Disciplined

Scouts, personnel executives and general managers live for the draft. That is a very special event for them. Free agency and trades are crucial as well, but the draft is different. Players are scouted over the course of months and it becomes somewhat like a relationship. “That’s my guy” is the kind of thing a scout might say about a 6th or 7th rounder, someone the average fan dismisses as a long shot.

The 2018 draft was pure torture for Howie Roseman, Joe Douglas and the Eagles scouts.

Really interesting anecdotes from the Eagles presser, saying they never want to have just five picks ever again.

One reason: how much work the scouts put in. Each magnet is hours and hours of work. Hundreds of miles. And waiting three rounds for one player is difficult.

— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) May 16, 2018

We all wanted the Eagles to move back and add extra picks. Howie did move back, but rather than settling for a 4th rounder this year, he was able to get a 2nd rounder for next year. He also had to give up a 5th rounder this year. It would have been easy for Roseman to keep the 5th and add a 4th.

Instead, he took the long view. He made the disciplined move and took the better value, adding a key future pick.

That couldn’t have been easy to do.

I’m sure there were players the Eagles liked in the middle rounds. Howie had to have been tempted to focus on picks this year, to get an immediate reward for all the work the scouts put into draft preparation.

Howie passed on the simple temptation and focused on doing the smart thing.

The Eagles have a loaded roster. It isn’t likely that a mid-round pick would make the difference in this team contending for another Super Bowl. That 2nd round pick next year could be a replacement for Jason Peters or Jordan Hicks or some other veteran. Who knows…maybe the Eagles will finally draft that RB they’ve been talking about for the past two draft cycles.

There should be more roster turnover next year so having more picks (especially a 2nd rounder) is the way to go.

*****

Don't know if anyone had the Matt Jones $ details yet, but his 2-year deal is for a hair over $1.5 million, none of which is guaranteed. He's under the the Eagles' control through the 2019 season, and can be released at any time without penalty.

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) May 16, 2018

Veteran RBs just don’t have much value on the market. Good for teams, bad for them.

*****

Josh Norris did a terrific draft review for the NFC East.

He listens to post-draft press conferences and puts together info on what the teams said and the overall moves they made.

Great stuff.

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