This Day in Eagles History: Howie Roseman's Rebuild Begins — March 7, 2016

Ten years ago today, the Philadelphia Eagles opened a new chapter. It didn't come with a splashy press conference or a blockbuster signing. It came quietly — with the NFL's legal tampering window opening on March 7, 2016, and a general manager named Howie Roseman finally getting his hands back on the steering wheel.

To understand why that date matters, you have to understand the wreckage Roseman inherited. Chip Kelly had spent two seasons torching the roster like a man trying to prove a point nobody asked him to make. LeSean McCoy — the franchise's all-time leading rusher — shipped to Buffalo for Kiko Alonso. Nick Foles, the guy who threw 27 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in 2013, traded to St. Louis for Sam Bradford. DeMarco Murray signed to a bloated deal, then misused into irrelevance. Byron Maxwell got $63 million to be average.

Kelly was fired on December 29, 2015, after going 6-9 to close his final season. Owner Jeffrey Lurie moved swiftly. Doug Pederson was hired as head coach on January 18, 2016. And Roseman — who had been "promoted" to a meaningless executive title while Kelly seized control of personnel — was restored to full general manager authority.

When the legal tampering period opened on March 7, 2016, it was Roseman's first real chance to start rebuilding. And he didn't waste it. That offseason, Roseman flipped Kelly's mistakes — trading Maxwell to Miami, moving Murray to Tennessee — and began assembling the pieces that mattered. He brought in depth and character guys while keeping cap flexibility for the bigger play he had in mind.

That bigger play came six weeks later, on April 20, when Roseman pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Browns to move up to the No. 2 overall pick and draft Carson Wentz out of North Dakota State. Say what you will about how the Wentz era ended, but in 2017, the kid went 11-2 as a starter and was the MVP frontrunner before his torn ACL in Week 14. And behind him stood Nick Foles — brought back to Philly by Roseman — who finished what Wentz started.

Super Bowl LII. February 4, 2018. Eagles 41, Patriots 33. The Philly Special. Confetti in Minneapolis. The parade down Broad Street that made grown men weep into their Wawa hoagies.

All of it traces back to the moment Howie Roseman got his job back and started making calls. March 7, 2016 wasn't the day the Eagles won the Super Bowl. It was the day the foundation got poured.

What makes this anniversary hit different in 2026 is the parallel. The Eagles are once again staring down a pivotal offseason. With the legal tampering period opening March 9 — just two days from now — Roseman is back at the controls, trying to retool a roster coming off a Wild Card exit. The names and numbers change, but the game stays the same: identify the right pieces, move fast, don't overpay, and build something that can last.

Roseman has proven he can do it. He turned post-Chip Kelly rubble into a Lombardi Trophy in two years. He built the 2022 team that went to Super Bowl LVII and the 2024 squad that won Super Bowl LIX. Love him or question him, the man knows how to work an offseason.

So today, raise a glass to March 7, 2016. The day Howie Roseman started cooking. The day the Eagles stopped being Chip Kelly's science experiment and started being a championship organization again. Ten years later, the legacy of that rebuild is still paying dividends. Go Birds.