'Can't Dictate the Board:' The Eagles' Realistic Approach to the 2026 NFL Draft

Take your favorite mock draft, find the nearest circular file, and insert it.

That's not an insult to the hard work some put into evaluating NFL prospects; it's an acknowledgment that predicting 32 moving parts is the ultimate exercise in futility.

I'd love to tell you who the Eagles are going to select at No. 23 overall next Thursday night (my best prop bet would be that Howie Roseman doesn't even use that selection and instead moves up), but why would you think I could when the general manager himself couldn't even tell you?

"Can't dictate the board," Roseman admitted at his pre-draft availability at the Jefferson Health Training Complex.

Since that talk five days ago, the Cincinnati Bengals have moved off No. 10 overall by acquiring star nose tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants. That move gives the Eagles' NFC East rivals two selections in the top 10 (Nos. 5 and 10) just as new coach John Harbaugh arrives to change what's been a poor culture.

That move highlights just how quickly things can change.

The Eagles operate with a tiered mindset and will have a cluster of four or five players they would be comfortable with at No. 23.

As those options are picked off the board, Roseman will first try to move up to snag one of them (think DeVonta Smith, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Jihaad Campbell in recent years). Dropping back to a lesser tier is also an option, but only if the higher tier is exhausted.

The foundation for those trades will be built this week in the lead-up to the draft, as GMs try to identify teams open to moving up or down on draft night.

Need can also shift quickly. Yes, certain positions are more likely to be addressed, but that circles back to the "you can't dictate the board" sentiment.

Expect The Worst, Hope For The Best

"We have to understand that the best player who may be available may be a position that, going into the draft, we didn't necessarily want to take. And I've come to grips with that - probably expecting that," Roseman admitted. "Expect the worst, hope for the best."

If you're prepared for that rainy day, the sunshine feels even better when it arrives.

"We still build this team the same way we've built it all along," Roseman said, pushing back against the perception that the Eagles will draft heavily on offense. "So there are certain positions - if we're on the board and it's a defensive player - those are important positions for us. Not only now, but going forward. We're not going to pass up a good player at those positions, and we'll be high-fiving when we make that pick."

The endgame is simple: get better.

"I think that at the end of the day, we're going to improve this football team over the course of three days next week," the GM said. "I'm excited about that. … We're just trying to have the best possible three days that we can and understanding that there are going to be other times we're going to have to address other things here as we get into the 2026 season."

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi as 'Can't Dictate the Board:' The Eagles' Realistic Approach to the 2026 NFL Draft .

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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM.