With just a week to go before the 2026 NFL Draft, Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni offered a revealing look at the team’s mindset, priorities, and philosophical approach.
While much of the conversation stayed intentionally vague—as expected this close to draft night—there were still several clear themes and notable quotes that help frame what the Eagles are planning.
Here’s a full breakdown of the biggest takeaways.
Howie Roseman & Nick Sirianni’s Press Conference Takeaways
The Work Isn’t Done Yet
Even with most evaluations complete, Roseman made it clear the process is still active.
“We’re still working.”
The Eagles are finalizing:
- Medical and character evaluations
- Late-round (Day 3) rechecks
- Conversations with college coaches
- Free agent contingency planning
This is the phase where boards are refined, not built, and where small pieces of information can still shift decisions.
Wide Receiver Depth Was a Priority, But A.J. Brown Isn’t Going Anywhere
One of the biggest storylines centered around the Eagles’ aggressive additions at wide receiver, including Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, and Elijah Moore.
Roseman framed it simply: this was about depth.
“One of the priorities going into this offseason is increasing the depth of quality of talent in the receiver room.”
As for trade rumors surrounding A.J. Brown?
Roseman shut that down with the same phrase he has repeated over the last couple of months:
“A.J. Brown is an Eagle.”
Why the Eagles Love Dontayvion Wicks
Both Roseman and Sirianni were notably enthusiastic about Wicks, highlighting traits that align with their offensive philosophy.
Key traits mentioned:
- Route separation at the top of routes
- Toughness on film
- Reliability in key situations
Sirianni emphasized separation ability:
“When you can create that type of separation, we obviously get really excited about that.”
Roseman added a telling detail: quarterback trust in high-leverage moments, pointing to clutch fourth-down plays and red-zone production.
This wasn’t just a depth move; it’s a player they actively targeted.
Draft Philosophy: Best Player Available Still Rules
Despite offseason moves, the Eagles are not drafting for need.
Roseman was explicit:
“Nothing that we’ve done up until this point will affect the valuations that we have on draft day.”
Instead, the team:
- Builds tiered rankings rather than strict numerical boards
- Prioritizes value over positional urgency
- Remains flexible to trade up or down
It’s a classic Eagles approach and one that has defined their roster-building success.
Expect the Unexpected at Pick No. 23
Roseman gave rare insight into how the team prepares for draft chaos:
“Expect the worst.”
The Eagles are prepared for multiple scenarios:
- Their top targets being gone
- A surprise player falling
- Trade opportunities in either direction
They’ve identified roughly “23 guys” they’re comfortable selecting.
Player Development Is Central to Every Pick
One of the more insightful themes was how heavily the Eagles factor development into evaluations.
Roseman stressed long-term projection over immediate impact:
“What could this player be in year three?”
Sirianni echoed that philosophy, emphasizing:
- Fundamental growth
- Situational understanding
- Strength and conditioning development
This reinforces a key idea: the Eagles don’t draft finished products; they draft trajectories.
The Safety Position (and Other Needs) Will Be Addressed…Eventually
The Eagles acknowledged they are currently thin at safety, but they’re not forcing a solution in the draft.
Roseman made it clear:
- The position must align with draft value
- Talent acquisition continues well beyond draft weekend
“The talent acquisition season doesn’t end right after the draft.”
Translation: don’t expect a reach just to fill a hole.
Evaluating Talent in the NIL Era
With college football evolving rapidly due to transfers and NIL, Sirianni was asked if it’s harder to evaluate prospects.
His answer: not really.
“You do your homework… and you can get a good perspective.”
The Eagles rely on:
- Extensive scouting intel
- Direct conversations with players
- Cross-checking information from trusted sources
Roseman added a wrinkle: for the first time, some prospects are taking pay cuts entering the NFL, making passion for the game an even bigger evaluation factor.
Learning from Draft Misses
One of the most candid moments came when Roseman discussed past mistakes.
“I think about the first-round picks that I’ve missed on… every day.”
He acknowledged:
- Those misses shape current decision-making
- There’s a tendency to overcorrect
- Improvement comes directly from failure
It’s a rare level of transparency and insight into how the Eagles refine their process.
Big Picture: Flexibility Over Certainty
If there’s one theme that defines the Eagles heading into this draft, it’s adaptability.
They’re:
- Not locking into positional needs
- Not overreacting to roster gaps
- Not assuming future roster stability
Instead, they’re focused on maximizing value over a multi-year window.
“We’re going to improve this football team over the course of three days next week.”
Howie Roseman & Nick Sirianni Press Conference Transcript
At this point now, with just a week left before the NFL Draft, what is there left to do?(Bo Wulf)
Howie Roseman: Really strategy meetings. We had our medical meeting yesterday, we’ll have a character meeting. There’s some day three guys that may be just circle back for the third time just after having conversations with coaches. We will still have conversations with college coaches this week to get some insight, go over scenarios, continue to look at the free agent list in the NFL to see if there are guys there that we think maybe are more appealing than undrafted options. Continue conversations with our coaches, continue conversations with our personnel staff. Yeah, we’re still working.
With the acquisition of WR Dontayvion Wicks, how does that impact Eagles WR A.J. Brown’s future with the team? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)
Howie Roseman: [WR Dontayvion Wicks] is a player that we’ve followed, obviously we’ve played Green Bay a bunch of times. You see his skillset, I mean he’s a physical explosive player at the top of routes he can play inside or out. So he’s the guy that we had our eye on here and then bringing in some of these Green Bay guys. Some of the hardest parts of our job is the cohab part, not understanding who the person is. And so when you get a chance to bring in some of these new coaches and then talk about some of the players and the skillset and then know how they are in the building, it makes you feel even more confident when you make the acquisition. And I think when you look at our receiver room over the last couple of years, obviously we lost [Former Eagles WR] Jahan [Dotson]. We’ve probably been fortunate about the depth that we haven’t really had to dive into and just studying the league and seeing how many teams can go pretty deep in the receiver room. That was one of the priorities going into this offseason is increasing the depth of quality of talent in the receiver room throughout the room. So that really fit for us. Really excited to get Tay here and think he’s an arrow up guy.
What stands out to you about Eagles WR Dontayvion Wicks? (Dave Zangaro)
Nick Sirianni: “Yeah, again, Howie mentioned of how he is at the top of the route to be able to separate at the top of the route. I think his toughness really shows up on tape. Again, when you can create that type of separation, we obviously get really excited about that, really excited to add him to that room and excited to have him.
Howie Roseman: I think the other thing when you talk about [Wicks] is you can see that in key situations that the quarterback had a lot of trust in him. You just go back to that Detroit game and he had some injuries towards the end of the year in that Detroit game, that fourth and three catch that he had, he had another fourth down catch in that game. The touchdown in the corner in the end zone where he caught that ball even in the game against us really trusting him in key situations. So a funny story was [Head Coach] Nick [Sirianni] and I were flying to Arizona together and it was like the third time we were watching him and circling back and I think in the middle of the plane ride I got up and showed Nick a play and I had to step over the person he was sitting next to. Mindy wasn’t very happy with that, but I got really excited and it wasn’t like the first time we watched him. So the player was someone that we were really excited about and he has a preexisting relationship with some guys on our team, which we learned about and obviously with the coaching staff.
As far as helping Eagles Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion for either of you, is that part of the process that you get somebody that he’s familiar with? (John McMullen)
Howie Roseman: Yeah, we’re really selfish. I mean we’re trying to help ourselves and this football team first and foremost. So from our perspective, the good players, obviously it’s a plus when they’ve worked with those guys, but first and foremost they got to be good players that we like, too. We’re always trying to help the offense, the defense and special teams, but we’re trying to help the team. I obviously want Sean to have tremendous success here, but we want the team to have tremendous success. So I think when we look at decisions like that, it’s not in a vacuum where just one person is deciding. We’re watching him, [Mannion is] watching him, we’re doing a full evaluation of the player just like he would be here.
