Howie Roseman catches a ton of flak for his failed moves, but his business acumen and ability to work shrewdly can’t be undervalued.
A case study in Roseman’s abilities as a general manager was recognized recently by Peter King on his FMIA with Pro Football Talk.
Before the 2021 NFL Draft, Roseman traded the No. 6 overall pick to Miami for the No. 12 overall pick as the Dolphins were looking to upgrade at wide receiver. Miami made the move after securing a 2022-first round pick from the 49ers, who used the move up to No. 3 for quarterback Trey Lance.
As King reported, Roseman insisted on having his selection of which first-round pick that he would acquire, and after doing his due diligence, Philadelphia’s general manager correctly guessed that Miami would finish with a worse record than San Francisco.
So Miami sent its own 2022 pick to Philly to complete the deal. In some ways, I assumed then, the trade was right up Flores’ alley. Now he’d get to go out and prove his was the team on the rise. My guess is Flores was confident Miami would be better than San Francisco in 2021, and the Miami pick would be lower in the first round in ’22 than the Niners’ pick.
It was close. Miami was 9-8 and San Francisco 10-7, but the Niners made the playoffs and went all the way to the NFC title game. That gave them the 29th overall pick. Miami, out of the playoffs, would pick 15th. Think about the difference made by one regular-season win and some playoff success. Huge.
Using Jimmy Johnson and Gil Brandt’s trade value chart, Roseman’s haul was equal to 410 points, or the exact value of the 49th overall pick.
Had Philadelphia acquired the 49ers pick from Miami, the Eagles would have the 15th, 16th, and 29th overall pick in April’s draft.
Roseman wins again and the hope is that he’ll land at least two dynamic players in the first round, and don’t be surprised if he finds a way to turn one of those assets into a 2023 first-round pick as well.
