Roseman on Bradford Trade: It Had to be Something We Couldn’t Turn Down

Howie Roseman called an audible on Saturday morning and put the Philadelphia Eagles in a better position to win moving forward.

He discussed the Sam Bradford trade and the decision to derive from the original blueprint the Eagles had at quarterback during the WIP Morning Show on Tuesday.

It’s a hard decision, there’s no question about it, because you’re affecting a lot of people’s lives on both sides of the ball. Our first conversation with Rick Spielman when we talked about it, I said to him, this changes the NFC East, this changes the NFC North, this changes the NFC as a whole, it may change the entire National Football League. For us, it had to be something that we couldn’t turn down … and we felt like it got to that point,” Roseman said.

It was definitely an offer Howie couldn’t refuse.

The Eagles received a first-round pick in 2017 and a 2018 fourth-rounder from the Minnesota Vikings for Bradford, which is insane.  Desperate times called for desperate measures from the Vikings after Teddy Bridgewater was lost for the season and Bradford’s value was suddenly at an all-time high with the season being only a week away. The move also saves Philadelphia a $17 million cap hit for next season.

We want to bring Philadelphia a world championship and part of that is what we have on the field now, but also being in position to add to that going forward, and this gives us the opportunity, not only in the draft, but able to use the money that Sam was due the next two years and get more players.

So what makes Roseman think that Wentz can step in and suddenly start right away when that wasn’t the plan all offseason?

When you think about what it takes to start as a rookie, obviously the physical tools are there, everyone could see those. He has incredible arm strength, athletic ability, size, ability to make tough throws off of different platforms. So he’s not just stepping back in the pocket, when guys are around his feet, he’s able to throw off-balance and be accurate,” he said.

It’s a lot more than the physical tools, though, as Roseman explained.

“It’s also the mental part of it and we knew what we were getting. We were getting a guy that never got a B in high school, was a valedictorian of his high school, had a 4.0 at North Dakota State. He had this unbelievable ability to recall,” he said. “We spent so much time with this guy. We spent an hour with him at the Senior Bowl and putting him on the board, then we spent time with him at the combine, then we brought him into Philly and then we went to North Dakota State. … You rely on coach Pederson, Frank Reich, Flip our quarterbacks coach, all these guys have been around great players … They just said he was off the charts mentally. And the maturity and the leadership and the passion that he brings. When you see him, he has an energy that fits this city, he’s such a determined guy. All those things you put into there, of course there’s no insurance to any of this, but that’s what makes you think he can start early.”

Although Roseman admitted that this ideally wasn’t what the Eagles wanted throwing Wentz right into the fire, he stated why the Eagles could still put together a good season.

“What we saw in Training Camp was a defense that was getting after it, that was quickly adjusting to coach Schwartz’s scheme. We saw that we had a veteran offensive line, we had some players on our offense, a Jason Peters, a Darren Sproles, who were able to help with this transition. For us when we looked at the guys that have done it as rookies and had success … it’s been based on having a strong defense and being able to support those guys with offensive line play, running back, tight end. For all of us, that was part of the equation,” he said.

With Minnesota being a potential playoff team, the Eagles’ pick would most likely be in the 20s, something Roseman has had trouble with in the past. Marcus Smith and Danny Watkins are two examples and Roseman mentioned that he needs to get better in this area and explained what he plans on doing different this time around.

We can’t draft for need, it’s so hard to find good players. … We can’t predict the future … We have a new scouting staff led by Joe Douglas, who is a tremendous evaluator. We couldn’t be more excited to have him on board and his team,” he said.

You can listen to the entire interview below.