This NFL exec sure sounds afraid of Roseman

This NFL exec sure sounds afraid of Roseman

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is known for a few things: shrewd cap space maneuvers, questionable roster management, and making a ton of trades.

And his reputation as a guy who normally wins trades continued to grow last week when Roseman swapped draft picks with the Saints, adding even more ammunition for a potential QB pursuit next offseason. Different people will have different views, but the general consensus was that Roseman won the trade.

Between the Saints deal and the Carson Wentz trade with the Colts last offseason, Roseman has now overwhelmingly won two big-scale swaps... and it sounds like some around the league are starting to get scared of Roseman giving their team a call.

In a story published Friday at The Athletic, numerous NFL executives spoke anonymously about all 32 teams. The quote one exec gave about Roseman's offseason moves was very interesting:

"I don't know who would want to trade with Philly," an exec said. "Howie has a little bit of a Danny Ainge syndrome. If he is making a deal with you, he has identified something. That is his bread and butter. Now, granted, he is in a position of leverage because he has three first-round picks or whatever it was. And Howie has the ability to think long term, because he is going to be there next year."

Dang, Howie has these folks shaking in their boots!

Being associated with Ainge's reputation as a general manager has its pluses and minuses. On one hand, Ainge (formerly in charge of the Boston Celtics' basketball operations, now a member of the Utah Jazz front office) is famous for being "in" on every big trade rumor and always "showing interest" in big-name free agents with... very little to show for it in terms of actual blockbuster moves. Roseman and the Eagles are often linked to big trade names, but over the past two offseasons they've made precious few needle-moving moves.

(Part of that is where the Eagles' timeline stands, but the point remains.)

However, Ainge also successfully orchestrated the Celtics' Big Three and fleeced the Nets in the subsequent Kevin Garnett-and-Paul Pierce mega-deal, and is generally viewed as a smart team-builder. So you take the good with the bad.

Eagles fans will be the first ones to rattle off Roseman's list of shortcomings - yes, yes, we know about JJAW over Metcalf - but from cap management to trade success he's definitely near the top of the league's GM rankings.

And it seems the rest of the league knows it.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/nfl-exec-eagles-howie-roseman-ex-celtics-gm-danny-ainge?cid=sm_npd_rsn_phi_fb_mn&fbclid=IwAR21Jfg8NTou2rjjYXSNJGe31uSIa_ILsj_Ksyplk9Gu7q5NGx3BS6EujmQ