Eagles GM Howie Roseman defends drafting Jalen Hurts, gets candid about Carson Wentz

It's a bit of an understatement to say the Philadelphia Eagles have taken on criticism since drafting quarterback Jalen Hurts in 2020.

But with the 2021 season about to start and Hurts now the undisputed starting quarterback, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said he wouldn't have done anything differently and was even a bit brusque regarding the Birds' former QB, Carson Wentz.

"At the end of the day, I think that we talk about Jalen and his leadership and what kind of person he is, which are really positive things," Roseman said in an interview on SportsRadio 94WIP. "The guy can play and he can win."

Roseman defended his decision by pointing out, albeit rather bluntly, how much the Eagles had to rely on backup quarterbacks during the "Wentz Era." Philadelphia had other roster needs to attend to in 2020, but Roseman elected to draft a quarterback because of how often Wentz was sidelined ... or interception-prone.

"That's what we were saying last year: We love Carson, but we’ve played (five) playoff games and we’ve needed our backup quarterback in all of them," Roseman said bluntly. "It’s too important of a position to not have that."

Roseman, who has been with the Eagles since he was an intern in 2000, compared Philly's need for a backup quarterback in 2020 to what the 49ers are going through this season, drafting Trey Lance in the first round to back up an oft-injured Jimmy Garoppolo.

"(The 49ers) sat there and they said, 'Hey we like our starting quarterback; we've got to make sure he stays on the field,'" he said. "And they traded three first-round picks to go up and get another quarterback. And their quarterback has been a starting quarterback in the Super Bowl, and they spent a lot of picks on that...

"So, I think that just thinking about where we were in that moment, I think (drafting Hurts) was the right thing to do. It was a hard decision, but it was the right thing to do."