What Howie Roseman Quietly Revealed About the Eagles During the Draft
This NFL Draft ended up being one the Philadelphia Eagles aced.
Howie Roseman was able to get a premium pass rusher with Jonathan Greenard, a WR2 in the first round with Makai Lemon, and a TE2 with Eli Stowers -- all before the third round of the draft.
This was a very good draft for the Eagles, even if they didn't complete their entire shopping list. There's more to what the Eagles accomplished in the draft than meets the eye, and more that may be coming over the next couple months.
Basically, the Eagles aren't done.
A week after the draft has been completed, what did we learn about this draft and the moves Howie Roseman made?
The Jonathan Greenard trade has little to do with Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt
The biggest move of the draft was the trade for Greenard, which the Eagles traded a 2026 third-round pick and 2027 third-round pick for the premium pass rusher. Philadelphia reached a four-year, $98 million extension with Greenard shortly after the trade was announced -- with $50 million guaranteed.
The biggest need this offseason for the Eagles was pass rusher. They planned to re-sign Jaelan Phillips and had to pivot when he left for the Panthers in free agency. The Greenard trade was in the works for weeks, as the Eagles wanted to have a No. 1 pass rusher to team up with Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith.
What does that mean for Hunt and Smith's future since Greenard got an extension? Smith did get his fifth-year option picked up and Hunt has two more years of his rookie deal. Both will be free agents in 2027.
"I think for us going forward, that was a lot of the conversations and a lot of the things we were talking about here in the last couple weeks and ensuring that we were still going to have the flexibility to sign our players, our young players on defense," Roseman said. "That was why a lot of these meetings took place.
"Obviously, it's not a secret that there was another edge rusher that we were interested in signing."
The Eagles will take care of Hunt and Smith when those conversations on contract extensions have to be made. The plan always was to have a premium pass rusher with them.
Don't be surprised if Eagles keep four QBs
Drafting Cole Payton in the fifth round was a surprise, considering the Eagles were already set at quarterback for 2026 with Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, and Andy Dalton. Are the Eagles really going to keep four quarterbacks on the roster?
There could be a roster spot for Payton, as the Eagles aren't opposed to having four quarterbacks.
"We're open to carrying four quarterbacks, for sure," Roseman said. "If you talk about it being the most important position in sports and you have four good ones, why wouldn't you keep them?
"It's no different than we keep 11 offensive linemen, or an extra defensive linemen. For us, if we weren't going to take [Cole Payton] just because of what we have at the position right now, it didn't seem to make sense. It's not consistent with our philosophy."
The Eagles have no issue with carrying an extra player at a position if it leads to more depth. Keep in mind McKee and Dalton are free agents after this season.
Could Cole Wisniewski be the next Reed Blankenship?
The depth chart at safety isn't exactly one to write home about. Andrew Mukuba has one of the starting spots on lock while Marcus Epps has the other.
There isn't much to backup Mukuba and Epps either. Michael Carter and J.T. Gray are two of the second-team safeties, while Brandon Johnson is in the competition.
The Eagles did draft Cole Wisniewski in the seventh round with the 244th overall pick. Wisniewski has as good of an opportunity to start as any other players not named Mukub
"There's some reminder of a guy we won the Super Bowl with," Roseman said. "Those are tough shoes to fill. But when you watch him, you saw some of the things you liked on Reed (Blankenship). That'll be an unbelievable outcome."
If Wisniewski's ceiling is Blankenship, the Eagles will certainly take it.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi as What Howie Roseman Quietly Revealed About the Eagles During the Draft.
Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 5:00 PM.