I was talking to a rival executive of Howie Roseman who used to work with the Eagles GM in Philadelphia, and when I asked what Roseman does best, he brought up Roseman’s trade ahead of the 2016 draft—and not the one that got the team the second pick that year, but the one that served as its precursor.
The first one moved Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso, 2015 acquisitions of the Chip Kelly era, packaging the two with the No. 13 pick for Miami’s No. 8 pick. At the time, the thought was that Roseman was simply clearing the decks of those connected to an old regime with whom he had clashed. But while everyone was discussing that part of it, Roseman was already on to his next move.
“He traded Kiko and the corner, unloaded Maxwell’s contract, moved up and got in striking distance to get the quarterback—he manipulated so many things, and he was thinking outside the box the whole time,” said Roseman’s old co-worker. “He was clearing cap space by getting a bad contract off the books, and the next thing you know he’s getting what we thought was a franchise quarterback, and that sets them up to win their first Super Bowl. …
