You could be an Eagles fan since 1933, 1947, 1972, 1995 or 2015 ... it really doesn't matter because we have NEVER been in this situation with the roster before....EVER. No protocol, no " back in the day I remember" no you don't, nothing like this before.

Does it guarantee any success... nope, but again we have never had this young, talented, proven, still developing and locked in contracts on our roster.... ALL AT THE SAME TIME. While having all these draft picks coming up.

Nothing that has happened in our team's history can give us experience to draw from in this situation, none of us have been exactly here before.... none of us.

Cap space wise.... currently showing 9th most in 2025.... 13th most in 2026 .... and 21st in 2027 (at $95 mil of cap space)

There are teams out there that will have to sign big contracts for UFAs... big ones without leverage, that will bring them down the list..... we have starters locked in and the ability for leverage on each player ... except Dean, Blankenship and Calcaterra (none of the 3 will be huge deals)

IDK that we have been in better cap shape going forward????

Again, this situation with our roster is unprecedented really doesn't matter how long one has been a fan, this is new to all of us!

5 hours ago, joemas6 said:

WE HAVE 13 DRAFT PICSK NEXT YEAR.... THAT'S 2 DRAFTS! YOU CAN'T ACCUMULATE EVERY YEAR THAT MANY AS THERE ISN;T ENOUGH ROSTER SPACE.

Look at how you are already planning for losing so many on cuts this year. Do ALL of the 3 OL and Keegan make the team this year? 4 OL drafted... already McMahan was cut last year... 5 OL Drafted the last 2 years... how many make the team? 2 more LBs drafted this year on top of Trotter last year.

So many draft picks... plus UDFAs

Again.... you have to look at roster building differently at each stage.... 13 picks after 10 this year ... already having a young roster... those young guys will have development. Contracts, I'm not worried about... Carter will get the big one. I'm not expecting Ojomo, Ringo or Dean to break the bank lol... Dean is 90% gone after this year unless he comes back on a cheap prove it 5th year

And again... WHY DO YOU MISS THE POINT OF ....IF THESE GUYS LEAVE THEN WE GET COMP PICKS!!! We accumulate comps picks just with the normal business of being where we are now with the roster... we won't need trades. There is no " necessary evil"

There are 69 roster spots plus Howie typically trades one or more of the draft choices over into a future draft.

Roster churn … ideally with the lesser quality roster players beaten out by better players … is a standard NFL reality. They don’t call it the Not For Long league for nothing. The average NFL career length is 3.3 years. So in 10 years Howie has to find 159 new players for the main roster and 48 new players for the Practice Squad.

With the above said, you are still trying to change my mind.

5 hours ago, joemas6 said:

If we lose players after this year and next year... that adds comp picks to 2027 and 2028 drafts. More " house money"

As we saw with Ojulari cancelling out Rodgers as a Comp Pick, losing a player does not guarantee you get a Comp Pick for that player.

1 hour ago, mattwill said:

As we saw with Ojulari cancelling out Rodgers as a Comp Pick, losing a player does not guarantee you get a Comp Pick for that player.

Again... if we lose a player.... then we sign one.. thst fills the hole of losing that player.

But you mentioned the cap as the reason for the " necessarily evil" with the fear of having to lose players..... so then how can we sign new players to offset if cap is the reason?

The answer is simple.... the Eagles will control which player they want. You don't need 13 picks each year...certainly don't need to trade for them. Certainly if you plan on cutting all these draft picks anyway... certainly if you believe these are such quality that other teams are willing to give up assets for them.

Basically, if our roster is so good that we will have such quality cuts.... have 13 picks next year who will struggle to make the roster ..why do we need so many more in 2027 and 2028?

Now that said....anyone would be ab idiot not to take a free draft pick on a player that they plan on cutting.

Where I may disagree with some on here. . I believe a guy like McMahon was shopped last year...along with plenty of others. I just don't think teams will jump at the chance at these players that they already had the opportunity to draft. Not to where they give up all these picks. I'd be happy to get one extra pick from " roster cut trades " .. my expectations are pick and player swaps... with the idea of getting a better draft position. Not really extra picks

UDFAs play a part of roster building as well... no draft pick needed in those cases.

