During the 2021 NFL Draft, there was a moment where the NFL looked in on the Eagles war room and caught Senior director of player personnel Tom Donahoe not looking very happy after the team selected Louisiana Tech defensive lineman Milton Williams in the third round.
The ABC cameras caught general manager Howie Roseman fist-bumping everyone in the war room to celebrate the pick. Donahoe did not look thrilled.
After the moment went viral, Roseman explained what happened with Donohoe:
“We’re at pick 70, we have two guys standing out on our board, two defensive guys. Two defensive linemen, and they’re different. Different flavors. One is a three technique and one is more of a nose tackle. Obviously everyone likes different flavors,” Roseman said on SportsRadio 94 WIP Tuesday, via Crossing Broad. “Carolina calls and they’re picking two picks behind us, and (general manager) Scott Fitterer says ‘Howie, you want to drop down two picks for our top-of-the-sixth-round pick?’ I said, ‘you gotta tell me offense or defense’ and he told me they were taking an offensive player. So we know we’re gonna get one of these two (defensive players). And when we talk to our coaches about their fit and role they’re excited about these two guys. So one of them goes (McNeill), and then we take Milton Williams.
“When I saw that video of our defensive coordinator (Jonathan Gannon), how excited he was, that’s the kind of excitement people have about Milton Williams in our building.”
As it turns out, the player the Eagles took was a defensive tackle, just not the one Donahoe wanted.
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“You’d rather have that passion. Tom’s been here for a long time,” Roseman said. “We’ve been together 10 years, extremely close relationship. It’s okay to have tough conversations and Tom and I have had a lot of them in 10 years. That’s why you want people around you who aren’t just going to tell you that everything is okay. They’re going to give you their perspective.”
The exchange between Roseman and Donahoe is on the heels of a 4-11-1 season that was full of internal dysfunction and terrible QB play that led to Carson Wentz being benched, demanding a trade, and ultimately getting his wish this offseason.
