April 27, 2026
This era of extraordinary success for the Eagles has reached a crossroad. If GM Howie Roseman doesn’t pull a few more rabbits out of his hat at the NFL draft later this week, fans need to prepare themselves for some much darker days ahead.
Admittedly, my dour assessment is a stark contrast to the incessant cheerleading in our local media, but the sad truth should be obvious by now. The best GM in sports – and the best ever in Philadelphia history – has had an abysmal offseason.
Needing to reinforce a roster that sprung leaks everywhere at the end of the 2025 season, Roseman (and head coach Nick Sirianni) have poked some new holes in their slowly shrinking ship.
Over the past two off-seasons, Howie has presided over the deconstruction of a Super-Bowl team partly because of the salary cap and every bit as much because he doesn’t want to lapse into sentimentality the way he did after the 2017 championship.
Eight of the 11 starters from that 2024 defense are gone now, replaced by players with far less pedigree. Who’s going to replace the three latest departures – Jaelan Phillips, Reed Blankenship and Nakobe Dean? Can the Eagles afford to trust kids in those key roles?
And with a great opportunity to reboot after the Kevin Patullo disaster, Roseman agreed to hire another offensive coordinator with no play-calling experience, Sean Mannion – the third blind chauffeur in four years entrusted to drive the Rolls Royce.
I’m still bracing myself for the worst move of the offseason, the trade of A.J. Brown. Based on the latest reports by ESPN over the weekend, the disastrous decision is pretty much a sure thing. Apparently even a culture genius like Sirianni cannot handle the quirkiness of his best wide receiver.
Of course, Howie has one card left to play, and it has been his best one in recent years – the draft, which unfolds Thursday through Saturday in Pittsburgh.
The core of the 2025 champs was formed by the brilliant talent evaluation of Roseman – from Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis to Cooper DeJean and Quinyan Mitchell. Offensively, you have to go back a bit further to find Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, and DeVonta Smith.
Now what?
Well, Howie has always been adept at stockpiling picks, and this year is no exception. It’s a safe bet that he will turn his nine selections over the seven rounds into at least a couple of immediate contributors.
In the past, given the roster’s depth, the draft was important. This year, it’s imperative.
Who’s going to provide the pass rush in 2026? Roseman needs at least two more impactful studs to add to the rotation.
Who’s going to offer depth at a battered and bruised offensive line featuring retirement-minded Lane Johnson and Dickerson and missing the architect of that unit’s astounding success, assistant coach Jeff Stoutland? Some healthy young blood is essential there.
While he’s at it, Howie needs to find some new bodies to work on special teams, which were not at all special last season.
And when Brown is sent to New England soon, who will take over as the top target of much-maligned quarterback Jalen Hurts? Is Smith – all of 5-11 and 170 pounds – physically ready to assume that responsibility?
The return from a Brown trade will be the most revealing sign of what Roseman thinks of his current roster. If the high pick(s) he gets back are for this draft, bravo. If they are for 2027 or beyond, Howie will be telling the fans not to expect much this season.
I already don’t expect much. With all of the stars who have left, all of the veterans still here getting older and the same overrated head coach overseeing this muddle, it’s hard to launch into a rousing rendition of High Hopes.
Some rough times are ahead. I’m sure of that now.
I have never loved hockey. There are many logical explanations for this deviation in an otherwise meat-and-potatoes sports fan. A bunch of guys sliding around on a slippery surface with sticks and a puck just never connected with me.
But I am a fan right now, not just of the sport but of the Flyers. I doubt I have ever been a more ardent fan of a Philadelphia sports team than I am of the orange-and-black overachievers at this very moment.
There is one reason for this sudden change in my perspective. His name is Keith Jones.
For the two decades he worked with us at WIP, he was just Jonesy, the former star athlete who never acted like one. He was as loyal and dependable as any teammate I ever had at WIP. When there was a problem, he was always there with good ideas and loyal support.
Simply put, no one who has ever met him– I mean no one – doesn’t love Keith Jones.
OK, I’ll make one exception to that statement. The players on opposing teams during his NHL career often wanted to kill him after one of his patented on-ice verbal assaults that covered all bases, including highly personal stuff.
Jonesy was one of the best needlers in hockey history, before he took his scandalous wit to the broadcast booth, and into our studio. It’s not that he ever knew where the line was between good taste and good radio; he honestly didn’t care.
In his very first appearance on our show, as an in-studio guest, he wrapped up his visit with a joke about coming home to his lonely wife after a long road trip that brings a chuckle to me even now, a quarter-century after he told it. The consensus is, if Jonesy repeated those words on the air later in his tenure, we would all have been looking for jobs.
But, of course, Jonesy would never spin that yarn today – at least in public – because he is president of the Flyers. Even as I type those words, I am amazed. Someone I worked with, closely, for over 20 years, actually runs a major sports team in Philadelphia. Go figure.
And now, three years into his run, it appears we have all found something else Jonesy is good at, though I have to admit I did harbor some doubts along the way.
Oh, don’t misunderstand. I have known all along that Jonesy is far smarter and more focused than his goofy radio persona would suggest. But to make it to the playoffs in Year Three of a massive rebuild? No, I didn’t see that twist coming.
In fact, I’m not sure he did. I saw him in mid-March, when the Flyers were six points out of a playoff spot, and he was making no bold predictions. He has never mastered the corporate-speak that is so common these days.
When the Flyers clinched the playoff spot, I offered him congratulations via text. He replied: “Crazy buddy. Thanx so much for the support pal.”
What I didn’t tell him – because he would cringe – is that I have never met anyone in the sports community more worthy of my support, and yours, than Keith Jones.
Maybe because he is a modest Canadian, he has never flaunted his athletic prowess, despite a successful and lucrative 10-year NHL career. And though he has retained his sharp clubhouse wit, he never exudes the superior air of many ex-athletes.
I still don’t like hockey. You may notice in this post that I have not mentioned a single player. I know a few names, but that’s about it. The only name that matters to me is Jonesy. I want him to break the 51-year championship drought as soon as possible. I have never met anyone who deserves it more.
But it won’t be this season.
Sorry. I know the Flyers won the first game of their series with Pittsburgh. I understand they are the hottest team in hockey right now. And I have already admitted I know next to nothing about the sport.
Undaunted, I have a prediction that only Jonesy himself will love.
Penguins in five.
The 76ers are also beginning their (very short) playoff journey right now, but I have much less to say about them.
At least with the Flyers, I have some people to root for (Jonesy, coach Rick Tocchet, GM Danny Briere, for starters). Who am I supposed to get behind on the Sixers?
The greediest owner in Philadelphia sports history, Joshua Harris?
The most overpaid and overrated GM in Philadelphia sports history, Daryl Morey?
Or how about the most physically and psychologically fragile superstar in Philadelphia sports history, Joel Embiid?
No, no and absolutely not.
Oh, don’t worry. I have a prediction for the Sixers, too – even after their lopsided loss to the Boston Celtics in the playoff opener yesterday.
I predict that Embiid will miraculously rise from the operating table (for appendicitis surgery) and make it back onto the court soon, milking the drama for all its worth.
Then the Sixers will lose anyway, also in five games.
Unlike with Jonesy and the Flyers, very few people will care. Because the people who comprise the Sixers right now are simply not worthy of our passion.
The Process is dead.
And so is my love for the Sixers.