Howie, Machiavelli, same difference?

The game of football is the quintessential team sport. It takes collaboration on so many different levels for a team to be successful. It's not just the 11 guys on the field, it's an entire organization. And in the short time that I've been here, I've just been struck by the synergy that goes through this (49ers) building. ...

– Chip Kelly, new 49ers coach, last week, as the knife wound in his back slowly healed.  

Howie's back … but, you know what?

He never really went away.

Maybe that's why Chip Kelly sounds so happy to be in San Francisco. He's far away as geographically possible from Jeffrey Lurie's funhouse, where Chip made the decisions … while, inexplicably, Howie still watched tape.

Howie Roseman these days carries the misleading title of executive vice president. Really, he is the Eagles' general manager. Tom Donahoe might offer a suggestion or two, but Donahoe is Howie's employee. Whoever they hire to supplement the front office will be no more than an advisor to King Howard I.

To be fair, there's nothing wrong with that. Roseman drafted Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, Bennie Logan, Jordan Matthews; signed Pro Bowl defenders Malcolm Jenkins and Connor Barwin. Besides, somebody has to have final say. Nobody wants it to be Lurie.

The problem lies in what the King Howie did last year.

A year ago Kelly effected a palace coup. He overthrew Roseman and took over the front office at the NovaCare Center. He even made Howie move his rooms to the lesser tower.

You know what Howie did? He called over for tapes.

How do we know this?

Because, in a rare moment of brazen audacity, Howie bragged about it.

On Tuesday, Roseman spoke with reporters in Mobile, Ala., clearly excited to return to the NFL's most fertile pre-draft exercise after his year of exile. During the discussion, Roseman told reporters he scouted behind Kelly's back.

"I never kind of stayed out of not watching," Roseman told reporters. "Always was interested in watching guys and keeping up."

What?

Kelly's deal with Lurie clearly stated that Roseman's job be confined to financial negotiations, financial decisions. You don't need game tape to discuss roster bonuses.

Understand that Roseman is thorough. He does nothing by half measures.

He might have missed Senior Bowl practices last year with but rest assured, when draft night came, there wasn't a college player he hadn't graded. When Kelly and his scouting staff targeted free agents Frank Gore, DeMarco Murray and Byron Maxwell, Roseman knew a lot more about their 2015 seasons than how much they affected their teams' salary caps.

This was wildly inappropriate. Roseman had no more business scouting football players in 2015 than Ruben Amaro, Jr.

Nothing more astonishing will emerge from the Eagles this week unless Roseman negotiates Sam Bradford's new contract in Les Bowen's hotel room, on speakerphone.

No wonder Chip craves "collaboration."

Roseman watching tape outside of the parameters of his job is the sort of subversive behavior that corrupts organizations; makes them rotten at their core.

You don't think Chippah knew Howie was pulling game tapes from the team's cache?

How else did Howie "Keep up?"

Game Pass All-22?

NFL RedZone?

Mel Kiper?

Without question, Kelly was a disastrous general manager, far worse than Roseman ever was. But for all of the accusations that Kelly's heavy hand made the Eagles' offices tense, it couldn't have helped things with Howie sitting in his darkened office, dissecting Utah games to "evaluate" second-round corner Eric Rowe.

What Roseman should have doing is finalizing an extension for Bradford. That was his job.

Now, Howie's back in Mobile.

That job remains undone.