What's next for Eagles? Nick Sirianni out to 'reprove' himself; GM defends Jalen Hurts

PHILADELPHIA − The long-awaited Eagles season-ending press conference took a little bit longer when it was announced that general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni were in a meeting Wednesday afternoon.

So after another 30 minutes, and nine days after the Eagles' season unceremoniously ended with a 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card Round on Jan. 15, Roseman and Sirianni addressed how a season that started 10-1 ended 1-6.

Roseman began by explaining why it took nine days to hold this press conference. As a comparison, both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills already held their season-ending press conferences with coaches and general managers after playing three days ago.

"I felt there was a kind of sadness with how the season ended," Roseman said. "There was a shell-shocked feeling that was going on."

Once that settled, the Eagles got busy, deciding to move on from both offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and defensive coordinator Sean Desai and his replacement in Matt Patricia after Desai was demoted in December.

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And then Roseman, Sirianni mapped a future with Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie to make sure such a collapse doesn't happen again.

Here are 5 takeaways from the press conference.

Was Nick Sirianni almost fired?

There was speculation after the season that Sirianni could get fired, that he'd have to in essence convince Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie that he should keep his job.

The players said last week that was ridiculous. Sirianni himself said he didn't feel like he had to sell his vision for the future. Sirianni said his meeting with Lurie was "business as usual" in the sense that it's the same meeting they have after every season.

But Sirianni did admit that he went into the meeting with the mindset that he was fighting for his future.

"It was normal," he said. "It wasn't anything different than it's been the last three years. In my mind, you better believe I'm thinking how do I reprove myself ... that this guy can lead the organization like they asked me to.

"(After the finish, the mindset is) I'm going to prove them right again."

Roseman then said Sirianni's job was never in jeopardy. He mentioned the Eagles were 26-5 in the previous 31 games under Sirianni before the 1-6 finish.

"I've had the opportunity to work with him, and I've seen what he has done winning games, putting us in a position where we're competing for a world championship," Roseman said. "Those things are hard to find."

Sirianni admits the offense got 'a little stale'

Back in December, Sirianni brushed back on criticism of Johnson, saying "This is my offense," and the criticism "unfairly goes to Brian." Then he added: "The criticism on this offense should come at me because this is my offense."

Then Sirianni explained down the stretch that the "to me, we got a little bit stale on offense by the end of the year."

"It's about coming up with fresh ideas, and doing some things differently," he said. "That's exactly where we are right now."

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Does that mean that Sirianni has to change his offensive approach since Johnson was basically running Sirianni's offense?

Sirianni said yes, to an extent, that it will be "the new ideas meshing with some of the old ideas ... These ideas, in this new person coming in is meant to take away the staleness, and add the value that they're adding to the offense."

Sirianni said he's looking to hire an offensive coordinator who will run the offense.

As for defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio suddenly becomes available

It was about midway through the press conference when news broke that the Miami Dolphins and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio parted ways on Wednesday.

Fangio was a consultant for the Eagles during the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl a year ago before the Dolphins hired him to be their defensive coordinator. The Eagles then hired one of his disciples in Desai, which didn't work out.

So now will the Eagles go after Fangio?

ESPN reported that not only are the Eagles going after Fangio, a deal is expected soon. The Eagles have already reportedly interviewed former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera and former Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell.

"We got a lot of good targets that we're working through," Sirianni said when asked about reports that Fangio would be the Eagles' top target. "We'll see what happens."

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Roseman gets testy about Jalen Hurts

It was well known that Hurts and Johnson have known each other for two decades, ever since Hurts was 4 years old and Johnson was playing for Hurts' father in high school.

Sirianni was asked if he had to consult with Hurts before firing Johnson, and if Hurts will have any influence on the next coordinator. After all, Hurts is the franchise quarterback, who last spring signed a five-year extension worth as much as $255 million.

"I'll keep him aware of things that he needs to be aware of, and keep him in the loop because he's our guy, and it's really important because (Hurts and the coordinator) are going to work hand in hand," Sirianni said.

And how did Hurts take the news?

"We all hurt when we let people go," Sirianni said. "Every one of us."

But Roseman pushed back on the narrative that Hurts might have had an influence on the change in coordinators.

"That's not fair to Jalen," Roseman said. "He's 25 years old. Jalen is continuing to grow and get better. What we see at 25 is going to be different at 26."

Can the Eagles turn it around quickly?

Despite the finish, Roseman said he's confident that the Eagles can turn it around quickly.

He mentioned the core of young players, and alluded to the salary cap space the Eagles should have in free agency. Overthecap.com estimates the Eagles currently have about $28 million in salary cap space, among the upper half of NFL teams. That will increase as some veterans are released.

"I think we have a lot of good, young players on this team," Roseman said. "I think we have the ability to go out and continue to add to that. I'm very excited about the core we have on offense going forward."

Roseman said at the end of last season, he knew the Eagles would lose a lot of key defensive players to free agency, that the schedule would get tougher and so on.

"I knew what was coming," Roseman said. "I knew that it was easier to get the offense to a place quicker than it was the defense."

It worked for a while − until it didn't.

Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.