Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni reflect on the Eagles 2024 NFL Draft picks

The Eagles drafted nine players, made nine trades, and came away with a lot of guys they valued these past three days.

The Eagles added nine draft picks to their roster this weekend, and made just as many trades — the most ever made in a single NFL draft. GM Howie Roseman has been working hard, and he, along with head coach Nick Sirianni, spoke to reporters after finalizing their last pick, and most of their undrafted free agents, to reflect on their three-day haul.

Here’s what they had to say:

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On making so many trades

Roseman said their process isn’t complicated and for the most part, they take trades and decisions as they come. Coming into Saturday, they did have a goal of trying to get some picks in next year’s draft, knowing they had so many in Day 3 and were what he considered light in 2025. The GM admitted that the number and quality of guys expected in next year’s draft class was also in the back of their minds.

On their approach to the secondary this offseason

Roseman acknowledged that last season didn’t end the way they wanted it to, and they sat down afterward and talked about what they wanted to create, which was incredible competition at all positions — and DB wasn’t a position they had addressed a lot early in the draft. With some of the veterans they had on the roster already, it wasn’t a position they wanted to address in free agency, they wanted to get young guys through the draft that they could develop.

On picking Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

Roseman was asked how he was able to manage his emotions when wanting to pick Trotter, but the GM explained it’s all about sticking to their board and not reaching for someone just because they like him.

ROSEMAN: “So, I think for us at the end of the day, you have to have a certain skill set to play any position in the National Football League, and so we’re looking for a skill set and we’re drafting players based on a skill set. […]

[Trotter Jr.’s] got a skill set, that’s why we drafted him. He’s got a mentality, that’s why we drafted him, and we’re looking forward to him being his own person, not having to walk in anyone’s footsteps, but creating his own legacy.”

On RB Will Shipley

“SIRIANNI: We’re really excited about Will. He has ability to make guys miss in space, accelerate off of that, and then also be a threat out of the backfield and also being able to lineup. I think he’s very versatile in the things that he can do, not only can you hand him the football, you can throw him the football, he can line up all over the field. So, it’ll be fun working with a player like him.”

On drafting OL on Day 3

The Eagles didn’t draft any offensive players until Day 3, but Roseman said that any person they value enough to use a draft pick on, is someone they can envision starting. The GM said that they can go out and find backups, they use the draft to find guys they can develop and who they see as starters.

Roseman admitted that he wouldn’t have expected the team’s first offensive lineman to be drafted in Round 5, but noted that they stayed true to their board and didn’t want to reach. He explained that there was a run on lineman in spots they didn’t have picks, and when they did get on the clock, at times it didn’t really fit.

Both lineman they did get — Trevor Keegan and Dylan McMahon — were both captains at their schools. Roseman noted Keegan was a team captain for a national championship winning team, he’s got power and mentality, and McMahon is a little bit of a different guy, an elite athlete.

On the WR picks

Sirianni explained that Ainias Smith is a guy that they were all really excited about, and he was someone that stood out when he watched the film.

“SIRIANNI: His ability to run after the catch. His ability to get in and out of breaks. I think he is extremely tough. I love that about him. That’s really what sticks out. Catches the ball really well.

Those are the things that really stick out. It’s going to be fun to see how we can get him the football and different ways that he can contribute both on special teams and on offense.”

The head coach also talked about Johnny Wilson, and noted that it’s not so much big guys that he’s looking for, but rather the play strength someone has.

“SIRIANNI: Again, the strong guys can come in all shapes and sizes. So, we really value that in the wide receiver position. The quickness, the play strength, and he has that. For his size he has good quickness. So, we’re really looking forward to working with him.”

Sirianni and Roseman were asked if they would consider Wilson at tight end given his size, and while they noted he could run any route tree, they’ll be working on developing him as a receiver — although they did agree he has an unusual skill set.

On having a small UDFA class

The Eagles are only signing seven undrafted free agents, with Roseman calling it their smallest class during his time with the team.

“I think a big part of that is because we made a conscious decision after the season to try to get guys from team’s practice squads where we had some tape to watch. We felt like that was just for us kind of a unique opportunity that we wanted to try and take advantage of based on this class and knowing that this was a different class, and so it wouldn’t have a ton of the same opportunities in the undrafted market that maybe you’ll get next year. We tried to take advantage of that a little earlier. I think it will be back to normal next year.”

On their offseason mentality

Roseman talked about being focused on mentality this offseason, and wanting to bring in guys who have a chip on their shoulder, because the Eagles have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. Roseman said it wasn’t in a bad way, they just didn’t finish last season the way they wanted and there’s a certain mentality in the organization to reverse course. That focus impacted some of the guys they targeted in free agency, and now in the draft it’s something they looked for.

Sirianni agreed that he’s noticed a chip on the shoulders of guys as they come back to start the offseason program.

“SIRIANNI: Obviously none of us are satisfied. All of us are pissed off of how that ended. But we’re working every single day in the sense of how do we get better today, how do we get better today, how do we get better today, and putting it one day at a time.

I do sense that everybody has that feeling of unsatisfaction from last year. And that’s a good thing when you can control it, right? That’s our job is to make sure that we’re controlling it and not knowing — we can’t go out and win the first game right now against Green Bay or anything like that. We have to take it one day at a time and do what we need to do today to get ready.”