The executives who run the Philadephia Eagles are like the Silicon Valley sharks who never seem to stop working and have better information than many rivals.
The Cincinnati Bengals, in contrast, are a mom-and-pop shop that, despite having some knack for team-building, succeeds only through limited methods and relies more on good luck.
The contrast in the two approaches was evident on Sunday, when the Eagles beat the Bengals 37-17 on the fake grass in Cincinnati.
The Bengals fielded the better quarterback in Joe Burrow, not that Jalen Hurts was far off.
But neither Burrow nor his coaches stood a good chance of winning because the Eagles, as an organization, were better positioned thanks to the respective MOs of the top brains in charge.
Bengals owner Mike Brown, the team’s de facto general manager, would sooner paint the team’s helmets pink than make trades.
Eagles GM Howie Roseman, meanwhile, is a wheeler-dealer deluxe who augments his draft stock and player roster with frequent moves.
Roseman isn’t perfect, but his smart hyperactivity, on balance, has enabled the Eagles to maintain a good baseline of talent — emphasizing the two lines — for the past several years.
His methods are the underlying reason why the Eagles (5-2) have a reasonable shot at reaching their third Super Bowl in eight years.
Sunday, they rode superior line play and Roseman’s latest promising youth movement. With two reserve linemen in the lineup and two tight ends offsetting the absence of starter Dallas Goedert, the Eagles got 108 rushing yards from Rosemans top offseason acquisition, Saquon Barkley, whom the rival New York Giants failed to retain, and six successful sneaks from Hurts.
On defense, rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean blunted the injury-related struggles for fellow corner Darius Slay.
Trades matter
Last offseason, Roseman and the Eagles dealt edge rusher Haason Reddick, 30, to the Jets for a third-round pick in 2026.
It was a sharp sell-high move, set up by a smart free-agent signing.
Roseman signed Reddick in 2022 to a three-year, $45-million contract and saw him dominate (16 sacks, five forced fumbles) in the 22 run to the Super Bowl run and come back with a good second season (11 sacks, 23 QB hits).
Roseman had leverage in trading Reddick because he had three players to fall back on — Nolan Smith, 23, who had a key sack Sunday; Bryce Huff, 26, a former Jet he signed in March; and Josh Sweat, 27.
The Jets came off as dummies. Reddick withheld his services until last week. Now 2-6, theyll likely regret not having the pick in 26.
So it goes for Roseman. His expertise in analytics and negotiations advantage him trade talks with GMs who lack such expertise, asserted Andrew Brandt, a former NFL player agent and Green Bay Packers executive.
“Howie has taken advantage of the scouts/GMs over and over,” Brandt said in his newsletter, adding: “He comes from the background that, frankly, I came from which is: negotiating, legal, financial, business. Now, he’s turned himself into a good scout, but when you come from that background, you come in with an advantage—not only in player contracts, but in trades and moves around the board and negotiating when you are always a step ahead. … It’s still confounding to me how these assets worth five, six, seven billion dollars are hiring scouts to run their operation.”
Too vanilla
The Bengals Brown can’t be accused of being snookered in trades.
Thats because the Bengals almost never trade picks or players. Their approach is to accept their draft slot and make the pick. In 2020 and 2021 the combination of great luck and smart moves by top scout Duke Tobin and staff landed them Burrow and star receiver JaMarr Chase. The duo reprised their great success with LSU, sending the 21 Bengals to the Super Bowl and the next team to the AFC title game.
But drafting high at an ideal time isnt a renewable approach. Making it harder to build a Super Bowl roster, winning seasons dropped the Bengals in the draft, and Burrow and Chase began to command much bigger salaries.
Its not apparent that under Brown, the Bengals (3-5) have the resourcefulness to retool for another Super Bowl run anytime soon. Thats a shame for Burrow, who this season has rebounded from last years season-ending injury. Sunday, he resembled a top-five QB, but lacked a ground game or defense that compared to Philadelphias.
Hurts, meantime, has bounced back from last seasons second-half falloff. He provided the games top highlight, firing a TD strike to DeVonta Smith that covered nearly 60 air yards.