Eagles weigh in on drafting a player high just to have them sit

The Philadelphia Eagles have an obvious cornerback need to address heading into the 2024 NFL Draft, but they may wait to do that in the second or later round and instead, potentially turn to Lane Johnson's replacement in the first round. 

Head coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman made it clear earlier this week that they are never opposed to drafting a player high only to have them sit for a year. 

They did it in 2022 when they selected Cam Jurgens at No. 51 overall, who would end up being Jason Kelce's replacement at center in 2024. 

"I always have to think about how we win the next game," Sirianni said, (h/t Philly Voice's Jimmy Kempski) "That's how a coach is built. I think Howie's trying to win the next game, too."

"Damn right," Roseman chimed in. 

"But you're also thinking about the long-term success of it," Sirianni said. "Howie explained that perfectly. How do we teach players things that we want them to learn in football? We let them study the greats."

The Eagles actually had Kelce act as a scout and help pick out his future replacement. Jurgens sat for a year learning behind Kelce and the other veterans before entering the 2023 season as the Eagles starting right guard. 

But the Eagles don't go into the draft with the mindset that a player they select won't touch the field at all. 

“We don’t go and say, hey, we are redshirting guys, even when we drafted Cam,” Roseman said. “We are drafting these guys not with the intention, like these guys are never going to play, and obviously if you have a great starting lineup and they don’t play, well, that must mean there are good things happening, too.

“But we are not sitting there going, hey, we don’t expect any contributions. We still have to build depth on this team. We are still going to need players that are on the sideline on day one that are going to have to contribute for us to get to where we want to go.”

It ultimately will all depend on how the picks fall when they're on the clock at No. 22. 

The waiting and guessing is almost over as the draft kicks off this upcoming Thursday in downtown Detroit.