“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.”
-Richard Branson

Philadelphia Eagles fans learned over the weekend that GM Howie Roseman had traded starting quarterback Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings for a 1st and conditional 4th round draft pick. Eagles fans were in awe. Pundits praised Roseman’s haul for such an average quarterback in Bradford. Roseman “fleeced” the Vikings and was to be praised for such thievery.

Securing a first round and additional conditional pick isn’t what should be praised here. It doesn’t take a maestro to “fleece” a desperate man or organization. That’s what the Vikings were once Teddy Bridgewater was lost for the season. The Vikings were a team with legitimate Super Bowl hopes, backed up by decent Vegas odds, and they are opening a new $1 Billion stadium in U.S. Bank Stadium. Shaun Hill behind center in that scenario is a blueprint for desperation rarely seen in the NFL.

Back in 2011, the Raiders were also desperate. They had no serious Super Bowl hopes, nor were they opening a new stadium. They had simply lost their starting quarterback Jason Campbell to a collarbone injury. In their desperation, they gave the Bengals a 1st and 2nd round pick for a mediocre Carson Palmer, who was retired due to an unsuccessful demand for a trade earlier in the year.  Palmer’s QB rating for the two years prior was 82.9. Sam Bradford’s rating last year was 86.4. He’s 81.0 for his career.

Granted, injuries diminished some of Bradford’s value so a 1st and 2nd may have been ludicrous to expect. Howie mentioned on 97.5′ s Morning Show with Anthony Gargano that he had brought up Palmer’s value back in 2011 during his initial conversation with Vikings GM Rick Spielman.

Is nabbing a 1st and 4th (maybe better) a crazy heist? No. The Raiders kind of set the bar back in 2011. Bradford’s value is more than Palmer’s back in the day for the simple reason that it was a week before the 2016 NFL season was to begin and Bradford was the Ealges’ starting QB. He’s not retired like Palmer was. It is exactly this point that should be mentioned in the praise of Howie Roseman.

The picks that Roseman got are fair market value, if you look at things historically. Hell, the Raiders sucked back in 2011 so those picks were more valuable than the Vikings picks-presuming the Vikings running game and defense can still get them into the Playoffs.

If you want to laud Roseman do it for making the trade and not for the return. This trade took guts. This is unlike any trade that I know of in the history of the NFL. When has a team ever traded its Opening Day starter 8 days before the season begins? That takes some serious courage. That’s what should be appreciated in all of this. And, for that, Eagles fans can thank Chip Kelly.

Chip pulled a power move that demoted and publicly embarrassed Howie. Jokes about Howie being a glorified equipment manager filled my social media timelines and feeds. Memes such as this were not uncommon.

Howie waited. He bided his time like a true professional, an adult. He didn’t lash out publicly. Howie acted with the utmost decorum, even with a bruised ego. We can all learn from that.

After Chip Kelly’s departure, Howie returned to overseeing football personnel. And, he’s been on fire ever since his return. He’s been All-In Howie.

He resigned Bradford and still made a bold move to draft a quarterback OUT OF NORTH DAKOTA STATE! And, when people thought he was desperate to move Bradford and low-balled their offers he stood his ground and moved forward with Bradford. He called their bluff and gambled that some QB would go down and he’d have a chance to recoup some of what he gave up for Carson Wentz. That bold stance paid off at the unfortunate expense of the Vikings and Teddy Bridgwater.

Since Kelly was kicked out of town, Roseman 2.0 has been a welcomed addition. He often came off as driven, but snarky during his first tenure as GM. Now, he remains steadfastly determined, yet much more modest in his interviews. The snarkiness has left the building. Maybe he did some soul-searching in that year away from personnel decisions. It seems like he took that Richard Branson quote at the top and put it to full effect learning from his earlier failures.

Roseman has revamped the Eagles roster, expelling  most of Chip Kelly’s additions. They were all probably a painful reminder of his time under Kelly. He’s made trades that didn’t seem possible. But, don’t lose sight of fortitude and fearlessness that Howie Roseman has and is displaying. He gave up “the farm” to draft a franchise QB from a I-AA school. He just traded his starting QB 8 days before the 2016 season. They don’t make many GMs that are willing to the take the risks to pull off those moves. I don’t know if the old Howie would. Howie 2.0 did.

Howie is guns-blazing, all-in all the time. He’s a guy given a second chance at something he’s wanted his entire life and he’s not gonna go down trying. It is something to behold.

We have the narcissistic, ego-tripping, power-hungry Charles Sherman “Chip” Kelly to thank for that.

Yo, Thanks, Chuck!