Howie Roseman Strikes Gold, Acquires Saints First-Round Pick Next Year

By Dylan MacKinnon

Howie Roseman has done something good. The Eagles acquired the Saint’s first-round pick next year, in exchange for one of the three first-round picks they have this year. The full trade is a bit for complicated than that, and there is even more coming back the Eagle’s way. But here are the full details of Howie’s latest fleecing of a rival GM.

There are a lot of moving picks here. But the important bits to know are that the Eagles now have two first round picks this year instead of 3, and will have the Saints first round pick next year. Additionally they are getting back the Saints 3rd rounder this year, and their 2nd rounder in 2024. Howie essentially turned one of his firsts this year, into a 3rd, and 2nd, and a 1st round pick that could potentially be higher than any of the picks they had this year.

This is a fantastic deal for the Eagles. Worst case scenario, they moved a pick from 19 to 32, for a 2nd and 3rd round pick. But if the Saints are bad this year, they could be looking at a prime pick next year. So far this offseason the Saints have lost Marcus Williams and replaced him with Marcus Maye. Maye is a solid safety, but still a downgrade from Williams. On top of that they lost long time head coach Sean Payton, and struck out on acquiring DeShaun Watson. They are in Cap hell and aren’t really capable of much more than that. Their 0/u win total is set at 7.5 for now.

The Eagles now have picks 15 and 16 in this draft. They also now have two 3rds. If the Saints struggle next year it may end up one of the greatest trades Howie has ever made. Even if the Saints don’t suck they are not projected to be a playoff team next year.  They are mostly the same team, without their star safety, and without their longtime head coach. It is hard to see a scenario where the pick they get next year is any worse than the 16th overall pick they gave up this year. On paper, Howie Roseman knocked this one out of the park.