For both of you guys, are you comfortable with what you have at safety and do you feel like it’s a priority going into the draft to add there? (Reuben Frank)
Howie Roseman: Well, I think when you look at our roster, we’re going to go with 90 guys, maybe 91 with an international player. When we go to camp, we’re definitely not full at the safety position and so it’s got to fit the value at the time that we’re drafting to add that position. Again, the talent acquisition season doesn’t end right after the draft. We’ve made a lot of moves throughout the offseason, including May and July and August and September and October, but we’ll add players to that position just like other positions.
In February you mentioned that Mannion’s scheme would alter a little bit of the evaluation when it comes to the offensive linemen, maybe a little more athletic. Can you walk us through how that changes what you had told your scouts prior to that and really how much does it affect the evaluation of these guys and what in areas in particular? (Jeff McLane)
Howie Roseman: I probably would want to hold our cards close to the vest here, so close to the draft Jeff, but I would say we have a system evaluating players that really fits and transcends scheme and the criteria and qualities that we’re looking for in offensive linemen. They fit not only this staff and our last staff, but the way that we’re thinking. So certainly there’s tweaks when you have a new scheme and new coaches come in, but I think that we got a good system that fits the players and the people that we’ve brought in and so I’m excited about continuing to add.
Looking at the player development system you guys have, how much do you weigh that when you evaluate prospects and how much are they a part of the evaluation? (EJ Smith)
Howie Roseman: I’ll start and then I’ll let Nick finish this question. One of the things about drafting players is you’re drafting and they’re a little bit older in this draft, maybe the last class that they’re this old because the COVID guys, this will be the last year COVID guys. But to come in and expect 21, 22, 23-year-old players to be the best version of themselves, it’s probably a little naive. And so just like all of us, these players need to be developed. We got to figure out the things that they are further along with and developed and then have a lot of trust in our player development staff, our coaching staff, the people in this building to get the best out of those, figure out what their strengths are, what their weaknesses, and work on those. So we’re getting the best version of a player and a lot of times in the draft we’ll talk about what could this player be in year three, what could this player be at the maturity of the player not just the first year. And so we do that because we think we have the right people in the building to get them at their peak.
Nick Sirianni: Obviously, as these guys get in here, our job is to develop them as coaches, put them in the right positions to succeed, but then ultimately help them get better fundamentally, help them learn the game better, help them get better situationally, and put all those things together within the strength staff, help them get stronger, help them get quicker, help them get in better shape, all those different things and provide them opportunity to be able to do that and our expertise to be able to do that. So regardless of the player that we bring in age, whatever it may be, free agent, draft pick, undrafted free agent, we’re going to work our butts off obviously to help them become better football players within all those things I just spoke of.
You mentioned the depth at wide receiver after trading for WR Dontayvion Wicks and signing WR Hollywood Brown and WR Elijah Moore. What does that mean for WR A.J. Brown? Do you feel like if he is traded, you have depth there at wide receiver? (Martin Frank)
Howie Roseman: [Jokingly] What do you think the odds are that I’m answering this question any different than [the way] I’ve answered [it] anywhere else? Like really? Do you think that’s like 50 percent? Do you think that’s 75 percent?
I needed to ask. (Martin Frank)
Howie Roseman: A.J. Brown is an Eagle.
For players who you don’t expect to fall to you in the draft, how do you prepare for that in the weeks leading up? (Zach Berman)
Howie Roseman: Expect the worst. I think we go into this draft being very comfortable with having 23 guys we’re ready to take, we’re there ready and prepared for that. If something happens where somebody who’s higher on our board than 23rd is available, we’ll be ready for that. If there’s an opportunity that we think makes sense to move up based on the value of that player, we’ll move up. If we have multiple guys at our spot and there’s a trade that makes sense to move back, we’ll move back.
