’s exactly how. They have managed to bring in so many quality players for pennies on the dollar (it seems) around a young star quarterback on a rookie contract.

Roseman’s trade of Sam Bradford last year netted the Eagles a first round pick in a draft where they weren’t even supposed to have one, and they hit with that pick as well, bringing in one of the most productive defensive players in this year’s class in Derek Barnett.

Barnett joined an already loaded front seven of the Eagles, which was further fortified this offseason when Roseman brought in veteran Chris Long, who was coming off of a productive season in New England (where he won his first championship).

Long has made a huge difference for the Eagles at under $2 million against the cap.

Pulling all the right strings like this is not easy to do in the NFL, but the Eagles have had a plan and a formula to get guys in and build a system around them that works. They have supplemented the strengths of their coaching staff with a combination of young and veteran players that understand their role, and play it to perfection.

It’s not the most conventional way to build a team, but when you use free agency, the draft, and trades like the Eagles have, you can put your team in position to succeed quickly.

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