40 minutes ago, GreenbleedinNC said:

I always said we were really good at UDFA's. Have been for quite awhile. Guys that need polished. Some won't have the talent, but we're definitely good at finding those that do,the "freebies"(aka DITRS)

DITRS????

57 minutes ago, GreenbleedinNC said:

Not soon, but at some point we're going to need a series of high draft picks, so Howie gathers them all up every year. WAY down the road,but I see Howie building NOW for that eventuality. Like when AJ retires, or Barkley or Lane or god forbid one of our top guys gets a serious injury Howie can strike in the next draft with multiple 1/2 picks. I mean eventually we will need a new WR1 to pair with Smitty. When Bark retires we will need a high pick for a new RB1 if we don't trade for one. So that's what I see. Howie adding picks which will keep us in good draft shape when the time comes we need to use them(down the road). Should have alot of young guys stepping up this year too, this is the "pipelines" I talked about 5 years ago. Now we have them cooking

So, there is this thing called player development where players that were drafted step up... guys like Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams... guys that you don't realize or have in the plans that actually fill needs and more. As I said, without UDFA... we have already drafted 17 players after our 22 year old DeJean, and scheduled to have 13 more picks next year... that's 30 players that could step up and become decent, solid, good or great players. That's on top of already having a young roster. So IDK nor am I worried about way way down the line.

DeJean turned 22 in Feb... 30 draft picks after him will be working next offseason, on top of UDFAs and constant signing of one year vets etc. The focus on the now and developing these players, the draft picks will come... it's not like we are sacrificing anything.... we already have so many picks, more than average cap space etc. We always draft new rookies...more important to continue to hit on those picks than worry about accumulating 13 picks each year. Not time to worry about AJ's replacement, that's probably a kid currently in high school.

Some day this team will be old... in 2029.

But maybe not... we absolutely are in as good if not better shape to replenish than all the other teams

1 hour ago, joemas6 said:

Again... if we lose a player.... then we sign one.. thst fills the hole of losing that player.

But you mentioned the cap as the reason for the " necessarily evil" with the fear of having to lose players..... so then how can we sign new players to offset if cap is the reason?

The answer is simple.... the Eagles will control which player they want. You don't need 13 picks each year...certainly don't need to trade for them. Certainly if you plan on cutting all these draft picks anyway... certainly if you believe these are such quality that other teams are willing to give up assets for them.

Basically, if our roster is so good that we will have such quality cuts.... have 13 picks next year who will struggle to make the roster ..why do we need so many more in 2027 and 2028?

You continue to try and change my mind. I thought you said you were done with that.

1 hour ago, joemas6 said:

The answer is simple.... the Eagles will control which player they want. You don't need 13 picks each year...certainly don't need to trade for them. Certainly if you plan on cutting all these draft picks anyway... certainly if you believe these are such quality that other teams are willing to give up assets for them.

How well did they control Milton Williams or Josh Sweat or Isaiah Rodgers or CJGJ? Did they not "want” them?

Who was Williams replaced with? Robinson … a draft pick … with very positive Cap impact and to be determined on-field impact. Who was Sweat replaced with? A free agent with less positive Cap impact than a draftee would have. If Howie had had an additional 2nd or 3rd Round pick, would the team have been better with Femi Oladejo (with pick #51) or Josiah Stewart (from pick #90) than Ojulari?

11 minutes ago, joemas6 said:

Some day this team will be old... in 2029.

But maybe not... we absolutely are in as good if not better shape to replenish than all the other teams

So you are willing to rest on our laurels?

14 minutes ago, mattwill said:

You continue to try and change my mind. I thought you said you were done with that.

Who is talking to you?

2 minutes ago, mattwill said:

So you are willing to rest on our laurels?

This is such a dumb statement... how do you " rest on your laurels" with this situation?

3 minutes ago, mattwill said:

So you are willing to rest on our laurels?

What work do you do with the team? What work does anyone on here do with the team that will change anything? The fact that you worry about 2028 draft and I don't ...what is the difference in the results?

But hey .... if we can get a 2028 6th round pick for one of our potential cuts... that's going to really set us up in 2035!