With the recent wide receiver acquisitions, how does it influence how you look at the draft and your strategy towards what’s considered a pretty good receiver class? (Tim McManus)
Howie Roseman: I feel like the draft is its own entity. You go into the draft and you have to take the best players available, certainly within a stack. When you talk about best players available, it’s hard to stack guys and go, ‘Hey, this guy’s six, this guy’s ninth.’ But you do it based on tiers, based on tiers of the quality of the player. So within that tier that you’ve graded guys equally, you have a position that you think is more important to your scheme to where you are from a team building perspective, you may take the eighth guy over the sixth guy, but they’re going to be in the same tier. And so I think the biggest mistake we can make is assuming we know what the team’s going to look like a year from now, two years from now and missing out on a player because we have a perceived need and then we don’t fill the need because the player’s not good enough. I think that’s probably a long-winded way to say that nothing that we’ve done up until this point will affect the valuations that we have on draft day.
Nick, you look so often for competitiveness, football IQ, things you’ve talked to us about quite often. Is it more difficult now to identify those things in players as college football has changed in the world of NIL transfers? Is it harder to identify which guys want to compete? (Rob Kuestner)
Nick Sirianni: No, I don’t think so. We have different ways to find all those things out. It starts there with the scouts and the intel that they collect and Howie collects. And then we have ways as coaches to try to figure these things out as well. But my experience has always been, again, a guy that loves football, a guy who is tough and a guy who has a high football IQ, God willing, he’s going to reach his ceiling. And so we put an enormous amount of time in trying to figure all those things out because, and obviously the most important thing is if they’re talented enough to be sitting in that room and in that discussion and it starts with that. Things have changed. There’s no doubt things have changed, but it’s like everything, you adapt with how things have changed and again, won’t get into all those things, but no, I don’t find it – you do your homework, you do your due diligence and you can get a good perspective. And with Zoom and the amount of times that you can talk to these guys, really you’re able to gather a lot of good information and from all the information that Howie gathers in his way, but also as coaches, I think we have a good feel of those things that are important to us and we talk about those things with Howie and Howie talks about those things with us. And within the process of this.
You’ve had to consider drafting successors to guys on your offensive line like with former Eagles C Jason Kelce, RG Brandon Brooks, and LT Jason Peters. Obviously age is a factor, but how do you decide when the right time is to do that? (Jimmy Kempski)
Howie Roseman: First it’s got to be based on the evaluation of the player that you’re picking because again, I think it goes back to the question that Tim asked, if you’re forcing something, you’re not really filling the need anyway. So when we drafted [C Cam Jurgens], I think that’s the easiest example to talk about the conversation a little bit was, ‘Is this guy a Pro Bowl center? Do we think this guy can come in and play at an incredibly high level?’ And so that’s even before you get into the question of, ‘Well, this guy may be back, we may take somebody in the second round who may not play for a year.’ And so it’s so hard to find elite players at any position that you certainly wouldn’t want to turn down the opportunity at an important position to get a player that you think has a chance to be a good starter, a Pro Bowl starter. So it starts there with evaluation of the player and having guys like [RT Lane Johnson] on this team and the elite level that he plays with, I think watching him and watching how he works, watching how he trains, watching how he dedicates his life to this game during the week, during the season. I mean that’s instrumental in understanding what it takes to be a great pro. And so there’s so much value in watching those guys instead of hearing about those guys.
I said when we talked about Kelce at some point he was going to retire and then there’d be this legend of Jason Kelce, but [C] Cam [Jurgens] got to see it and he got to see what it took to be a Pro Bowl level player. There’s value like that as long as the player in and of himself is worthy of the selection of wherever you’re taking him.
