How 2023 NFL Draft Picks Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith Fit Philadelphia Eagles’ Plans

It isn’t simply that Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager Howie Roseman added two talented players to the team’s roster in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, an unusual outcome for any team that just played in the Super Bowl.

It is nothing short of confirmation that Roseman’s offseason plan, along two tracks, has played out precisely as he could have hoped. Results are never guaranteed, of course. But the ability to add the best defensive lineman in the 2023 draft in Jalen Carter, along with an edge rusher who is expected to contribute right away in Nolan Smith, turns the team’s offseason aspirations into concrete personnel.

The Eagles understood that keeping the 2022 NFC championship group together, for reasons of salary cap math alone, would be impossible. Accordingly, prioritizing Jalen Hurts on the offense over finding any improvement on that side of the ball in free agency meant losing Miles Sanders and Gardner Minshew to teams looking to prioritize them as lead back and transition to Anthony Richardson, respectively.

Adding Rashad Penny to the mix in the backfield, and Marcus Mariota as a logical stand-by candidate for Jalen Hurts, will stem the tide. But to find actual improvement on the defensive end would mean replacing 2022 starters like lineman Javon Hargrave and linebacker T.J. Edwards, and it’s clear the Eagles made doing so a priority on Day 1 of the draft, rather than using costlier options in free agency.

That isn’t to say Roseman knew Carter would be available to him — he told assembled media on Thursday night that he did not think it would be possible at the tenth pick. Ultimately, he was right, trading up from 10 with the Chicago Bears, sending Chicago a fourth-round pick in 2024, to obtain Carter at nine overall.

“I think for us, we wanted to get the player,” Roseman said. “We wanted to make sure that we got him, and we felt like maybe we could entice the Bears by giving them a pick. Not saying they were taking him. I have no idea what they were doing. But we just wanted the player. At that point in the draft, we felt like that was the right decision for us, and we really — like we talked about, wanted to come out with an impact player, and we feel like Jalen could be an impact player for us.”

Another way of thinking about this pick is as additional fruit from the development of Jalen Hurts. The Eagles received the pick in a swap with New Orleans last year — getting an additional second rounder, but also pushing one of their first-round picks into 2023. Had Hurts regressed, or otherwise failed to secure the long-term job at quarterback in Philadelphia, the Eagles may well have used the tenth pick on a quarterback. Instead, they were free to upgrade around a Hurts-centered team.

As for Smith, the ability to pressure the quarterback, added to a team that collected 70 sacks in 2022, should go a long way toward keeping Philadelphia atop the NFL in this category. He is considered undersized by some — but the very thing that the Eagles boast, depth on their defensive front, means head coach Nick Sirianni can try and find various places to best utilize Smith’s athleticism.

“You go into the draft and you say here are a couple names at 30, and then you see guys sitting up there like Nolan, and again, an incredible person,” Roseman said. “Obviously, he has unbelievable traits in his body, a leader and a winner.

“For us, we were fielding calls at that time, and I think Coach and I kind of looked at each other like this is the guy. We didn’t want to get too cute, and we’re excited to add him.”

The Eagles still have a starter to replace in the defensive backfield in C.J. Gardner-Johnson. They also have a pair of selections Friday night — 62 and 66 overall — to do so, thanks in part to some tampering from the Arizona Cardinals.

But since the moment the offseason began, Roseman’s two tracks have been clear. Precisely how effective this has turned out to be is still to be determined on the field. But it is hard to argue with the process and the early returns on it.