Cornerback Eric Rowe had an interception in the AFC Championship Game and will be heading to the Super Bowl with the Patriots five months after they acquired him in a trade with the Eagles.
Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman explained at an end-of-season press conference that the Eagles made the trade because they didn’t foresee signing Rowe to a contract extension. It was an answer that struck many as odd because Rowe won’t be eligible for an extension until after next season. Rowe said,via the Delaware News Journal, that it was a “really, really weird” answer and Roseman apparently agrees with that assessment.
During an appearance on WIP in Philadelphia Monday, Roseman said the answer “didn’t make any freaking sense” and tried to provide one that did a better job.
“It’s the first week of the season and we get this offer, and it’s the Patriots,” Roseman said, via ESPN.com. “And we’re not sitting there thinking we’re getting over on Bill Belichick, maybe the best evaluator of defensive backs in the history of the NFL. What we were thinking about was where he was on our depth chart at the time. And at that time the starting three [cornerbacks] were Nolan [Carroll], Leodis [McKelvin] and Ron Brooks. Jalen Mills at that point in camp had beat him out, so he was the fourth guy. When we spoke with our coaches, they said Malcolm [Jenkins] would be the next guy in the slot. So for where we were and what his role was at the time, we thought it was pretty good value.”
The Eagles got a conditional fourth-round pick in return while Rowe made seven starts and steadily took on a larger role in the New England . That number isn’t reflective of the amount of snaps Rowe is playing now as he only saw action in nine games and it may not be reflective of how things would have played out if he’d remained in Philly, but any explanation of the trade won’t change the fact that the Eagles need to boost their cornerback play in 2017.