Raiders could take cue from Eagles on how to rebuild team

Five years after the Eagles defeated the Patriots to win the Super Bowl, Philadelphia returns to football’s biggest stage to face the Chiefs on Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.

To put things in perspective, only five players from the roster that beat Tom Brady and the Patriots remain with the Eagles, and the seasons between their last trip to the Super Bowl and this one included a four-win season and changes at quarterback and head coach.

The manner in which they rebuilt themselves to create one of the NFL’s most talented and deepest rosters makes the Eagles favorites to defeat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and win their second Lombardi Trophy. It’s also a blueprint for the rest of the league on how to quickly and successfully rebuild a team.

The Raiders should be taking notes.

The defense Mahomes will face sacked quarterbacks 70 times in the regular season. That’s crazy to fathom considering the Eagles had 29 sacks last season.

Mahomes will also face a defense that forced the fourth-most turnovers in the NFL with 27, including 17 interceptions. Last season, the Eagles ranked 27th with 17 forced turnovers.

Also, the Eagles ranked third in scoring defense after finishing 18th last season.

The Eagles’ offense is just as dangerous. Philadelphia set an NFL record with 33 rushing touchdowns and also had two wide receivers — A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith — with more than 1,000 yards receiving apiece.

Brown was acquired in a trade with the Titans in the offseason — arguably the biggest heist of the season — and Smith was a first-round pick in 2021.

All of the moves can be attributed to the deft personnel hand of Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, including the offseason defensive additions of cornerback James Bradberry, edge rusher Haason Reddick and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. During the season, Roseman added defensive linemen Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph.

There was also the astute decision to select quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft, even though then-QB Carson Wentz was playing under a lucrative contract. That offseason included the addition of cornerback Darius Slay in a trade with the Lions. When Bradberry signed with the team in 2022, he and Slay formed one of the league’s best cornerback tandems.

When the Eagles decided to move on from Wentz in 2021, Hurts was ready to take over and was an MVP finalist this season.

Roseman also has been a master drafter. Some of his better picks have been Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert, defensive end Josh Sweat and running back Miles Sanders.

Roseman wasn’t afraid to make a coaching change, either, firing Doug Pederson — the Eagles’ coach when they won the Super Bowl — and hiring Nick Sirianni.

“Every day I wake up and I say, ‘What can I do today to make sure that our team’s in a better place and the people around me have an opportunity to be successful?’” Roseman told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I don’t feel like I’m on scholarship one bit. I feel like I have to constantly prove myself.”

He has to Eagles fans and the entire NFL, overhauling a team in five years that appears capable of contending for championships indefinitely.

“I think adversity is a great tool,” Roseman told the Inquirer. “I can say that now, not necessarily when you’re in the moment. And I think if you can find a way to use those moments productively, you continue to get better.”

The Chiefs will have their hands full against the Eagles. The entire NFL does.

It’s the result of great decision-making. It’s a lesson everyone should heed — including the Raiders.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.