Howie Roseman Has Spent 3 Years Failing at Edge Rusher — The Full Timeline
Since drafting Nolan Smith at 30 in 2023, the Eagles have burned a first-round pick, $25M in free agency, a third-round trade chip for Jaelan Phillips, and now want to trade more picks for Jonathan Greenard. The math doesn't add up.
The JAKIB Staff
contributor
There's a difference between missing on a player and having no plan. The Philadelphia Eagles have done both at edge rusher since 2023 — and the receipts are devastating.
The Timeline
It starts with Nolan Smith at pick 30 in the 2023 draft. A first-round investment that has produced a rotational player at best. Smith has shown flashes, but he's not a starter, he's not a game-wrecker, and the injury concerns haven't gone away.
What followed was a cascade of increasingly expensive attempts to fix the position:
**2024 offseason:** Signed Bryce Huff for $17.5M per year. Total bust — couldn't get on the field.
**2024 in-season:** Signed Josh Uche and Ogunjobi Ojalari for a combined ~$7.5M on prove-it deals. Neither proved anything.
**2025 trade deadline:** Traded a third-round pick to Miami for Jaelan Phillips. Finally, a real player — but then let him walk over $2.5-3M in negotiations.
**2026 offseason:** Now reportedly pursuing Jonathan Greenard from Minnesota, which would cost a second or third-round pick PLUS $30M per year for a 29-year-old coming off a 3-sack season.
The Math
Add it all up since 2023: a first-round pick (Nolan Smith), $25M+ in failed free agency signings (Huff, Uche, Ojalari), a third-round pick traded for Phillips, and Phillips walking for $2.5M. If the Greenard trade happens, add another third and fifth-round pick plus $30M per year.
All to end up in roughly the same position: hoping Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith can develop into starting-caliber edge rushers. That's not a plan. That's a revolving door.
The Phillips Question That Won't Go Away
This is the part that stings the most. The Eagles offered Jaelan Phillips $27.5M per year. He signed with Carolina for $30M. A $2.5M gap — for a player who was younger, more talented, and already in the system.
If the plan was always to spend $30M at the position, why not just pay the extra $2.5M and keep the guy you already had? Instead, the Eagles are now looking at giving up additional draft picks AND paying the same money for an older, less productive player.
What's Left
The edge room heading into 2026: Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, and Arthur Obi. That's not a Super Bowl rotation. The draft at pick 23 is unlikely to produce an immediate-impact edge rusher. The trade market is expensive. And the cap is getting tighter with Jalen Carter and Cooper DeJean extensions looming.
Something has to give. The question is whether Howie Roseman can find a solution that doesn't repeat the same pattern of overpaying for diminishing returns — because right now, three years of edge rusher management looks like the biggest blind spot on the roster.
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