Eagles ‘Checked In’ on Clowney but Were Never All In

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) — Were the Eagles really interested in Jadeveon Clowney?

That depends on the prism you want to look through. Howie Roseman's reputation as a general manager always looking to make moves is both a deserved one and a tool that agents try to use in hopes of drumming up interest in other cities.

In the case of Clowney, who was sent from Hoston to Seattle on Saturday for pennies on the dollar, hindsight says the former No. 1 overall pick had interest in the Seahawks and the Eagles but no desire to stick his toes in the pool with rebuilding Miami.

The feeling from Roseman and the Eagles was not necessarily mutual but the GM did admit he took the temperature on a potential deal because that's what he always does.

“Anyone who is available at any level, whether they’re on the waiver wire or whether they’re available via trade, I promise we look into,” Roseman said.

That same sentiment is why you are seeing reports that the Eagles have checked in on Shady McCoy after the former Philadelphia star was released in Buffalo.

The level of interest, however, is what matters and the Eagles were lukewarm on Clowney and will probably end up being just as tepid when it comes to McCoy.

The Eagles were so enamored with their defensive end situation that they kept six on their initial 53-man roster, a trio of mainstays in Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett and Vinny Curry, coupled with a young-lions triplet in Daeshon Hall, Josh Sweat and rookie Shareef Miller.

“I think that that’s one that probably we have a different opinion than maybe has been popularly reported,” Roseman said. “We look at that defensive end group, and I know (Jim) Schwartz has talked a lot about how excited he is about Derek Barnett, and Derek Barnett we think is a really good football player and he’s going to get an opportunity here to start. We all know about Brandon Graham, and what he can add. Vinny looks better than he did two years ago. Vinny is a guy who has come back with a renewed focus and a renewed energy. His leadership and his energy on the practice field has been great."

As for the younger options Roseman gushed about the preseason dominance of the rangy Hall.

“We are excited about our young group," he continued. "If you were scouting and looking around and saying what young defensive end had the best preseason, I don’t know that there’s a better young defensive end in football than Daeshon Hall this preseason. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit. He went and worked on his body in the offseason. He came back 30 pounds heavier, and then he proved it on the field."

Sweat and Miller rook a bit of a backseat to Hall's emergence but the Eagles still believe in both.

"Josh Sweat had a really good camp and we expect him to be able to contribute, too," Roseman surmised. "… Shareef looked good in the games and you see his athleticism and you see he has tools in his body. At the same time, too, we have to understand that we have to develop players and when we are talking about our roster, and we have a lot of guys who are good players and make good money. We have to bet on our young players. We have to bet on our scouting. We have to bet on our coaching, and we are going to take that bet at that position.”

So while others were speculating on Roseman getting something done to bring Clowney in, the reality was that he was focused on his own locker room, something highlighted by the fact that Clowney was already in Seattle when a deal was reached, ready to sign his franchise tender with the Seahawks,

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen