Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman opens up on decision to draft Jalen Carter

As they started to draft seemingly the entire Georgia defense, the Philadelphia Eagles made a big splash early in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft when they selected Jalen Carter. He was seen as a potential top pick early in the pre-draft process, but a rough spring dropped him on the board a bit.

Still, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said the team will support Carter as he develops on the Philadelphia defensive front.

The Eagles held the No. 10 overall pick, but traded up to No. 9 with the Chicago Bears to take Carter — the first of three Georgia players they selected through four rounds of the draft. The pre-draft process took a few different turns for the former Bulldogs star. He pleaded no-contest to two misdemeanor charges stemming from a fatal car accident that killed teammate Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy, and the arrest warrant came out ahead of the NFL scouting combine. Then, Carter only participated in a few drills during Georgia’s Pro Day as he tried to build his stock.

Roseman acknowledged the accident and expressed his condolences to the families of those involved. Now, he said the team’s job is to help Carter develop into a star — both on and off the field.

“Obviously, he’s had a tough spring and a tragic loss of life in Georgia, and our hearts go out to the families of those who lost people in that accident,” Roseman said on ESPN on Saturday. “For us, it was a full process on Jalen and we feel very comfortable that he can have success in Philly. We don’t put that on our Georgia players. He’s our responsibility. We’re going to rally around him. We think he’s a tremendous talent, a good person. Again, young guy.

“We talk all the time, these guys, we bring them in here, we have to develop them. We can’t just ask them to come on the field and play. We’ve got to develop them on and off the field. That’s our responsibility. We have a great staff here that takes that part of the job really seriously, so we’ll really around him and give him the support that he needs to be a great player on the field and the best person he can be off the field.”

Carter will reunite with two former teammates — Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean — while also continuing to work alongside two defenders he played with in 2022. Philadelphia selected Nolan Smith with the No. 30 overall pick and took Kelee Ringo in the fourth round of the draft on Saturday.