Eagles' GM On Sam Howell: 'We Would've Made The Trade Regardless'

The Eagles got down to the league-mandated 53-man roster limit on Tuesday afternoon, with most of the fireworks dating back days and even weeks.

The additions of cornerback Jakorian Bennett, receiver John Metchie, and quarterback Sam Howell via trade during August were the splashiest moves from GM Howie Roseman this summer.

Getting Howell from Minnesota earlier this week for draft positioning in 2026 and a seventh-round pick in 2027 was explained by Roseman for the first time on Tuesday.

“We know the player really well,” Roseman said of Howell. “Spent a lot of time on him coming out [in the 2022 draft].. Ironically, I think the only college Thursday night game I've gone to in the last 10 years was Pitt-North Carolina, and we ended up getting both those quarterbacks [Kenny Pickett was the other], which is ironic, like I said.”

Roseman also had a front row seat for arguably Howell’s best game as a professional when he threw for a career-high 397 yards and four touchdowns against the Eagles as Washington’s starter in a 38-31 shootout won by Philadelphia. 

“Saw him firsthand as a starter with Washington,” Roseman said. "Obviously, he had tremendous success in those games, had a lot of appreciation for him as a player, and his talent level and the person that he was, spending time with him. So, [he’s been] a guy who's always on our radar.”

Roseman noted the tightrope of trying to balance the development of younger players with contributing in the now. 

“Just felt like for our team right now, the hardest part for us is trying to balance the development of players, the development of young players who we like, and doing whatever we can to go out and defend our title and to put the best team forward here for Dallas and going forward,” the GM said.

When pressed by Eagles On SI about the uncertainty of backup QB Tanner McKee for Sept. 4 against the Cowboys due to a thumb injury on his right hand, potentially changing the math on that equation, Roseman balked.

“We would've made the trade for Sam Howell regardless of any situation with our first two quarterbacks,” said Roseman. “We just thought it was an opportunity to improve in the short-term quarterback position, which is obviously a hugely important position. 

“For us, having those three guys again as we start the season, the opportunity to have those guys with the experience that they have in that room, just we felt like it was in the best interest of the team for this season.”

By extension, that’s a tacit admission that neither rookie sixth-round pick Kyle McCord nor Dorian Thompson-Robinson showed enough for the organization to bet on the development of either player.

“I think everything we're doing with those parallel paths and trying to figure out where we can get away with developing some guys that we think can help us in the future and where we can help the team in the short term and make sure that we are covered,” Roseman explained. “In this instance, just felt like Sam had a lot of value for our team right now. “