The Philly Formula & Jason Licht
January 27th, 2018
BY IRA KAUFMAN
The city that once booed Santa Claus is lavishing a lot of love on Howie Roseman this week.
Roseman is the Executive VP of Football Operations for the NFC champion Eagles and he was just named NFL Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers Association.
After taking a backseat to Chip Kelly for a few years, Roseman has brandished a big stick in reshaping the Eagles into a deep, physical team that just took the Vikings apart.
And taking it all in from afar, Jason Licht can’t help but feel joy for a former comrade.
Roseman has diligently worked his way up Philadelphia’s chain of command since 2000, when he was hired as an intern to help on salary-cap issues. Licht joined the Eagles in 2003 and spent five years in player personnel, working alongside Roseman before moving on to Arizona.
The Eagles have built a powerful roster with Roseman calling the shots, forcefully and smartly. He has been bold and he has been savvy, making key additions in free agency and acquiring veterans at great value.
The most critical move came when Roseman made that trade with Cleveland and moved up to the No. 2 spot in the 2016 draft to grab Carson Wentz out of North Dakota State.
Wentz was on his way to winning the league MVP award this year before suffering a torn ACL in Week 14. But as the Eagles have proven while eliminating Atlanta and Minnesota in the postseason, that 13-3 record was a team effort.
Licht and Roseman remain tight. They root for each other to have success and Licht is very proud of what Roseman has accomplished in Philly.
Report Cards
And while Licht has done a nice job overall during his four drafts with the Bucs, his report card in free agency has undoubtedly raised doubts with ownership.
Roseman has feasted in free agency, adding receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, defensive end Chris long, cornerback Patrick Robinson, running back LeGarrette Blount and guard Brandon Brooks.
Are we forgetting anyone? How about bringing in Nick Foles to back up Wentz? How did that one work out?
Roseman has done such a good job building this roster that the Eagles have overcome injuries to Wentz, Jason Peters and Darren Sproles.
Philadelphia already had a solid defensive front, but Roseman wanted more, so he drafted Derek Barnett and traded for Tim Jernigan. Last Sunday, it was Barnett who came flying off the right edge untouched and stripped Case Keenum with the Vikings driving for a touchdown that could have tied the score 14-14.
And that forced fumble came after Long pressured Keenum into an interception that Robinson ran back for a pick-6.
Last Call
Let’s not forget the trades that brought Jay Ajayi and Ronald Darby to town and a deal that sent Sam Bradford to the Vikings for a first-round pick last year.
The Eagles used that No. 14 pick on Barnett, who looks like a big-time player.
“It’s a credit to the front office,” Eagles center Jason Kelce says. “I’ve seen it go one of two ways. You can bring a lot of new pieces in, and obviously you have the dream team when I was a rookie here, and we had another year where we brought in DeMarco Murray and Sam Bradford.
“Not all the time do the pieces fit and gel together for whatever reason. But they got it right this time. I feel like every piece they’ve gotten has acclimated well and has fit into the group. And it has been a really, really fun time playing with these guys.”
Now it’s Licht’s turn, perhaps his final turn, to build a team with the depth to fight off the inevitable injuries that will come Tampa Bay’s way next fall.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to build on and a lot of stuff to fix,” says Lavonte David. “We’re almost there.”
January 27th, 2018 at 9:59 am
What some keep missing, Is that the Bucs Roster has been in a full blown rebuild since talk show dominik days!!!!!!!! 2 draft picks and 1 undrafted free agent are all that is left from four seasons ago!!!!!!!!
The straw house that talk show dominik built has been exposed!!!!!!!!!
Keep building and fix the “real” problems, the “Trenches”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 27th, 2018 at 10:11 am
What I don’t understand is if Licht brings in a free agent that just spends Team Glazer loot and doesn’t produce on the field, why is there no backlash from coaches and other players to get them into action?
If it takes public floggings on game day, then they should hire a team flogger. Someone in the organization is a softee, letting players dictate what they will do, instead of doing what the coaches tell them to do.
Go Bucs!!!
January 27th, 2018 at 10:31 am
Notice that the description of the Eagles centers on “physical.” The Nickerson Bucs were “nasty.”
This group doesn’t have that reputation and certainly hasn’t earned it.
Koetter may WANT the team to be intimidating but that’s not the roster we have. That IS the roster of the Eagles and Jags. “Finesse” might fit us right now — including the defense.
I’ sick of hearing about how the mean nasty opponent wore us down in Week 2. Design a team and train it to come out to dominate. Including the o-line.
Winning will result.
January 27th, 2018 at 10:38 am
@BTF:
The fable that VHIII was being coached to play bump-and- run but decided on his own to play off really frosts me. Just as likely as a center who got the snap count on 1 but decided unilaterally to hike it on 4. Never gonna happen. Certainly not more than one time.
I assume that some of the follies and coachspeak was to protect players who had really tried but were overmatched. Still, the result speaks for itself and the propaganda doesn’t fool anyone.
And it does annoy the fan base.
