Takeaways from Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni meeting with Eagles writers before Super Bowl LIX

A little over a year ago, during the final week of January 2024, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni sat together on stage at the NovaCare Complex.

It wasn’t just a painful occasion. It was awkward.

It was clear that Sirianni was at risk of losing his job. That the Eagles took an extra long time to announce their end-of season news conference only added to the tension. But after mulling it over for a few days, the Eagles decided to keep him. The Eagles had completely imploded after a 10-1 start. Sirianni himself seemed increasingly lost and unhinged. The players, quarterback Jalen Hurts chief among them, looked uninspired.

Fifty-three weeks after Roseman and Sirianni stood in front of the media firing squad to reflect on a season, it was time to do it again. Only this time, separately — and with one more game to play.

The two most influential guys involved in shaping the Eagles’ on-field product spoke to a group of local beat reporters before the team left for New Orleans on Saturday at the NovaCare Complex. I wanted to bring you inside that meeting and list out a couple of key takeaways.

Let’s start with Roseman. This was his first media availability since roster cutdown day at the end of training camp. A lot has happened since then — almost all of it making Roseman look like the best general manager in the NFL. He signed Saquon Barkley. He saw something in free-agent diamonds in the rough like Zack Baun and Mekhi Becton. He drafted a cornerback duo in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean that solidified the secondary. His previous big investments in the draft — Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Cam Jurgens, and Nakobe Dean — all took crucial steps. This might have very well been the finest of Roseman’s 15 years as GM. He’s long had the trust of owner Jeffrey Lurie, but after this season and how quickly the Eagles got back to a place that this time last year felt so distant, he’s earned every right to feel bulletproof.

“I’m not concerned about my job security, not because I’m on scholarship, just because I think at the end of the day, if you start worrying about that and not worried about what’s best for the team, it changes your focus,” Roseman said. “I’m not going to stop taking risks, and at some point it gets me fired. I’d rather that than have any regrets? You know, I don’t want to leave this job with regrets. I feel like I did the first time I did that, and I feel like since I’ve been back for better or worse, I’ve done the things that I thought were the right things to do, and they haven’t all worked out for sure.”

» READ MORE: Why Howie Roseman and Bryce Huff believe Huff’s story with the Eagles ‘is yet to be written’

Roseman’s standing with Eagles fans has been fickle until the team’s recent sustained success. In a position like his, it’s impossible to get everything right. But if you look at the Eagles’ record during Roseman tenure, combined with the caliber of players he’s drafted, developed, and acquired, he’s got the makings of a Hall of Fame-worthy resume, especially when you consider his longevity. In his 15 seasons as GM, the Eagles have a .571 winning percentage, and have gone to the playoffs nine times, been to the Super Bowl three times, and won once. In 11 seasons when he had final say over the roster. Roseman’s winning percentage is even better at .614.

“The season really starts with the front office, and that starts with me,” Roseman said. “And so when we have good offseasons, it usually leads to success during the regular season. And so I think that’s our responsibility, and that’s my responsibility, and we’ve seen it. I mean, the three best years we’ve probably had as a front office have led to three Super Bowls. So obviously, the resources change from year to year. And I think an underrated key to getting back here was that we really had resources, and really draft in 2022, 2023, and 2024 to allow us to have some flexibility. Those are the things I think about going forward. How can you get more flexibility when you have a lot of good players deservedly so making a lot of money?”

Whether you agree with his moves or not, he’s hard on himself. He puts a lot of time into the gig. One thing that came out during Roseman’s media availability over the weekend was Bryce Huff, a major disappointment.

The veteran edge rusher was supposed to fill Haason Reddick’s shoes, but he never got going this year. Huff has battled injuries throughout his career, and 2024 was no different. He missed a chunk of the season with a torn ligament in his wrist. Roseman still believes.

“I think the story’s yet to be written on Bryce,” Roseman said. “Now, I’m stubborn. I understand that. I’m stubborn on a lot of things, but I believe in the player. I think the guy’s got unique ability in his body. I’ve seen it. It’s a little different for me in free agency with those kind of signings than it is maybe in draft picks, in terms of you’ve seen them go against the guys in the NFL and do things well.”

» READ MORE: Lane Johnson, Saquon Barkley, and Nick Sirianni would benefit most from a Super Bowl title for the Eagles

This Sunday, Roseman gets to relive a full-circle moment he experienced two years ago in the Super Bowl. His team is going up against one of his mentors, Andy Reid. The 49-year-old Roseman broke into the Eagles’ front office in 2000. He rose quickly through the ranks with Reid’s help. The dynasty that Reid has built in Kansas City is what Roseman and the Eagles aspire to be.

