Eagles pre-draft takeaways: Did GM Howie Roseman tip hand on potential trade up?

With just eight days remaining until the NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles sit in a precarious position with the No. 32 pick. This is a draft class that isn’t as strong as in previous years, but the positions of strength are where the Eagles prefer to build the foundation of their team (the offensive and defensive line). 

The last time the Eagles possessed the No. 32 pick after winning the Super Bowl, they traded down and acquired more picks. That worked out well for them in 2018, but the franchise also has to make a decision on one of those players from that 2018 draft class. Dallas Goedert has one year remaining on his contract, but his future with the team is in limbo. 

Goedert still remains with the Eagles, yet the franchise may have to find his eventual replacement in the draft if they don’t come to terms with Goedert on a contract extension (or if they even want to). There also is the potential Goedert could be traded during the draft, adding another twist toward what the Eagles are planning with their eight picks. 

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman had his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday, giving a preview of what to expect for the franchise in the days leading up to the draft. Here were some key takeaways: 

Are the Eagles trading up?

Roseman admitted being aggressive is part of his DNA, which will play a role in how the Eagles have evaluated this draft. The Eagles don’t have first-round grades for 32 players, which prompts a potential move up.

“We always take the worst-case scenario and work back from that, and we’ve got to be really comfortable with whatever is our worst-case scenario, which will always entail getting a good player,” Roseman said. “There’s never 32 first-round grades on our board. We don’t have 32 first-round grades in this draft, so obviously it depends on how things go. You go through a lot of hypotheticals, you try to put yourself in any possible position so that you’re ready to execute.”

Perhaps the Eagles use their draft collateral over the next two years to move up. They have eight picks in this draft and are projected to have 12 next year with the compensatory picks in place, giving Philadelphia a total of 20 picks. 

“We have a lot of good players that have earned their paychecks,” Roseman said. “We have others coming up through that will be in position to earn paychecks. We want to get as many young talented players on this roster as we can to add competition, which is one of (Nick Sirianni’s) core values, and also because of the financial situation that we’re going to have going forward in our effort to try to win another championship for the city.”

Dallas Goedert’s future

The Eagles have been mum on what their plans are regarding Goedert, who has one-year remaining on his contract and isn’t likely to get an extension from the franchise at this point.

“We try to do as much as we can at any position in free agency to try to make sure that we’re not in a position where there are needs,” Roseman said. “Of course, we’re not a perfect team and there’s always going to be areas that we’re looking to improve, and honestly, that’s going to happen even the day after the draft. 

“We’re going to continue to have areas that when we look at our depth chart, we’ll go, ‘Man, it would be great to add a player here.’ The player acquisition period is a huge part of it, but it’s certainly not the end.”

This was an answer to a question regarding the nature of Goedert and their approach of seeking a tight end going into the draft. The Eagles are keeping things close to the vest in regard toward what they plan to do with Goedert next week. 

Is Walter Nolen a player they’re targeting?

Nolen is one of the most gifted interior defensive linemen in the draft but could slip down the draft board due to character concerns. Reports came out regarding maturity concerns surrounding Nolen, who played at six different programs in seven years dating to his time in high school. 

If Nolen falls down the draft board, the Eagles could be ready to pounce. They took a chance on Jalen Carter, trading up for him two years ago as Carter evolved into one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL after just two seasons. 

“We do have objective criteria that we look at to take players off our board. So it’s very easy for us to get into individual arguments or make excuses for guys based on subjective factors, and I think that’s really hard to do,” Roseman said. “So for us, we start with these basic principles of, we will not draft because of this. And when we get past those guys, then we obviously have a process that we go through.”

Roseman gave credit to senior advisor to the general manager Dom DiSandro for his “ability to not only gather information, but have a feel for people.” Nolen hasn’t been listed as one of the Eagles’ top-30 visits, but there is a willingness to add more depth on the defensive line. 

“We just have to make judgements,” Roseman said. “And in those situations, those are a little bit more subjective, and that’s based on all the information that we get. We’ll have a bunch of those in this draft, just like there are in every draft, and we’re just trying to do whatever we can to increase the odds that we hit on a player.

“And talent’s a big part of this. The person’s a big part of this.”

The Eagles have until May 1 to make a decision on whether to exercise Davis’ fifth-year option, and are still contemplating their options. Selecting a defensive tackle high in the draft could indicate what direction Philadelphia is leaning in regard to the 2022 first-round pick’s future. 

“It’s only a tool if the player’s a good player,” Roseman said. “At the end of the day, it goes back to making the right picks and picking the right person and the right player and ensuring that we have the right process to do that. That’s the work that we’re doing now that we’ve been doing for a long time here. 

“You need a little luck that players that are good people and players fall to you in the draft. So when those things combine, that gives you an opportunity to keep guys on your team for the long term.”

Philadelphia has to make other decisions with starters on its roster under rookie contracts, including Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean over the next several seasons. This fifth-year option decision could indicate whether Davis is in Philadelphia past 2025, and the Eagles know how valuable interior defensive linemen are on a roster. 

“I’ve been here long enough to have been around a bunch of first-round picks in Philadelphia, defensive tackles, and obviously interior pass rush is a huge deal in the National Football League,” Roseman said. “Getting quick pressure on quarterbacks is a huge deal, and I think you’ve seen our resources shift that way a little bit here in the last few years because that’s the quickest way to really get pressure and you want both. 

“We’ve been fortunate to have both for a long period of time, but you got to continue to refresh those positions and continue to build depths along both your lines. So I think for us, we feel like having good players at those positions and obviously we have a bunch returning on our roster that we’re excited about, but those are huge spots for us to continue to grow and the best place to find them is in the draft. Those markets are expensive when you get into free agency.”