Howie Roseman Explains Jonathan Greenard Trade, Eagles’ Day 2 Picks

The Eagles wrapped up Day 2 of the draft pretty early by their standards, but after trading away their late-third round pick, they were done after taking Markel Bell at No. 68. Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni met with reporters shortly afterward and were in great spirits, joking around with big smiles, as they took their seats.

Later in the press conference Roseman shrugged off any suggestion that they were willing to trade away some of their picks this year due to the quality of the players available, but he explained that they just felt like the value of the players they traded for outweighed the value of the lost picks.

Here’s what the GM and head coach had to say:

On the Jonathan Greenard trade

“ROSEMAN: In a vacuum, always looking to improve our pass rush. To improve our lines. He’s one of six guys that’s had 12 or more sacks two of the last three years. Just a really fun guy to watch, a guy we’ve been studying for a long time.”

Howie went on to say that as the offseason goes on, things progress and change, and as they approached the draft, they were in a position to make this move. He later gave credit to the Vikings GM for being tough but fair in their negotiations and said that the Eagles felt like it was the right move to make after finishing up Round 1 of the draft and seeing how things played out.

The GM explained that they watched every game of Greenard’s from the 2025 season and it showed that the LB is a relentless player with physical tools, he can win in multiple ways, and he’s hard to block. He’s someone that the Eagles would account for when they played the Vikings, and that stood out.

Howie also said that Greenard’s contract won’t affect how they approach Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith’s future deals. Those were things that they talked about over the past couple weeks, but they wanted to make sure that they would still have the flexibility to sign their young defensive players.

On TE Eli Stowers

“SIRIANNI: The guy is super talented, and athletically he does some things that nobody else can do. Just to be able to create mismatches with him and on third downs, and first- and second-down situations, he’s a tough cover. He catches everything — good after the catch, speed, quickness. So, really excited to have him.

And that’s our job as coaches to develop these guys and continue to develop them. I think it’s exciting that he’s only played the position for a short time. So, with guys like that, we’ve done a ton of homework on the guy obviously, but great character guy, high football IQ having played quarterback, and those guys continue to develop and I’m excited to work with him because he has a lot of room to improve as well.“

The head coach went on to talk about how they’re excited to get a guy who can create some mismatches and can bring something new to the tight end room.

On OT Markel Bell

“ROSEMAN: Markel Bell was a passion player for us throughout the process. Obviously, unusual size, unusual length, hard to find. But really when you watch the tape, he is hard to get around in pass pro. He had zero quarterback sacks allowed this year playing for the University of Miami.

This is a 21 year old player who was the number one [junior college] recruit coming out of the University of Miami, and just watching the tape, this is one of those guys that you say what would happen if he went back to school this year. So for him to have the opportunity to learn from the guys that we have on this roster — we spent a lot of time with him. We spent time with him here, we spent time with him in Miami, we had a lot of eyes on him.“

The GM emphasized that Bell was a unique prospect and is someone they see having a lot of potential. Howie later said that they are going to start Bell at tackle and let him get comfortable there first before considering whether or not they can move him inside as well. He also noted that Bell was primarily a left tackle, but has been cross-training on the right side.