“You have to think about how to beat the best,” Roseman said. “But it’s a strange deal, because I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for Coach Reid and 300 [days in a year] and without the two weeks here or the week we play him, and we could talk and I could ask him anything. Obviously, they’re the standard.”

For as much success as Reid had in Philadelphia. Sirianni has already led the Eagles to the Super Bowl twice in just four seasons — something that Reid did only once in his 14 years here. The Chiefs beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl, 38-35, a game that was there for the taking.

Sirianni has acknowledged several times since that loss that he might have done a couple things differently if he had the chance to do them again. He has repeatedly stood by his decision to punt early in the fourth quarter, however, when maybe he should have gone for it on fourth down vs. a Kansas City offense that couldn’t be stopped. It typically pays to be aggressive in the Super Bowl. But when he was pressed in last Saturday’s interview session with reporters whether he’s glad that he and the Eagles are getting another shot at KC, Sirianni didn’t take the bait.

“I don’t think that way,” Sirianni said. “Maybe at one point in my life I might have, but I think that comes with maturity. You go play the opponent that is next on your schedule, and it’s a really good football team. And had the Bills won [the AFC championship], that would have been a really good football team, and had the Ravens won, that would have been a really good football team. I don’t think I have one preference over the other. We’re just ready to go out there and continue to work and play.”

» READ MORE: Inside the eight-cylinder mind of Vic Fangio: Eagles’ guru is one step from an elusive Super Bowl title

Personally, I’m not sure if I buy that. Yes, Sirianni has absolutely 100% showed signs of maturity this year. He pledged he was going to rein it in, and for the most part, he has, except for a few public occasions, like at the end of the Browns game when he was caught taunting a fan at Lincoln Financial Field. But who could forget Sirianni’s cockiness as he walked off the field in Kansas City after the Eagles’ big win there in 2023?

Somewhere, deep down inside, that Sirianni still exists — even if he’s managed to mute that part of his personality for most of the year. Sirianni was playful and loose when we met with him over the weekend, and he had every right to feel good. This season was tremendous vindication for him, particularly after the Eagles’ shaky 2-2 start. His approach worked. His core values resonated. He reached his players and empowered his assistants. The team followed his lead.

Remember last year when Sirianni was asked this pointed question at his end-of-season press conference with Roseman? “If the offensive coordinator is going to be in charge of the offense and the defensive coordinators can be in charge of the defense, what is your role going to be?”

“The head coach,” Sirianni replied.

Sirianni was an effective CEO this year. He managed everything to a tee in the face of intense pressure and scrutiny going into the final year of his contract. Last Saturday at NovaCare, Sirianni explained how the job has calloused him, personally and professionally.

“I think my wife, she doesn’t listen to anything. Not to my knowledge,” he said. “My kids don’t have to go through anything. They’re pretty sheltered from that. As far as how it’s calloused me, if you want your guys to get better, you have to get better yourself. And I think that none of us that are in these positions are going to live in a utopia where everybody likes you and everyone agrees with … That’s leadership, though. That’s no matter what form of leadership you’re in, you have to do what you think’s best, and you got to lead the way you know how. And you got to get better as you lead and not really concern yourself with outside noise or outside criticism.”

Sirianni’s attitude is similar when it comes to his coaching staff and more specifically, keeping it intact. A domino effect from the 2022 Super Bowl run was that lesser teams around the NFL started pursuing Sirianni’s assistants. The Eagles could now be looking at their fourth offensive coordinator in as many years if Kellen Moore is hired by the New Orleans Saints. Moore helped breathe some life back into a system that, by Sirianni’s own admission, got “stale” last year. Having an MVP candidate at running back didn’t hurt, either. But Sirianni knows how it goes. A rising tide lifts all ships.

“I’d say I’d always had prepared for that in the past as well, knowing that that’s a reality when you have success,” Sirianni said. “Every situation’s a little different, but my general thought on that is this is my and the Philadelphia Eagles’ staff, and I got a lot of faith in a lot of those guys upstairs.”

» READ MORE: The Eagles might need a new offensive coordinator after the Super Bowl. Could Kevin Patullo be next up?

If Moore takes the New Orleans job, he said he’s only focused on the Super Bowl during opening night. Could Sirianni stay in-house and promote long-time aide and passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo? The guess here is that he would look outside the building and that Roseman and Lurie would prefer an innovator. Hurts would prefer to have some familiarity with the new offensive coordinator. He’s already had five different play callers and played in three different schemes in his five NFL seasons. But maintaining continuity is difficult when your head coach doesn’t call plays.

These, of course, are matters for another day. Regardless of what happens in Super Bowl LIX, things are expected to move quickly, but the Eagles have a title to play for first.