PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Six Takeaways From Howie Roseman's 53-man Roster Press Conference

Episode Date: September 1, 2026

One day after the Eagles set their 53-man roster, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman explained some of the big decisions on who to leave off and who to put on the roster. Bo Wulf and EJ Smith trade their biggest takeaways from the presser, including a discussion about Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton, Joshua Weru and Uar Bernard, as well as EJ Jenkins and Elijah Moore. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bowulf and E.J. Smith here at the Eagles facility, we just heard from Howie Roseman a day after he cut the roster to 53 players. Three takeaways each. You go first, E.J. Yeah, I thought what he had to say about the IPP guys, Joshua Wero and who are Bernard, was noteworthy. The question was posed to him referencing Jordan Maillada making the initial 53-man roster his first season with the team. And he poured cold water on the idea that these guys are going to follow the same track as Jordan Maillada. He mentioned that Jordan Maelada had played professional sports before and just acknowledged the long road that both. Joshua Owero and O'Re Bernard have in front of them. Now, I still think that Joshua O'eru showed a lot in the preseason.

Obviously, he wasn't claimed today, so the Eagles made, they made the right decision in terms of the result. I actually still have an issue with the process, but I won't out belabor it. Basically, yeah, Halle-Rosman said that these guys still have a long-term development track ahead of them. He mentioned an IPP guy that made a 53-man roster for the first time this season after entering the league in 2023. And I think, you know, he said that that's not a timeline that's necessarily

a hard and fast rule for these guys, but I think it is probably emblematic of what they have envisioned for these two guys. And I think Howie Roseman understands that most of the other front offices in the league are thinking much more about the short term and who can help you out this Sunday in winning a game.

And the possibility of seeing a guy like Wairu go somewhere else where they don't have as much of a good developmental program, it's not as much of a chance it's going to hurt you, if that makes sense. Yeah. Whereas the chances of him getting to where the Eagles think he can be are better here so they can accept that risk a little bit more.

I'm still, you know, I'm still, I wish that he had made the team, but yeah, they were right. I mean, they made the right bet. We sometimes can overstate like the plucky undrafted guy and understate a guy who was a day three pick. Just how much the draft pedigree plays into the interest you'll have across the NFL. Right. Well, let's get to then the four guys who were claimed, including a guy who was undrafted, Kepenegas Schicken, claimed by the cold. I would imagine based on the strength of his special teams tape. A guy who, as we're talking about,

can contribute week one potentially on special teams. Eagles lost two draft picks and Miles Hinton and Cam Williams. And then Cam Latu, your boy, special teams again. It makes sense that teams are claiming special teams, mavens. And then I feel like the offensive linemen, nobody here expected those guys to make the roster necessarily. You know, how he's not happy that four guys got claimed. You know, he said, you know, he wishes he had a couple of those.

those back, not necessarily in who they released, but maybe how things were handled. Yeah. I think they're probably okay with how things turned out and they're excited about the guys they got back on the practice squad. Yeah, as much as I have sung Kamalatu's praises, I think it probably is reflective of his special team's value being the thing that outweighs E.J. Jenkins is on-field offensive value and then making that choice. But he did say, you know, he told Michael Clay, he owes him one.

He didn't specify who that was, but I think we can't read between lines. That was Cam Latte. You mentioned E.J. Jenkins. He said some interesting things about. why he made the roster and why Elijah Moore made the roster two guys who some people might have been surprised to see on the initial 53. See, this is that synergy that we have here because that was going to be my next takeaway is him talking about why E.J. Jenkins did make the initial 53. He's not someone that many of us expected. I actually was talking to Olivia Reiner from the Inquirer today. Nobody had E.J. Jenkins on their 53-man roster. So I think what the Eagles saw on him is actually surprising given he's a, you know, converted receiver was his blocking ability.

and the value across the NFL that having that inline blocking tight end really has for these offenses. The offense that Sean Mannion is installing here, you need multiple viable blocking options, combo guys. And I think that they really view E.J. Jenkins as someone who not only is a good run blocker, but he even mentioned him as a pass blocker as well. He kept telling him in pass pro, yeah. Yeah, him and pass pro. So I think when you think about how E.J. Jenkins came in the league, it's hard to envision him being talked that way.

But, I mean, I've seen them around the building here for years now. He's a big guy. filled out and I do think that he had a quietly good training camp. You know, so I think in hindsight it makes sense that he's on. It did cost him Cam Latte. You know, you have to wonder if it were the inverse or DJ Jenkins have been claimed. But I think the bet the Eagles made is that if they were going to lose one of those guys, they would have rather lost a tight end that could really contribute on special teams because those guys are a little bit easier to find in comparison to how much of a premium teams are placing on these blocking combo guys right now. Let's talk about the four quarterbacks

because I think we've all spent a lot of time, you know, bemoaning the situation. And we've talked about it as if, you know, the Eagles have been maybe a little bit too wedded to, they're a little bit too stubborn about this whole thing. And I think there is another read on it, which is that they just kept making these decisions based on what was happening. And by that, I mean, you know, the idea of Dalton and McKee playing basically that whole third preseason game, I'm sure that they wanted to get Colour. Peyton reps. They kept him on the roster. They believe he's a developmental quarterback

