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The Philadelphia Eagles took some big swings since last offseason to land themselves in this year's Super Bowl. Adding A.J. Brown, Haason Reddick, Ndamukong Suh, and others helped the Eagles make a good roster great. While Eagles GM Howie Roseman constructed a Super Bowl-caliber roster from top to bottom, many wondered why Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones didn't do the same thing.
Dallas arguably lost more than they gained since last season. Players like Amari Cooper, Randy Gregory, and La'el Collins walked out the door and the Cowboys ownership attempted to replace them with bargain bin acquisitions. So why didn't the Cowboys swing for the fences in 2022? Jerry Jones believes not doing so will keep Dallas' competitive window perpetually open.
“Anybody who thinks I won't take a chance has misread the tea leaves,” Jones told reporters in a Feb. 1 interview. “But I do think longer term, and I'm real hesitant to bet it all for a year. There's a lot of things that could happen for that year. In essence, we're seeing a couple of teams that have had some real success putting it all out there and paying for it later in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.”
Los Angeles Rams GM Les Snead's “F— them picks” mantra became famous after the Rams dished out a boatload of draft assets to bring in Matthew Stafford, Odell Beckham Jr., and others to win Super Bowl 56. The Rams have since crashed back to earth. Now Philadelphia has reached the Super Bowl after making an aggressive push, but not everyone sees the Eagles' strategy as the all-out risk that Jones does. One of those individuals is Hall of Fame and former Super Bowl-winning coach of the Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson.
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Pro Football Network's Michael David Smith reported on Wednesday morning that Johnson went on record with the Philadelphia Inquirer about a conversation he had with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie opposing Jones' stance that Philadelphia wagered its future on this season.
“I said, ‘I have no idea',” Johnson told The Inquirer when asked what he told Lurie about Jones' comments. “Philadelphia has a couple of first-round picks in the [2023] draft. They've got extra picks down the road. They've got some very talented players. They've got some talented young players.”
The Eagles do in fact have a pair of first-round picks in the upcoming draft, including one inside the top 10 thanks to a deal struck with the New Orleans Saints before last year's draft. For all their roster-building aggression, the Eagles won't miss a pick this year until round four. If they protected their most important draft picks, that must mean the Eagles put themselves in cap hell to win in 2023, right? Not exactly. Before roster cuts, restructures, or any other accounting gymnastics, spotrac.com currently places the Eagles' 2023 cap room at $4.81 million. That's right around the middle of the league and significantly better than the Cowboys' current 2023 budget deficit of $-7.61 million.
The Eagles didn't bring in the players they did for free, but there doesn't seem to be much evidence supporting the idea that they have bet their entire future on this season. It seems more like Philadelphia could be set up to succeed better than most of the league. Roseman has found a way to bring in real difference-makers, superstars even, without mortgaging the Eagles' future. Maybe instead of operating with a different strategy than Jones, Roseman is just doing a better job.
