Howie Roseman explains D’Andre Swift trade and Eagles drafting Kelee Ringo

Philadelphia’s GM spoke to ESPN after the Swift trade, and explained some his Saturday moves.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman took some time away from the draft room and spoke to the ESPN broadcast following the team’s No. 105 pick for Kelee Ringo and trading for D’Andre Swift. Roseman talked about how the Swift trade came together, why they traded into the fourth round for Ringo, and why they felt comfortable picking Jalen Carter at No, 9 overall.

Here’s what the GM had to say:

On D’Andre Swift trade

Roseman credited the Lions’ GM for working to find a solution that worked for both teams, but he called Swift a “Philly” kid and said they had been following him since high school, and in college.

“He’s got big play ability as a runner and a receiver — we saw first-hand when we were in Detroit for the first game of the [2022] season. He’s got vision, obviously tremendous character added to that.

We liked our running backs. We didn’t go into the draft feeling like this was a position we had to have, but we felt like this player was somebody who would really add to our culture, and add to our team.”

On trading up to pick Kelee Ringo

Roseman said that sometimes overnight, he takes a look at the board to see what players are still available, and Ringo was someone who stood out to them. They had Ringo much higher than where he ended up falling to, No. 105, so they made a call to the Texans to work something out.

“He’s in a situation here, we have phenomenal outside corners, starting with [Darius] Slay and James Bradberry, Pro Bowl guys, Pro Bowl people. He doesn’t have to come in and be Superman here. He can come in, he can learn, and kind of bide his time, work on his skill set — we’re talking about a 20-year-old corner, whose played at the highest level, one of the top recruits in the country coming out. So, we were excited to get him, and it’s a position we’re always looking for. We didn’t get one in the first two days of the draft, and being able to add him, we thought was good for our football team.”

On comfort taking Jalen Carter

“He’s had a tough spring. Tragic loss of life in Georgia, and our hearts go out to the families of those who lost people that accident. For us, it was a full process on Jalen [Carter], and we feel very comfortable that he can have success in Philly.

We don’t put that on our Georgia players, he’s our responsibility. We’re going to rally around him — he’s a tremendous talent, good person, and, again, young guy. We talk all the time, these guys, we bring them in here, we have to develop them. We can’t just ask them to come on the field and play, we’ve got to develop them on and off the field.”