NFL Combine 2013: Eagles GM Howie Roseman Transcript

On Jason Peters.

"Jason's done a great job rehabbing. He works really hard, he's been around the building a lot and we're looking forward to getting him back at some point here for 2013."

Expect him to be back to previous level?

"Yeah. There is no doubt about it. Jason is, for a lack of a better term, he's a freak. He's able to do thing that not many people on this earth are able to do. So for us it's exciting to get that kind of talent back."

On guys with troubled past.

"When you're looking for guys that have off-field incidents you're trying to get as much information as possible first.
You are the information gatherers. You want to evaluate the situation, you want to make sure you feel you're not penalizing someone for something improperly. That's the first part of it. Then you want to sit down and talk to them and talk to as many people that know those people, get all the information and then make a decision based on that information and the specific player, as opposed to making a general statement."

On Nnamdi Asomugha.

"We have to go through all those decisions of every player on our roster. We want to make sure whenever we're signing players, whenever we're talking about players financials that it fits into our overall cap structure and what we're trying to do."

On whether Peters will participate in OTA's.

"We'll have a better sense on all that, the timing on all that, when the players come back into the building full-time. We'll get that out as soon as we can."

Talking to Nnamdi's agent.

"I expect to talk to a lot of agents, including Nnamdi's. They've got a lot of players. In terms of specifics, we'll keep that private. We would like to do that. We'll make sure that all our messages to any of our players will be delivered to them and not through the media."

On making personnel decisions with Kelly without him having coached these players.

"I think we go back to the tape. We evaluate them on tape and then we have an understanding of them and what they did on and off the field in Philadelphia, in our program, what kind of worker they were. The questions he's asking, a lot of them are intangible stuff. That's one of the hardest things about free agency and the draft is that you don't know these players that well. We try to give them as much background as we know on the guys and their situation in Philadelphia and then help make the decision there."

On Nick Foles.

"[Kelly] told you the same thing he's told us. He wants to coach him, not just see him. This is a young, talented player who didn't even have a chance to play with all our frontline guys on the offensive line or skill-position players. He's a talented guy. We just drafted him last year. I think this is a different situation than we've had the past couple years where we had quarterbacks. We like the player, we like a lot of things about the player, he's a young player in the league and we're trying to accumulate good players. We're not in the business of trying to get rid of our good young players."

On changing offense for different QB's.

"It's personnel-driven. We just want to get the best players. That's a positive as a personnel staff. What he's basically saying is that Nick and Mike are different players but we're going to focus on their talents and their strengths and we'll utilize them. We have specifics for each position. So that's not going to change based on who the quarterback is. What we're looking for in a particular position -- wide receiver, offensive linemen, running back. That's not going to change based on who the quarterback is."

On whether belief is that Vick will change as QB under new staff.

"We saw the talent that Mike has and Chip and our offensive staff had a chance to evaluate him and they saw that as well. They thought that for some of the things that they were looking for in the quarterback that Mike could do them really well. Mike is excited to be back and we're looking forward to seeing wheat he can do."

On evaluating players for Kelly and Reid.

"You're talking about two really smart football minds, two guys that have a great sense of personnel, who can evaluate players, have a sense of a players' personality. From that perspective, not much has changed. That's a bonus for us as a personnel department to be around coaches who can evaluate. We had that with Coach Reid and now with Coach Kelly. That hasn't really changed. The difference will be in some specifics they are looking for. Maybe Coach Reid was looking for different things offensively or who his coordinator was looking for defensively as opposed to Coach Kelly and what his coordinators are looking for."

On interior linemen drafted high.

"You're talking about a heck of a player right there, a difference-maker. For us, we want to make sure we're evaluating the players and not downgrading them for the particular position they're playing. We're sticking to our definitions of the player and grading them appropriately. And then on the draft board, we're sticking them right there. We want to take the best player. And then you're talking about having Jeff Stoutland and Ed Monowitz who were at the University of Alabama and recruited Chance as well. So we feel like that is great insight for us. That is part of the evaluation in getting to know these guys. It's almost analogous to when Coach comes in and asking us about the players we have our roster. So you're not just looking at the tape, you're not just meeting them for 15 minutes. You're getting more background."

On Fletcher Cox.

"Fletcher is a unique player because he has incredible versatility. He can really play in any scheme. He can play in the 4-3, he can play in the 3-4 and he can do any spot in those alignments. He can be an end, a 3-technique, a nose tackle, he can be a 5-technique, a 4-technique. He's got an incredible skill set. He does all those things really well. I think you're looking for a jump from him year one to year two, a young guy, 21-year-old. We're excited about Fletcher Cox and what he can bring to our football team."

On Antonio Dixon playing NT.

"I don't think there is any question about it. That's his skill set. He's a big body, good use of his hands, he's a run-stopper. He's kind of what you look for if you're looking for a 3-4 nose tackle."

On Brandon Graham in 3-4.

"When he came out there was a lot of discussion about him being a 3-4 outside linebacker and him being able to play on his feet. I think he can do that. He can play. He can rush the passer, he can hold the edge, he can play in space, so I think that is a transition Brandon can do. So wherever we go, I think Brandon is going to be a piece of that."

On Trent Cole in 3-4.

"Trent is the same way [as Graham]. He can rush the passer. If you look at 3-4 outside linebackers, Trent has the skill set that a lot of those guys have. I think obviously if we transition to that at some point then you're talking about guys who haven't done it and they have to practice it and do it. You're talking about a projection, but that's what happens in the draft too. The teams that have been 3-4 teams they're taking ends and they're dropping them back. It's all projections."

On pace of offense affecting construction of defense.

"That is a fair question. In terms of the defense, depth is an important characteristic. If you're scoring fast and you're defense is on the field more, you want to have quality depth on your football team."

On picking players if not set on defensive system.

"Well maybe we are and maybe we're trying to be purposely vague here."