The Eagles' personnel brain trust will not consist of only Howie Roseman, Tom Donahoe and new head coach Doug Pederson.
Owner Jeffrey Lurie revealed on Tuesday that the team will begin searching for a "player-personnel head."
"That will really be an important search that we are all participating in, starting this week," Lurie said.
But that's all Lurie would disclose about the front office hierarchy.
"Given that search and given the competitive nature of that search, what I'd like to do is really talk to you more about structure and the exact nature of those once the search is over," he said, "because I don't want to sort of telegraph anything we're doing."
Currently the structure is as follows: Howie Roseman is the executive vice president of football operations, and Donahoe is senior director of player personnel. Upon firing Chip Kelly, Lurie said he doesn't plan on assigning anyone the title of general manager.
Title aside, the new hire likely will report to Roseman, but when asked, Lurie didn't bite.
NFL
"All questions of structure will be determined after the search is complete," Lurie said.
"Can't reveal any decision on that because it would impact our ability to find the right people that we have designated in the search."
Finding a personnel executive willing to work with Roseman could be a significant obstacle in this search. Roseman's reputation has taken a substantial hit over the past few years — see this story from a year ago — but on Tuesday he admitted he's spent the last year trying to rehabilitate it (see story).
Now the question is this: How long will it take to hire this personnel executive? More specifically, will they do so in time to prepare for the draft, which is April 28-30? Hiring a coach is one thing; once the season ends, there's usually a mad, Musical Chairs-like scramble for coaches.
"In most businesses, it would take place over many months. In the NFL, it gets very condensed," Lurie said.
The case is different with personnel staff. Usually, teams make changes after the draft, so there's a distinct possibility the Eagles will have to wait until May to make this move.