For 13 years, Former Eagles Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland was a very prominent voice in the room when it came to the draft process. How has it been different with him not being there in the evaluation of offensive lineman?(Jeff McLane)
Howie Roseman: I miss Stout, obviously an incredible relationship and friendship with Stout. The conversations that we had I thought made me better. I’m sure Nick would agree. [We have] a lot of confidence in the people and staff that we have here as well. Certainly it’s different. I can hear his voice walking into my office. He did that for 14 years. So it’s something that I really admired, I respected, I loved our conversations and [we’ll] continue to have conversations because it’s a relationship that’ll be there for life with someone that you have incredible bonds with. I guess to answer your question, have a lot of confidence in the people that are here. Obviously our coaches are a big part of our process, but at the end of the day we have the responsibility to make those decisions and continue to have confidence that we’ll make good ones
At times, day one, day two picks on players who might not have a clear path to seeing the field a bunch early. How do you balance that part of it, like getting a high ceiling for a player with also maybe not maximizing a year or two of that four year contract?(Dave Zangaro)
Howie Roseman: Again, I think it depends exactly where you’re picking. I think when you’re talking about the first-round picks, you’re hoping you’re getting a two-contract player that has Pro Bowl potential. So you’re looking at it over hopefully 8, 9, 10-year period. Then I think as you go through the draft, those expectations change just based on really the research on those picks. When you’re in the fifth round, can you expect that you’re going to get an 8, 9, 10-year player based on the resource? Maybe not. Obviously that’s what we’re looking to do and that’s what we’re looking to hit on. So I think those come into account based on the players who are available and if there’s a player that’s available at a position that’s perceived that we’re strong at right now and we think this is going to be an elite player in the NFL, we’re going to take that player.
What process helps you whenever you’re trying to find out what trait prevails?(Brooks Kubena)
Howie Roseman: I’m going to answer this and just interrupt me if you want to follow up on the question. One, we have critical factors at each position based on research that our analytics group puts together based on All-Pro players, Pro Bowl players, solid starters, and obviously guys who have failed. We’re looking at critical factors at each position based on the workouts. If guys work out and they test, we can kind of see those. We have GPS numbers to see as well as speed for guys who don’t work out, if we’re just talking about the description of the player, we have a lot of meetings throughout the season that don’t just come down to the last couple of weeks, where we talk about the description of the player, we talk about what we think the player has, what the traits are, what the tools they have in their body are, what their upside is, what their scheme fit is. We have all those debates and discussions. We have them as a scouting staff, we have them with our analytics staff, we have them with the coaching staff. There are a lot of meetings here to talk about all these players that really start after this draft for next year’s class and go on until next April.
You’ve been honest about wanting to get younger and less expensive on the offensive side of the ball. How rigid are you going to be with that? And as a second part to that question, nine of your last 11 picks in the first three rounds have been on defense. How much do you think about previous draft classes and the resource allocation when you’re on the clock? Because you can’t dictate the board obviously.(Zach Berman)
Howie Roseman: Can’t dictate the board, and I think that for us, that’s something we have to be aware of. We have to understand that the best player who may be available may be a position that going to the draft we didn’t necessarily want to take. And I’ve come to grips with that, probably expecting that. Expect the worst, hope for the best. I think that at the end of the day, we’re going to improve this football team, we’re going to improve this football team over the course of three days next week. I’m excited about that. Will there be needs after the draft? Yeah, there probably will be, but I think that we’ll be able to address those as well as we go forward here. [We’re] just trying to match having the best possible three days that we can have and understanding that there’s going to be other times that we’re going to have to address other things here as we get into the 2026 season.
Does offense break a tie if they’ve drawn the same tier?(Zach Berman)
Howie Roseman: I would say you would have to give me specific examples about what the player is on defense, what the player is on offense, what the position is on defense, what the position is on offense. We still build this team the same way that we built it all along. So there are certain positions that if we’re on the board and it’s a defensive player, those are important positions for us. Not only now, but going forward and we’re not going to pass up a good player at those positions and we’ll be high fiving when we’ll make that pick.
