Dave Spadaro

How did the Eagles get to this point? A three-part series as Training Camp nears. Today: Taking care of their own.

In the blink of an eye, the Super Bowl Parade ended. The celebration after beating Kansas City 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX was finished. Within just a couple of weeks of winning the Lombardi Trophy, the Eagles were at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, business as usual.

Every team in the league, 0-0.

The hangover was long, long cured. It was time to set the agenda for the 2025 Philadelphia Eagles season.

In the first of a three-part series revisiting how the Eagles shaped their roster for the upcoming season and, first and foremost, Training Camp 2025, it's important to understand how much work was in the process leading up to the Super Bowl. Defeating Kansas City was the first priority, of course, but at the same time, the Eagles notably Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman prepared for the inevitable next steps. All 32 teams in the NFL understand the importance of the Scouting Combine, the Top 30 player visits for the NFL Draft that happens in late April/early May, the start of the new business year in March all of it happens in a very close period of time.

So, the Eagles had to juggle a lot of balls in the air.

"I know that the season really starts with the front office, and that starts with me. I think that's our responsibility and that's my responsibility and we've seen it," Roseman said at the NovaCare Complex on the Saturday before the team departed for New Orleans and the final days of preparation for Super Bowl LIX, referring to the 2017, 2022, and 2024 seasons. "There's some sort of correlation between how we do our job and the opportunity it allows everyone in the organization to do their job well throughout it. It's inspiring. Obviously, the resources change from year to year. I think an underrated key to getting back here was that we really had resources and in the draft 2022, '23, '24 to have some flexibility.

"Those are the things I think about moving forward how can we get more flexibility when you have a lot of good players deservedly so making a lot of money?"

The Eagles, of course, went on to accomplish their primary goal of winning the Super Bowl and then starting the roster-building process just as the NFL's 2025 year began on March 12. But before that, the team attended to some important business: Replacing Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore, who moved to New Orleans as that team's head coach.

It was a no-brainer for Head Coach Nick Sirianni: He promoted Passing Game Coordinator/Associate Head Coach Kevin Patullo, who has been in lockstep with Sirianni in Philadelphia since arriving together in 2021.

"Very important to the success that we've had. He wears a lot of different hats. Helps me a lot with different head coaching things," Sirianni said. "I can't tell you that I make a decision without saying to Kevin first, 'What do you think?' That's in everything. That's in-game, out of game, with scheduling, that's with offensive stuff, that's with game-management stuff, I lean on him a lot.

"That continuity is really important because he knows what I'm thinking in certain situations, how you want things to be taught, all of those different things, so he's been a great resource for me the entire time, our success this year, but really the success we've had since we've been here. Can't be great without the greatness of others and that is definitely a fact with Kevin Patullo and I trust him with everything. Got a ton of trust and faith with him. He's awesome."

Then it was on to the roster, and Roseman addressed the issues at the top of the list: Taking care of players on the current roster.

That meant new contracts for three All-Pro performers and a Pro Bowl player from the 2024 season: Running back Saquon Barkley, who signed a two-year extension through the 2028 season; linebacker Zack Baun, a highly rated unrestricted free agent who instead inked a three-year contract to stay with the Eagles through 2027; right tackle Lane Johnson, who added a year to his deal and is now under contract in Philadelphia through 2027; and center Cam Jurgens, who has a shiny new contract that keeps him here through the 2029 campaign.

Slam-dunk moves and more roster continuity. For Roseman, getting the ball rolling with Barkley, Baun, Johnson, and Jurgens was ultra-important.

"The first priority is always keeping your own great players, great people, so when we talked about what we wanted to do this offseason, there were a lot of challenges coming off the Super Bowl, having a lot of free agents, having a lot of young players we would want to extend in the future. But when we looked at those three guys Saquon and Lane and Zack Baun difference-making players, difference-making people. It was so important to keep those guys in the building," Roseman said. "They elevated this team to help us win another Championship. They were huge pieces. They earned those deals."

More on the idea of "taking care of your own" for the Eagles: The team exercised the fifth-year option of defensive tackle Jordan Davis the team's first-round draft pick in 2022 for the 2026 NFL season and signed Sirianni to a new contract after his four playoff seasons that include two Super Bowl appearances and one World Championship.

Mission accomplished, then: The Eagles executed their vision of extending key players and coaches and moved into the full-time process of adding new talent to an already outstanding Championship roster.

Part 2 of the series: NFL free agency, coming Sunday, July 6

PhiladelphiaEagles.com