The Eagles GM filled the 53-man roster on Sunday and then worked on bringing guys back on the practice squad for most of Monday. He spoke with reporters several hours after the waiver wire results were revealed, and he talked about some of his decisions, such as keeping four quarterbacks and why he risked Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru on the wire.
Here’s what the GM had to say:
On keeping 4 QBs
Roseman wouldn’t talk about who the No. 2 guy is at quarterback heading into Week 1, saying that they’re keeping everything
close to the vest ahead of their season opener against the Commanders. As for why the Eagles kept four quarterbacks on the active roster, the GM explained that it’s the most important position in sports, and they think each guy has value for the team. He noted that some of that is short-term value, and some is long term, but they wanted to make the right decision for the the organization.
“It’s just such a valuable position. From our perspective, last year, obviously we took someone in the fifth round [Kyle McCord], let him go. He left our practice squad to go somewhere else, traded for a sixth-round pick. These guys are valuable. They take time to develop at the same time. That position is so valuable to this organization over a long period of time.”
Former Eagles draft pick Kyle McCord was traded by the Packers to the Dolphins just ahead of this year’s roster deadline for a sixth round pick. Roseman isn’t one to miss the lesson, and the lesson there was to protect quarterbacks from leaving for nothing.
On the IPP players
Roseman admitted that he’s never really comfortable that a guy they release ends up clearing waivers, because they don’t know what other teams are going to do. They do all the research they can, and try to consider what other teams are seeing from players and what might have been happening during closed practices.
“Certainly didn’t want to get four guys claimed. That doesn’t feel great. But from our perspective, development is real. These guys [Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru] have tremendous ability to be developed. They want to be developed. They have tools in their body, they’ve got great character, but it’s new to them.”
He was also careful with comparisons to Jordan Mailata, who started through the IPP, saying that people aren’t going to see another success story like Mailata in 30, 40 years.
“[Mailata] had just a unique combination of size, strength, athleticism and pro experience as an athlete. I think sometimes we forget Uar has never played organized sports before. It’s a different bar. I think if we’re just judging everyone through the lens of Jordan Mailata, it’s going to be hard to give these guys a fair chance. Still very excited about them, really glad that they did get through. Certainly wasn’t certain about that, but I’m glad they’re back here.”
The GM went on to emphasize that everything is all new to Bernard, but also gave the new player a lot of credit for the work he’s done and the effort he’s given.
“Even the first preseason game, for [Bernard] to go play that game for the first time in front of that stadium. Tremendous work ethic, tremendous character. Obviously, he’s got some God-given ability there in terms of strength and power, but when you think about this game and blocking schemes and getting off the ball and all the things that guys have taken for granted, those are things that come with time and reps. He’s got a great coach in Coach [Clint] Hurtt there working with him.”
He also mentioned that expectations need to be a little bit reasonable, and pointed to an example of an IPP player who came into the league in 2023 and just now made his first active roster in 2026. Not that he expects these guys to follow the same timeline, but Roseman said it’s a reminder that it can take time and patience.
On keeping TE E.J. Jenkins
“E.J. is a great story. When you talk about a receiver at Georgia Tech who transformed his body, he’s 260 pounds, he’s 6’6″, he’s got 34-inch arms. You see in this league where the position is going, where it’s trending. A lot of similar offensive systems to some of the things that we’re running where these wide tight ends, they’re highly valued in free agency, they’re highly valued in the draft. For us to be able to develop E.J. and his skillset, which as a former receiver has really not only turned to, obviously he’s a big target in the passing game, but a point of attack player. His pass protection — when we went over his pass protection, it is really, really good to have a tight end who’s able to pass protect like he is and then in the run game be able to help.
It’s just being highly valued, and he contributed on special teams. Just E.J.’s body of work over time, sometimes you forget he played for us in the Super Bowl in 2024, but great developmental story for our organization, for the people who develop players, and really just excited about the role that he can have on this football team.”
On reuniting with Zach Ertz
“First, I’d say what an unbelievable player, what an unbelievable person, tremendous respect for him. At the same time, love what we have going in our tight end room, too. I would say, have talked to Zach over a period of time, obviously rehabbing his ACL and the relationship, just like a lot of our former players who’ve been here. But like anything else, wouldn’t get into any conversations about anything other than from a big picture perspective. In my opinion, one of the greatest tight ends to play the game and just tremendous respect for him, and also excited about the tight ends that we have here.”
Other notables
- Roseman addressed not making any trades in August, and said that he would’ve loved to do something, but the timing wasn’t right and they didn’t feel like a move was right for the team.
- As for Makai Lemon and Eli Stowers and the expectations for them to contribute right away, the Eagles’ GM said that he has tremendous confidence in them, but also pointed out that in any other profession, people get time to develop.
- When asked about bringing RB Dameon Pierce back on the practice squad, Roseman said that with some guys, they just don’t have enough time for a full evaluation due to injuries. That was the case with Pierce, but they knew they wanted him on the team, and can trust that if he’s needed, the RB would be able to produce at a high level.
- The Eagles consider the first four weeks of the season another ramp up period, and with the team running their actual playbook, they’ll have a better sense of how players are developing in the new system. Roseman noted that the trade deadline is still months away, so there’s plenty of time to evaluate things and making changes, as needed.
- Roseman was very complimentary of WR Elijah Moore who he said had a great camp, was able to separate, and knowshow to get open. They had been following Moore’s career since Joe Douglas drafted him to the Jets, and they didn’t want to risk losing him to the waiver wire.
- The GM also really likes the receiver core as a whole. He mentioned that they really believe in DeVonta Smith, Dontayvion Wicks is exactly who they thought he would be, and everyone saw Darius Cooper’s growth and development to past year. He also said they have tremendous confidence in Makai Lemon and Hollywood Brown, in addition to Elijah Moore.
- Roseman admitted that heading into camp he was really focused on the interior offensive line group, and he’s really really excited about where the young guys are at this point. He noted that the success of the group through training camp is a credit to new OL coach Chris Kuper.