Howie, how much have you studied the picks that you’ve missed on and what went wrong, what you did wrong in the process?(Reuben Frank)
Howie Roseman: Yeah, a lot. I think about the first-round picks that I’ve missed on, I don’t know, every day really, if I’m being honest with myself. I think that sometimes when I think about those picks and think about the reasons that I miss on those picks, sometimes I even overcompensate. So if you’re bringing me somebody that may look like one of those guys, I’m going to be asking a lot of questions and I’m going to be skeptical and I’m going to be skeptical of my own report on those guys. I feel like they’ve also helped me really get better at my job. I think if it wasn’t for those mistakes, a lot of the successful picks may not have happened. I can’t go back and change the past. I’m very comfortable understanding that as much as I’m trying, I’m not going to be perfect, but I’m going to try my hardest to be as perfect as I can be.
Are you planning to pick up the fifth-year options for DT Jalen Carter and OLB Nolan Smith? And does having two first rounders change the thought process at all?(Jeff McLane)
Howie Roseman: I’d say [to] the latter part of that question, no, it’s based on the player’s talent and ability. Obviously [they are] really important players for us. But I probably term this as a contract related discussion and would probably keep that in-house until we make a decision on either of those two.
Going back to NIL. If a guy has been to multiple schools, you have more information touch points, but maybe you trust the information less because they’re jilted than the guy left or something like that. So do you find that has been generally a net positive or net negative?(Bo Wulf)
Howie Roseman: I’d say from a big picture perspective in terms of intelligence gathering, I trust the people that I have long-term relationships with that have over a period of time been very upfront with me. The people who I’ve generally spoken to and give me blanket information are the ones I trust less and I put less stock in that. I would say the biggest issue is that for the first time in really the history of the National Football League, you are taking players who are taking pay cuts and so the character of those players, their passion and love of the game comes to the forefront even more.
Since the last time we talked, there’s been a few articles and a lot of reporting about QB Jalen Hurts and how the organization might view, I was wondering, since you don’t live under a rock, if you saw those reports, you had any comment on where Jalen’s standing with the team is?(Eliot Shorr-Parks)
Howie Roseman: Yeah, I have seen those reports. Bob and our PR staff do a great job of showing us what we need to see. I would say that we have some faults. One of them is not – being direct and honest with our players and the conversations with our players. So for us, if we have any issue with any of our players, we talk to them directly. From my perspective, from Nick’s perspective, from [Chairman and Chief Executive Officer] Jeffrey’s [Lurie] perspective, we’re not hiding behind anything. We will talk to our players directly. I think that it’s unfair. It’s unfair to have these articles written, but I understand it’s also what sells at this point. So yeah, I think it’s unfortunate.
How do you kind of approach what future draft classes might look like when you’re kind of trying to make decisions on what you’re doing in this draft class? I mean, I don’t know how much of a factor that is.(Martin Frank)
Howie Roseman: I think it educates us in terms of the positions over a two-year period that you’re going to have multiple looks at over a period of time. I think it educates us on where the league is going. What are the positions that are harder to find in the NFL? I mean there’s a position on our board that we have half the amount of guys that we usually do in the first two days. So when we look at next year’s class, we see that at this time, which obviously a lot of things can change that there continues to be a deficit at that position. I think over time I’ve talked to you guys about that in the NFL, there are certain positions that are incredibly hard to find and that they don’t make as much of. We factor that into account, we factor that into account on our resigning’s of our guys, we try to look at it over two-year period to understand, ‘hey, this is what the draft may look like a year from now.’ These are some of the positions that there’ll be a surplus at here over two-year period of time. We do the same thing with the free agent market. Obviously a lot of guys are going to resign between now and then, but we try to look at the free agent market and we do this really in February and March. We try to do this and get a look ahead about the draft class in 2027, the free agent class in 2027 to really help shape our decisions over a two-year period.
Are there 23 first round grades in this draft?(Zach Berman)
Howie Roseman: Yeah, I’m not going to answer that question.