January 27th, 2018 at 11:07 am
Roseman brought in Ravens scouting department. Daniel Jeremiah said most of his old buddies from Ravens scouting team picked current players on Eagles.
January 27th, 2018 at 11:13 am
Congrats Ira on a great (and much-needed) article. That’s an awesome quote by Eagles’ Center Jason Kelce, and he hit the nail squarely on the head. It’s about building a T-E-A-M, not just accumulating a group of superstars. I disagree with Lavonte’s comment though that Bucs are ‘almost there’. A 5-11 record says something quite different to me.
January 27th, 2018 at 11:14 am
Barnett would have been a Buccaneer if OJ was gone like he was supposed to be and Derek had slipped a handful of spots to us at #19.
Licht would have taken Barnett for sure in that situation because of the need and the high rating they had on him. I liked him too as a possibility for us pre-draft.
Its all about opportunity though and how the draft falls to you.
I’m glad the way last years draft fell. OJ in the 1st and Godwin in the 3rd and Beckwith in the (basically 4th) rd were all major steals. J Evans looks to be a solid mid 2nd rd pick as well.
My guess is that OJ Howard will have a much more impactful NFL career than Derek Barnett. Time will tell.
January 27th, 2018 at 11:16 am
2019 tampa bay Bucs
HC- Joe defillippo
GM- Joe Douglas
“Philly Philly”
Kandy Faker
January 27th, 2018 at 11:17 am
A general manager that never trades during season for big time players like the trade of Philly with Miami will never win if he isn’t constantly trying to improve the roster, it’s done year round not just in the off-season
This gm wastes time looking for projects on the waiver wire that other teams have up on. All he knows is the draft so he’s not really a general manager licht has been proven to basically be a college scout
January 27th, 2018 at 12:23 pm
@D.R.
I suspect that LVD is talking about all those fourth quarter leads the D failed to protect. The number of games they lost by just one score. The number of games blown by a kicker that had nothing to do with the offense or defense.
I agree with LVD…we have a lot to build on…and a lot to fix…the DL!!!!
I agree with Kelce’s point about recruiting a “squad” full of all pros or great players not always working out that finding a “team” is far more important.
Who did the background check on Swaggy? He’s NOT part of any “team” concept.
January 27th, 2018 at 12:43 pm
Jason is a scout
Not a gm
January 27th, 2018 at 1:12 pm
Jason Licht is a horrible GM.
January 27th, 2018 at 1:28 pm
Mock Draft Dream for this Bucs Fan:
Round 1 Pick 7: Bradley Chubb, DE, North Carolina State (A+)
Round 2 Pick 6: DaRon Payne, DT, Alabama (A)
Round 3 Pick 5: Duke Ejiofor, DE, Wake Forest (A-)
Round 4 Pick 8: Duke Dawson, CB, Florida (A+)
Round 5 Pick 7: Mark Walton, RB, Miami (FL) (A+)
Round 6 Pick 6: Darius Phillips, CB, Western Michigan (A+)
Round 6 Pick 28: Winston Dimel, FB, Kansas State (A+
January 27th, 2018 at 1:37 pm
For those saying the Bucs should take Quenton Nelson with the #7 pick, I went back and looked and in the 2000’s only 3 offensive guards have been taken in the top 10 – and only Leonard Davis, who was taken #2 by Arizona, can be considered not to have been a complete bust – and that’s only because he became a Pro-Bowl player after leaving Arizona (he made 3 Pro-Bowls while with Dallas, still underwhelming for a #2 overall pick).
General rule of thumb, you don’t draft guards in the top 10 – and you certainly don’t do it when you need so much help on the d-line, at corner and at safety.
January 27th, 2018 at 1:50 pm
“I hope we dont pick Marcus Davenport. I ve read he looked horrible all week…another 1 trick pony”
Kandy Faker
January 27th, 2018 at 2:14 pm
IRA
I disagree with your opinion of Jason Licht good job in the draft!!If his job was that good we wouldn’t be reading your article about how good another team did in the draft!After that 9-7 record season he did a poor job of evaluating the talent on the team..after every season matter of fact.Its amazing since he been in Tampa he on drafted one D-lineman..How is that possible?This team is behind the 8 ball like always.This team every years goes into the draft with to many needs that means you’re not getting better.We need an entire D-line..a #1 corner,#1 Rb.Its amazing how the coaches are at fault for not developing talent on our defense except the LB’s!THE ONLY GOOD POSITION ON OUR DEFENSE ARE LINEBACKERS!!!!!!!Hargraves is a 5’9..4.6 40 corner.Teams attacked him because he’s super slow!He is another set back for this team!And here we are waiting to see if a 35 yr old corner is going to sign with us..good god all mighty,ARE U SERIOUS!!!!!Jason Licht has set this team back.
January 27th, 2018 at 2:47 pm
Licht is as much of a Gm as Santino was a Don.
January 27th, 2018 at 3:19 pm
Nice article.
Mostly lame comments.
Go Bucs!
January 27th, 2018 at 3:38 pm
The Dumb is strong in this thread.