It wasn't long ago when the Eagles locker room was run by that egotistical maniac Chip Kelly. The way he ran his ship didn't put him on the good side of his players, which meant that the players (like Byron Maxwell and DeMarco Murray) in turn became selfish and worried about themselves. Basically there was no such thing as a "team" in Philadelphia at the time.
Fast forward four years and the Eagles now have a team that seems to be on the same page and is functioning like a well-oiled machine. The culture change that Jeffery Lurie, Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson have put into place has become even more apparent just in the past few days.
On Saturday, the team released offseason addition L.J. Fort even though he was only a few months into a three-year deal. On his way out Fort could have rightfully been bitter, but he only had nice things to say about the organization.
More of the same happened on Monday when the team traded away Jonathan Cyprien to the Atlanta Falcons. Cyprien, who was an Eagle for just two months, also had a pleasant time in Philadelphia and showed his appreciation to the organization and the city.
So why is this important? This culture change inside the Eagles organization can only mean good things for the product that is put onto the field on Sundays. In fact, it's probably a main reason why there is a Lombardi Trophy now on display in the team's trophy case.
When players are eligible to become free agents, some just end up caring about which team will throw the most money at them. There are also some that want to go where they can play the most snaps so they can potentially earn even more money that way. But then there are others that have families and want to go somewhere they can go to work in a great environment and raise their family in the same type of environment. This where the Eagles can take advantage.
Of course Howie Roseman's cap-manipulating abilities can help with that big-money throwing, but at the end of the day the culture they have established these past few seasons are what helped them land players like Alshon Jeffery, Chris Long, LaGarrette Blount, and Torrey Smith. The culture is what also brought Nick Foles back to Philadelphia for a second time in 2017, which who knows what our lives would be like if that move ended up not happening.
This culture is also the reason why there are so many veterans that have re-signed to stay in Philadelphia even longer. Alshon Jeffery, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Malcolm Jenkins, and Carson Wentz have all signed multi-year extension since 2016. These players vocalizing just how great it is to work for a team like the Eagles and live in a city like Philadelphia will help with the recruitment of free agents for years to come.
The free agency angle is also important because in recent years Howie Roseman's draft classes haven't really turned into much yet. Since taking back over in 2016, Roseman has only drafted one player who earned a Pro Bowl nomination (Wentz). This lack of draft success makes free agent signings all the more important.
With the Eagles now having one of the better cultures in the NFL, it will make life a little easier for Roseman to convince free agent talent to come and stay in Philadelphia. Of course the team's success on the field too will benefit in negotiations as well. This truly feels like the Eagles are in one of the golden eras in terms of success, and now upper management needs to do their part to make sure the team continues racking up as many W's as possible.