Just now, joemas6 said:

But hey .... if we can get a 2028 6th round pick for one of our potential cuts... that's going to really set us up in 2035!

We hve to prioritize this.... as compared to " resting on our laurels" IDK, anyone here expect Howie to "not work" just sit back?

1 hour ago, mattwill said:

How well did they control Milton Williams or Josh Sweat or Isaiah Rodgers or CJGJ? Did they not "want” them?

Who was Williams replaced with? Robinson … a draft pick … with very positive Cap impact and to be determined on-field impact. Who was Sweat replaced with? A free agent with less positive Cap impact than a draftee would have. If Howie had had an additional 2nd or 3rd Round pick, would the team have been better with Femi Oladejo (with pick #51) or Josiah Stewart (from pick #90) than Ojulari?

Controlled Milton beautifully.... had him cheap for 4 years as a good backup...then are getting unbelievable compensation for him after he signed that ridiculous contract ...

Same with Sweat .... CGJ obviously there was stuff we didn't see, but they controlled him nicely, moving on with getting a pick.

We have 13 picks next year.... along with 10 that were made this year. And still the rookie class that won the SB and the stud 2023 class.

IDK you overall point , you are acting like we are giving away 2027 and 2028 draft picks? Are we sacrificing anything that I missed? Don't we have more than our fair share going forward? On top of having all the cap space and a young up and coming team?

What are you trying to say we should do ...what would you do as GM differently? Explain. You just are throwing stuff out there ...percentages, etc and giving nothing after that? What is your point... what moves do we need to make now??

BTW... the kid we got playing DE from the Giants... who cancelled out the last comp pick... very good chance he brings us back a comp pick himself.

See there is Howie planning for the future... that's a 2027 extra pick.

you know, since we already had so many in 2026, he signed that guy to push the comp pick back a year.... there you go

8 minutes ago, joemas6 said:

BTW... the kid we got playing DE from the Giants... who cancelled out the last comp pick... very good chance he brings us back a comp pick himself.

See there is Howie planning for the future... that's a 2027 extra pick.

you know, since we already had so many in 2026, he signed that guy to push the comp pick back a year.... there you go

You bring up an interesting point...Howie makes cutsie moves, like D'Andre Swift, where he traded a 4th to borrow him for a year, then got a comparable comp pick in return during free agency.

All good in itself, but a higher goal needs to be striving to build a strong core of players to endure from one season to the next.

If one looks at the Eagles roster realistically, they will see that a significant portion of their star players (not all) have been highly-rated 1st-round draft picks (Johnson, D Smith, N Smith, Barkley, Carter, Campbell, Mitchell, Davis).

The NFL is purposely designed to discourage dynasties - live wth it. Either you throw in all your chips to shoot for the prize, (risky), or you "simply" learn how to work the system.

I believe that the Eagles currently are in a position to take some minor gambles to position themselves to obtain some additional star players via trades involving young inexpensive talent (preferably).

Not since the days of George Allen have organizations devalued draft picks, yet trades still do take place involving the early rounds where the obvious talent exists.

To me, drafting 8 or more players on day 3 is not how you improve your roster, nor do I expect that the Eagles do either.

8 minutes ago, Crazy Legs said:

You bring up an interesting point...Howie makes cutsie moves, like D'Andre Swift, where he traded a 4th to borrow him for a year, then got a comparable comp pick in return during free agency.

All good in itself, but a higher goal needs to be striving to build a strong core of players to endure from one season to the next.

If one looks at the Eagles roster realistically, they will see that a significant portion of their star players (not all) have been highly-rated 1st-round draft picks (Johnson, D Smith, N Smith, Barkley, Carter, Campbell, Mitchell, Davis).

The NFL is purposely designed to discourage dynasties - live wth it. Either you throw in all your chips to shoot for the prize, (risky), or you "simply" learn how to work the system.

I believe that the Eagles currently are in a position to take some minor gambles to position themselves to obtain some additional star players via trades involving young inexpensive talent (preferably).

Not since the days of George Allen have organizations devalued draft picks, yet trades still do take place involving the early rounds where the obvious talent exists.

To me, drafting 8 or more players on day 3 is not how you improve your roster, nor do I expect that the Eagles do either.

