Eagles' new VP of player personnel will answer to Roseman

WHEN HE fired Chip Kelly and Ed Marynowitz, and brought Howie Roseman back into personnel after a year of forced exile, Jeffrey Lurie implied he just might end up hiring a personnel executive who could outrank Roseman.

This is known in the advertising business as the "soft sell," which the online Investopedia says is "designed to avoid angering potential customers and pushing them away." Roseman, never a fan favorite, clearly suffered image damage when Lurie allowed Kelly to remove him from all personnel decisions in favor of "football guy" Marynowitz. Lurie didn't want to say point-blank that he was putting Roseman back in charge, long term.

But it quickly became clear that even though Lurie hadn't given Roseman back his old title of general manager, Roseman was calling the personnel shots. The Eagles shelved their attempt to hire a personnel exec when other teams indicated they weren't going to let key figures go before the draft.

Meanwhile, Roseman set the organization's course for the next several years when he traded to move up twice in the draft and selected quarterback Carson Wentz.

So it was more than a bit of an anticlimax Wednesday afternoon when the Eagles finally announced the hiring of former Bears and Ravens executive Joe Douglas as vice president of player personnel, reporting to Roseman, now executive vice president of football operations.

Douglas, whose hiring has been pending for a week, brought along with him former Ravens scout Andy Weidl. The Baltimore personnel operation under general manager Ozzie Newsome is among the league's most heralded, something the Eagles noted in announcing the hirings.

Douglas worked 15 seasons for the Ravens before spending the last year working for the Bears as their director of college scouting. He was an all-Atlantic 10 defensive tackle for Richmond, then became a volunteer assistant there in 1999, after graduating.

Weidl, a former Villanova offensive lineman, graduated from there in communications in 1996, then got a master's in human resource development from the school. He worked for Eagles senior football adviser Tom Donahoe in Pittsburgh in 1998-99, then spent time with the Saints before moving to Baltimore, where he scouted for the past 11 seasons.

The Eagles got through the draft with Donahoe running their personnel operation, helped by Rick Mueller and Anthony Patch, who were part of the operation under Roseman but not under Kelly. Patch will now be senior director of college scouting and Mueller will be player personnel executive.

The Eagles also announced that former assistant to the general manager Alec Halaby is now vice president, football operations and strategy. Trey Brown is now director of college scouting, instead of assistant director, and Mike Bradway is assistant director of college scouting, instead of Southwest area scout.

"It's imperative to me that we have a player personnel department that is not only top-notch and innovative, but has excellent communication with all phases of our football operations," Lurie, the Eagles' chairman, said in a statement released by the team. "It's a crucial part of the success of an NFL franchise and it will always be a priority for me. I'm very pleased how thorough and patient we were with the search process that began in January. With the additions of Joe Douglas and Andy Weidl, along with the other changes we have made, we all feel that we will have a strong department of talent evaluators that will work well with all facets of football operations to make the best decisions for our franchise and for our fans."

In the same team release, Roseman said he has "known Joe for several years and have admired his work with both the Ravens and the Bears. He is a guy that we had targeted from the outset. I feel that we are very fortunate to have him lead our player personnel department. Ozzie Newsome and (Bears GM) Ryan Pace spoke very highly of him and his work. He is passionate about football, passionate about scouting and he played a vital role in the success of the Ravens over the last decade."

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog