Why Dorsey isn't a threat to Roseman

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John Dorsey wasn’t brought here to replace Howie Roseman. He was brought here by Howie Roseman.

That’s the word from a source familiar with the arrangement between Roseman, the Eagles’ general manager for 10 of the last 11 years, and Dorsey, the former Chiefs and Browns GM.

It was revealed on Friday that Dorsey had quietly joined the Eagles in a consulting role. What wasn't initially clear was exactly what that means.

After Dorsey was fired by the Browns at the end of the 2019 season and it became apparent he wasn’t going to get a GM job for the 2020 season, it was Roseman who reached out to Dorsey and invited him to work with the Eagles.

Roseman has always had a lot of respect for Dorsey and had a good relationship with him and believed it would be productive to have another experienced set of eyes as the Eagles went through the college and pro scouting process.

Dorsey was not a Jeff Lurie hire, and Roseman was not pressured into hiring him, which is in line with a published report last week that Lurie, not surprisingly, has not considered firing Roseman.

This was simply Roseman giving Dorsey an opportunity to stay in the scouting game and getting a fresh voice into the front office.

Roseman has never hesitated to quietly bring in consultants to help evaluate players and advise the scouting department. Former Steelers and Bills GM Tom Donahoe has been with the club in an advisory role since 2012, and former 49ers and Washington GM Scott McCloughan spent the 2017 through 2019 seasons with the Eagles.

With Joe Douglas leaving for the Jets after the 2018 season and Andrew Berry leaving after the 2019 season to replace Dorsey in Cleveland, Roseman found value in having a scout with 30 years of experience in his office.

So while the initial reaction might be that Dorsey is here to take Roseman’s place or possibly share responsibilities with Roseman, it doesn’t appear that's the case.

Dorsey spent 1991 through 1998 in the Packers’ scouting department and after a year with Mike Holmgren in Seattle he returned to the Packers, where he remained through 2012.

He served as Chiefs GM alongside Andy Reid from 2013 through 2016 and Browns GM from 2017 until he was fired at the end of last season.

Dorsey wants another GM job, and it’s no coincidence that after several months, news of his consulting position with the Eagles suddenly became public knowledge this week, as the 2020 season is winding down. He wants his name out there as teams begin planning offseason changes.

You could make a case that if Roseman and Dorsey had equal power, with focusing on their strengths - salary cap and contracts for Roseman and scouting for Dorsey - it could be a productive arrangement for the Eagles.

But that’s not the plan. Roseman certainly has shown no inclination to give up personnel control to anybody. He loves the draft and the entire draft scouting process, probably more than any other aspect of the job.

If Dorsey doesn’t get a GM job, he could remain with the Eagles but it would likely be in the same role he had this year – helping Roseman with player evaluations but not in any sort of management or supervisory role.

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