Agree... the roster is already so good and young... I don't think their plan is to have all these picks every year each Saturday.

They are in position to do whatever they want... trade picks for players... trade picks to move up to get better picks.

These rental moves are excellent though... keeps the pipeline going forward... Swift, Becton etc.... get the player, and then get a comp pick back, seems like the cycle is set up now to do it.

Core is very strong and young... with plenty of opportunity for the younger players to establish themselves as additional core players. How many 30 years olds are actually on the team? Seems way low?

GB, you should like this.

6 hours ago, BigEFly said:

Thought Moesher’s selection of most exciting rookie player to watch in TC (with emphasis on exciting) was interesting. He went with Montrell Johnson Jr. his reasoning that linemen aren’t particularly exciting to watch nor are LBs. Not sure I agree with the latter. You can gage a bit on football instincts at LB. I also like to watch the feet and hand use by linemen but that’s not "exciting” as most would have it. So Johnson, a one cut speed guy with good size is interesting. Knock on him is trusting his blockers (patience) and vision.

The other beat took the easy route with McCord. Too easy.

Who are yours? I am waffling between McWilliams, Mukuba, Hook (BigEFly likes DBs) and Cooper, Morin and Jackson. In thud practices, though, and in PS games, hands down it will be Robinson and Mondon, especially the latter. I am looking forward to D Cooper v Cooper D in the one on ones.

15 hours ago, joemas6 said:

WE HAVE 13 DRAFT PICSK NEXT YEAR.... THAT'S 2 DRAFTS! YOU CAN'T ACCUMULATE EVERY YEAR THAT MANY AS THERE ISN;T ENOUGH ROSTER SPACE.

Look at how you are already planning for losing so many on cuts this year. Do ALL of the 3 OL and Keegan make the team this year? 4 OL drafted... already McMahan was cut last year... 5 OL Drafted the last 2 years... how many make the team? 2 more LBs drafted this year on top of Trotter last year.

So many draft picks... plus UDFAs

Again.... you have to look at roster building differently at each stage.... 13 picks after 10 this year ... already having a young roster... those young guys will have development. Contracts, I'm not worried about... Carter will get the big one. I'm not expecting Ojomo, Ringo or Dean to break the bank lol... Dean is 90% gone after this year unless he comes back on a cheap prove it 5th year

And again... WHY DO YOU MISS THE POINT OF ....IF THESE GUYS LEAVE THEN WE GET COMP PICKS!!! We accumulate comps picks just with the normal business of being where we are now with the roster... we won't need trades. There is no " necessary evil"

15 hours ago, joemas6 said:

WE HAVE 13 DRAFT PICSK NEXT YEAR.... THAT'S 2 DRAFTS! YOU CAN'T ACCUMULATE EVERY YEAR THAT MANY AS THERE ISN;T ENOUGH ROSTER SPACE.

Look at how you are already planning for losing so many on cuts this year. Do ALL of the 3 OL and Keegan make the team this year? 4 OL drafted... already McMahan was cut last year... 5 OL Drafted the last 2 years... how many make the team? 2 more LBs drafted this year on top of Trotter last year.

So many draft picks... plus UDFAs

Again.... you have to look at roster building differently at each stage.... 13 picks after 10 this year ... already having a young roster... those young guys will have development. Contracts, I'm not worried about... Carter will get the big one. I'm not expecting Ojomo, Ringo or Dean to break the bank lol... Dean is 90% gone after this year unless he comes back on a cheap prove it 5th year

And again... WHY DO YOU MISS THE POINT OF ....IF THESE GUYS LEAVE THEN WE GET COMP PICKS!!! We accumulate comps picks just with the normal business of being where we are now with the roster... we won't need trades. There is no " necessary evil"

You are way ahead on your judgement on things with all these players. But for once you are putting yourself out there with actual predictions and sharing your opinions. So encourage that at least.

Dean looked fantastic last season though. Really surprising he how far along he is rehabbing that tough injury all offseason too. The benefit surrounding the player red flagged surrounding his durability concerns…at least also pairs with he’s very familiar with the process of rehabbing to get back from various injuries most every offseason.