The Strategy Behind Keeping Quiet On Howie Roseman Extension Until Now

The timing of the Eagles announcement of Howie Roseman's "four-to-five-year" contract extension last week raised a few eyebrows.

Why then, on the heels of an embarrassing loss in which a supposed-to-be Super Bowl contender posted 13 points on one of the league's worst defenses ever?

Why not in June, when everything was picnic baskets and rainbows?

Phil Sheridan of the Inquirer put pen to paper on that Thursday:

Announcing it then would have been no big deal. Having news of Roseman's extension come out now, thanks to the relentless reporting of The Inquirer's Jeff McLane, was a big deal. The team is 3-5 and in the express lane to oblivion. Why should Roseman have more security than Andy Reid or Michael Vick?

For one, McLane's "relentlessness" was only as good as the organization's willingness to let this leak to him. That aside...

Isn't it possible that, very much like you could argue that retaining Juan Castillo was a safety play for Andy Reid -- if the season got off to a sour start, regardless whose fault it was, a late-season turnaround under a new defensive coordinator would give Reid the ammo he'd need to lobby for another year, if the Eagles were to fall short of Lurie's preseason 8-8 ultimatum mark -- keeping quiet on the Roseman extension was very much the same strategy for Lurie?

Think about it. If the wheels came screaming off this season -- as they did in that loss to New Orleans -- everybody's head would be on the chopping block with the fan base. Vick. Reid. Roseman. I'm sure some wouldn't mind Lurie firing himself.

Anticipating that possibility, it would make a ton of sense for Lurie to keep word of the extension tucked away for the precise moment he needed it most, to make unequivocally clear about his intentions on Roseman's future.

Had it been announced in June, he'd instead be fielding questions about whether Roseman's job was safe -- especially given the extension.

Considering Roseman is least to blame for the team's on-field woes -- he is, after all, the one whose contract craftsmanship gives the Eagles the freedom to move on from Vick after this year -- doing what he could to shield Roesman was a good move by Lurie, for sure.