Roseman Talks Offseason Issues

Howie Roseman sat down with a small group of reporters Monday afternoon to address a few of the issues facing the Eagles this offseason.

There are a lot of questions surrounding the wide receiver position, particularly with  Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper  both set to become free agents.  Roseman said that he’s open to bringing both Maclin and Cooper back.

“It certainly depends on the price in anything that you’re going to do, but…the door is open to having both [back],” he said.

The free-agency plans aren’t firm yet, according to the general manager. He will sit down with Chip Kelly over the next week or two to hammer out an approach. Maclin, who is coming off a torn ACL, believes he will be able to participate in OTAs this spring.

“Jeremy has worked extremely hard and is extremely determined to come back. Obviously a guy we drafted and I think the future is bright for Jeremy Maclin,” said Roseman.

Some other highlights from the session:

On how the emergence of Nick Foles will impact their offseason approach to the QB position.

“I think we have to be careful in saying what we don’t need or what we may have on the roster because you never know what you may need going forward. The way we’ll look at it, if there is a talented player player at any position and we have him highly ranked in the draft and he’s on the board when we pick, we’re going to be interested in him. I think if you get into the mode of, ‘We have this so we don’t need,’ you never know where the league is going to take you.Certainly our roster  looks significantly different than it did two years ago. I think we have to be open-minded but by the same token not force something because it is a very important position, but you don’t want to go in saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to take this position,’ and then just waste a draft pick that can be valuable and can get you a good player at a different position.”

Is kicker a position that you need to address in the offseason?

“I think we need competition at every spot,” Roseman responded. “That makes  people better, it has them rise to the occasion. I know Coach feels the same way. I don’t think any option is off the table at any spot to add competition.”

On prospects of Vick returning: 

“Mike obviously feels, and deservedly so, that he is a starter in this league. I’m sure that’s going to be his first choice. I feel like we have a conversation every year about Mike not being back, and you just don’t know how things are going to work out. We all really like and appreciate Mike Vick.”

On Jackson’s desire to have his deal restructured:

“We don’t talk about contract matters of any player. I think it’s important that we keep those things in-house. He had a heck of a year and is a good player.

“I thought DeSean worked extremely hard this whole season and played well.”