The Eagles' new general manager, Howie Roseman, has been preparing for this day since he was first hired in 2000 as a salary cap analyst and team counsel.
"When I got here 10 years ago, I was fortunate enough to have people who took me under their wing, allowed me to watch film, analyze some of my reports," Roseman said at his introduction on Friday. "That started really right away. I grew in my role. I watched more pro tape. I watched more college tape. I've really been doing it since day one."
Roseman has ascended the ladder of the organization and in the past two years served as the vice president of player personnel. Those two years will allow for what Andy Reid called "a smooth transition." Roseman will work with Reid in all aspects of the player personnel department - both the pro and college sides. He will continue to organize the draft meetings and the draft board, travel to scout the top college players and assist in shaping the 53-man active roster, one which underwent quite a change throughout the 2009 season.
"I think the more you do, the better you get. The past few years, it was evident what we were looking for in an Eagles football player," Roseman said. "I just feel like the more players you did, the more pro guys we watched to see where the value is in college players, anything you do the more you do it the better you get."
A rising star inside the organization for years, Roseman is a relative unknown to the fans. Roseman's hiring is certainly not radical when you look at other general managers around the league like Mickey Loomis of the Saints and Mike Tannenbaum of the Jets, executives who have a well-rounded view of how to run an organization.
"To me, if you work hard, you show proficiency, it's like any other industry, you have to have an instinct and an ability to do the job," Roseman said. "I don't think I would be sitting up here today if I wasn't able to do it. The proof will be in the pudding. I think I know about the cap. I think I know the league and I know about the college draft. Hopefully, moving forward, I will show all of those things."
Reid said that the Eagles interviewed other candidates for the general manager position. He noted that two of the candidates were internal - Louis Riddick, the assistant director of pro personnel, and Ryan Grigson, the director of college scouting. Eagles chairman/CEO Jeffrey Lurie and team president Joe Banner were involved in those interviews as well.
"I interviewed a couple of other fellows who I thought did a tremendous job," Reid said. "Louis Riddick, I thought was phenomenal. I think the sky's the limit for Louis and his abilities."
Reid said that the team will begin to discuss filling the vacancies left by Roseman's promotion, as well as the departure of director of pro personnel Jon Sandusky and scout John Spytek, who joined former general manager Tom Heckert in Cleveland.
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 2:35 p.m., January 29
