Howie Roseman and His 'Zig-Zags' Separate Him From the Rest

Howie Roseman has garnered praise and attention the last few years, through his various offseason moves. While there is a large body of work, analysts and fans alike still can’t really figure him out. It’s not as if every move he’s made has turned into gold or that he’s capitalized on every opportunity. He’s made moves that have been universally praised, as well as moves that seemed like headscratchers at the time. However, it’s hard to argue with the results of what he’s been able to do. The mystery of how Roseman operates is what separates him from his counterparts. Roseman does not have a ‘football intelligence’ that is vastly superior to other general managers. But his strength relies on his adaptability to finding value unconventionally.

Howie Roseman Believes This Player Puts the Eagles Ahead

Roseman Wants to “Zig When Everyone’s Zagging”

Howie Roseman spoke to Mad Dog Sports Radio’s Adam Schein about the signing of Saquon Barkley. Roseman said, “From our perspective, you get to a situation where you kind of try to find, is something being undervalued? Is there a way to zig when everyone’s zagging?” This is one thing that general managers say all the time, but many don’t back up these comments with their actions. Runningback is a position that the NFL has been actively devaluing, for reasons that are very plausible. Yet, Roseman sees the value of a player like Barkley differently. While he comes with risks and an injury history while on the New York Giants, Roseman believed in the upside more than the risk.

The Barkley addition is not a surefire signing, but Roseman felt the league was undervaluing Barkley’s talent because he’s a running back, and he believes the risks were overblown compared to the upside. Another example is the Jalen Hurts pick back in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. With the relative success of Carson Wentz until then, it was puzzling that the Eagles took another quarterback with a high draft pick. However, Roseman saw the potential of Hurts to become a good starting quarterback and prioritized the value of having another guy like that on the team. He didn’t want Wentz to fail but prioritized a backup plan in Hurts, and in the best-case scenario, he could trade Hurts for another high-value pick in the future.

Why Roseman is Unpredictable

Roseman’s ability to adapt and ignore the status quo of the NFL is why he’s done so well. Too often, general managers come in with their own ideology and stick to it through thick and thin. Before the draft, Roseman had never spent a first-round pick on a defensive back. This year he not only did so but also traded up to draft another defensive back in the next round. He double-dipped into a position, which also often goes against the status quo of how general managers draft. Just like with the Barkley signing, these types of moves aren’t conventionally accepted. Yet the value Barkley can bring to the Eagles behind that offensive line is tremendous and worth the extra risk. Similarly, Jalen Hurts was a weird selection for the time, but we’ve seen how that’s worked out thus far.

It’s easy to label Roseman a risk-taker, who hunts down blockbuster moves, some of which have worked and haven’t. However, that’s far from what he is. ‘Every risk is calculated’ is a trope that suggests that other general managers take blind risks and that’s not the case. The calculations that Roseman makes are just unrestricted to any of the standards or rules that other general managers follow. He’s unpredictable because he doesn’t have a strong philosophy, and his moves aren’t to build a specific type of team. Instead, he switches up his priorities to wherever he sees value each year, and this year he saw value at running back. For better or worse, he’s a general manager who doesn’t want to go with the flow of the NFL. The Eagles have a lot to prove in 2024, and Roseman’s ideology, or lack thereof, will come to the test.