Howie Roseman explains Day 3 picks, international player interest
The 2026 NFL Draft is a wrap, and Eagles GM Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni sat down and spoke with reporters after their final pick to wrap up the weekend. They gave some insight into their Day 3 picks, explained why they are so invested in the International Pathway Program, and how they prioritize developing these incoming rookies.
Here’s what they had to say:
On Uar Bernard
Howie admitted that they did the trade back to add some picks with their seventh-round selection, Uar Bernard, in mind.
“ROSEMAN: We wanted to take a chance on the kid. Obviously, we’ve had great success with that [International Pathway] program. We spent a lot of time with him. Coach [Clint] Hurtt went down and spent the day with him, worked him out. Just for us, it was a passion project. Obviously got a lot of tools in his body, understand it’s going to take time. It’s gonna take a lot of time here, but it’s pretty cool. We spent a lot of time talking about unusual, and certainly unusual with that guy.”
The GM went on to explain that they focused on the IPP a little bit after the combine, and they have a dedicated scout for that, and Bernard was someone they were interested in. The staff then watched the tape of his workout, and they kept getting new workouts to evaluate as time went on.
Howie also announced that the Eagles also plan to sign Joshua Weru (Kenya, DE) from the IPP, so it’ll be cool for those two to come in together. Bernard and Weru had been doing all their workouts together, and spending a lot of time together, so they’ll have that familiarity as they embark on something new.
Sirianni later talked about how they approach coaching players who don’t have much experience, and he explained that they are like blanks slates, and they are eager to be able to teach them the fundamentals of the game. He also expressed confidence in the coaches and other players in the building to help develop these guys and teach them what it means to be part of an NFL locker room.
On the safety room after the draft
Howie acknowledged that they go into the draft knowing that they aren’t going to be able to address everything they need in just those three days, but he also noted that they probably have a different vision of the safety group than that of the public. He didn’t want to get into their future plans, but implied they would likely make some more moves to that room and others over the coming weeks or months.
On QB Cole Payton
“SIRIANNI: Really, really athletic. Really good with the ball in his hands in the quarterback run game. Made great decisions with the football. Accurate passer, as you know, 72 percent last year as a starter, and you can’t be that unless you’re making good, accurate throws and going the right place with the ball. But, there are some wild plays on his tape that are really impressive. I think I charted four times he jumps over somebody or wrote down a bunch of times, ‘He’s the best player on the field’.“
The head coach also admitted that they’ll see if there’s an opportunity to get Payton on the field in a non-QB role, and said they’ll start looking at that during rookie minicamp.
Howie went on to explain that as they got into the fifth, almost sixth round, their board kind of worked out in a way that led them to pick Payton.
“ROSEMAN: We feel really good about the three quarterbacks that are here, we plan to have them here, we’re excited to have those three guys here. This has nothing to do with them. It was about staying true to the process that we were going into, and taking the best player available. Obviously, at an important position, and we’ll let it play out. We’ve talked about it, we’re open to carrying four quarterbacks, for sure. If you talk about it being the most important position in sports and you have four good ones, why wouldn’t you keep ‘em.“
The GM noted that if they wouldn’t have taken him just because of how the room was filled was right, that would go against their overall philosophy for roster building.
On OG Micah Morris
“ROSEMAN: There’s a lot to like about him. I mean he’s got great size, all his testing is through the roof. He started every game for Georgia this year, he’s got incredible experience playing in the SEC, he’s got all the ability, and now he’s gotta apply that as he gets an opportunity to come here. Another guy, just as we were going through it, stood out on our board for where we were, obviously an important position, so we took him.“
On EDGE Keyshawn James-Newby
“ROSEMAN: He can rush. I think that when you turn on the tape, and you see him in must-pass situations he’s able to get off the ball, he can bend, he’s got production as rusher. Obviously you’re looking for traits late in the draft, and that was one of the reasons we wanted to get a bunch of picks there at the end.“
On S Cole Wisniewski
“ROSEMAN: Really instinctive, he’s got great ball skills. He’s a physical player. Really, really good physical player. Obviously there’s some reminder of a guy we won a Super Bowl with, obviously those are tough shoes to fill, but when you watched him, you saw some of the things you liked on Reed [Blankenship]. I mean that will be an unbelievable outcome — unbelievable career that Reed had, miss that guy for sure, but that’s some of the things we saw.“
Other notables
- When drafting players like Makai Lemon and Eli Stowers, Howie explained that they don’t only look based on scheme fit. He noted that it’s all about alignment, and they take a lot of factors into consideration, and ultimately there has to be a vision for the player in the system.
- Sirianni said that OC Sean Mannion has done a good job so far in his new role. He pointed out that they only just got the players back in the building last week, but it was a good start to meetings, so they’re making good progress for where they are right now.
- The head coach talked about how developing offensive rookies is the same as defensive rookies, and it’s all about focusing on toughness, being detailed, and playing together. Sirianni said that he’ll be relentless in keeping the standard with this most recent draft class, just as he’s done with all the previous ones.