worth developing. I'm sure they wanted to give him those reps. There just was no clarity about who the backup quarterback is. Yeah. I kind of think that's not ideal anyway. It's not, yeah. Maybe there's no clarity still. But, you know, how he was asked about the four quarterbacks, they're one of four teams who kept four quarterbacks. It's now three because the Vikings ended up waving one of those guys. But he talked about value. He thinks that those guys have value. You know, Tanner McKee has a body of work. I don't know how much value Andy Dalton has around the league at this juncture. You have to separate around the league and in the building. I think he's got value in the room. Yeah. I don't think that they have value around

the league because if they did, they probably wouldn't be here right now. And I still personally think that they could have just put him on the practice squad. He's getting the same guaranteed money anyway. Maybe it's a prestige thing. But they feel good about that. And they also feel like Cole Payton is worth keeping and developing as a quarterback long term, but he's probably not ready to play this year, and so you want to have a depth chart that includes three quarterbacks in case one of those guys has to play. Yeah, especially if you don't feel great about your number two,

which is I think all the teams have carried four on their active roster. The IR thing is separate. If you have four on your active roster, it's a sign you don't have a backup you feel good about, and you want to have that optionality. And I think the fact that Cole Payton made it, I do wonder if there's a little bit of self-reflection from Hallie Roseman on the Kyle McCourt experience.

Like, you know, the fact that. Yeah. They cut a guy last year. They drafted in the fifth round. And then he got traded for a six-round picked him next year. And maybe that is like a teachable moment there for him where it is, okay, because it really was. I mean, because our viewers will know, I went down a deep rabbit hole on the column accord compared to Colpeighton experiences. And they were drafted three spots apart, end of the fifth round, top of the sixth round.

And the fact that like the Eagles moved on from him, you know, put him through the practice squad. And then obviously he chose to go to Green Bay. the fact that a year later he's going for a six-round pick, I think that probably reinforces what we've always said about the day three quarterbacks, which is you draft them with a long view in the first place. You don't draft them hoping that they are gangbusters their first training camp.

It's a long view that you have to take. And I think they tried to do that with Comincourt on the practice squad. I think they did learn their lesson with Cole Payton this year. Yeah, I think what you are hoping for with the day three quarterback is that they become a rookie contract number two for like the last two years of their rookie contract, essentially. Yeah, makes sense. All right, what's your last takeaway?

My last takeaway. We didn't really talk about Elijah Moore. Yeah. But yeah, I think that him talking about Elijah Moore just deserving to be on the 53-man roster. I think that that's one that stands out. I don't really have, I mean, you had him on. I didn't really have too much exception with him being on. No, yeah, I didn't think he earned his way on. He is one of the few vested veterans that made it on at the expensive, some guys who got exposed.

But yeah, I think it makes sense. And a little bit of a surprise at how he didn't make any trades this summer. Yeah, yeah, I was going to say, the lack of trades. He kind of alluded to the fact that, like, you know, he tried. He was kind of chasing some action. Yeah, he wanted some. He's like, I just got to get one of these trades. But, yeah, you know, he kind of alluded to the fact that nothing really made enough sense for them to pull the trigger on it.

My last thing is actually I thought maybe the most interesting thing, how he said, because it was something he offered himself. And he was asked about the offensive line backups. Yeah, this was good. We know guys like Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin and Michael Morris made the team, Mark Lowe, Fred Johnson. And he said, you know, if I had been honest at the start of training camp, the thing that I was most interested to see and maybe most worried about was the interior offensive line depth. And I think that's interesting for two reasons.

One is it is a departure from what we've seen in the past. There's no Brett Tooth type here, some old hand who you can really depend on getting through a game with as a three-position versatile player. They needed to see what they had in Drew Kendall. Willie Lampkin, to some of us, has been one of the most fun stories of the summer. think that he's ready to play and Michael Morris looked pretty good for a sixth round pick. But it's also, of course, it makes sense that that would be one of the things that he was really truly worried about heading into the season because that's a spot where Cam Juergens is coming

off a serious injury. Linda Dickerson is coming off a serious injury. Those guys went and got the stem cell stuff, but there's no guarantee that they're going to make it through this season looking great. Linda Dickerson has been a little bit up and down this summer. Tyler Steen is a free agent to be this offseason. So maybe you're also looking at this with an eye towards, okay, maybe Drew Kendall can be our starting red guard next year.

So it makes sense that this would have been top of mind for Howie, but I thought it was an interesting admission. Yeah, it really was. And I think it really speaks to what I think is going to be one of the defining things, one of the key defining things for the season. As we sort of transition into season preview stuff, regular season preview stuff, I think this run game is going to be really good. And I think that the interior line depth is part of why I feel good about it,

because you're right. Cam Jergens looked really good this summer. Landon Dickerson, by the end of camp, I felt like it looked like he was ready for the end of camp. If they had to lean on Drew Kendall for a handful of games, I feel good about that. I feel good about Drew Kendall as a depth option for them. So, yeah, I think it is telling that that's where his mind is at, too. It's like, how is this run game going to look? Because I think you feel really good about the defense, and you probably know the past game's going to be a work in progress.

All right. Eagles 53 man roster is set, and now we start thinking about the season opener, which is 13 days away. We'll talk about all of that and the expectations coming up on the PHLY Eagles show every weekday at 2 o'clock.