The Philadelphia Eagles have suspended their search for a new player personnel chief, according to a report from Geoff Mosher. The team isn't expected to make a new hire until after the 2016 NFL Draft. More details:
The Eagles have tabled their search for a personnel chief and arent expected to hire until after the NFL draft, according to several league sources familiar with the situation.
The Eagles, who have no scouting chief after firing coach Chip Kelly and top personnel executive Ed Marynowitz, are looking for a high-ranking senior executive to lead the scouting department and determine the fate of current scouts, per sources, but they opened their search at a time when NFL teams are knee deep in the pre-draft process and would be reluctant to allow a top personnel executive to leave.
Teams dont normally allow an experienced, senior executive to walk out their doors about one month from free agency and less than three months from the draft.
During Doug Pederson's introductory press conference, Eagles CEO and Chairman Jeffrey Lurie confirmed that the team was about to embark on a search for a new player personnel head. He refused to reveal the exact nature of the position, however, despite being grilled heavily on the topic.
The Eagles reportedly recently interviewed Brandon Hunt of the Steelers and former Browns executive Morocco Brown for the position. Based on Mosher's report, however, it would seem these won't be the guys who get the job (yet, at least). The Eagles are apparently looking for a more experienced executive.
So what does all of this mean? Some thoughts:
As Mosher notes, the Eagles are having trouble luring an attractive candidate due to the timing of their search. He also reports that the continued presence of Howie Roseman could be a deterrent for potential candidates. We've wrote at length how Roseman being around is very troubling for the Eagles.
Speaking of Roseman, it's clearly his show now. This was never in doubt since he had a major say in hiring the team's new head coach. It's also been clear he's been the driving force behind Philadelphia's recent contract extensions for home grown players such as Lane Johnson, Brent Celek, and Zach Ertz. Roseman's track record with personnel is mixed at best. He lost his job in player personnel when he lost a power struggle to Chip Kelly. And now the team is relying on Roseman to fix everything. What could go wrong?
The Eagles' "collaborative" power structure is very uninspiring. Along with Roseman being in charge, the other two key figures include Pederson and senior director of player personnel Tom Donahoe. Pederson is a first time head coach. Donahoe is essentially semi-retired (he works remotely) and he's believed to only be a placeholder until the next executive is hired. This is the group that's going to lead the Eagles back to competing for championships?
Roseman being in complete control isn't the only troubling aspect of this situation. The fact that the Eagles are seemingly undermanned after losing several personnel executives in past years is also concerning.
All of this seems like far from an ideal situation. It seems like the Eagles are patching together a group of undermanned personnel staff in a key offseason for the team. It's hard to feel confident about the direction of this team with such a questionable front office setup.
