By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
If one thing was clear from this offseason, Howie Roseman was going to provide Carson Wentz with more of a surrounding cast to succeed immediately.
The 2016 season, which finished 7-9 for the Eagles, certainly wasn’t a pretty one, especially after a 3-0 start. But when you consider the way the Eagles lost several games, Roseman used the offseason to provide better support, so that there is a chance to put the Eagles in better position to put points on the scoreboard, something that should go a long way to changing the results.
Roseman teetered a fine line between pushing for wins and building for the future for most of the offseason. Signing Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith to deals? That says win now. Drafting for need while essentially taking players that will have greater impact in a few years as opposed to next season — see Mack Hollins, Shelton Gibson, Sidney Jones and Donnel Pumphrey — says building for the future.
Then the Eagles added LeGarrette Blount last week, and that changed everything.
Now the Eagles have a pair of veteran wide receivers. They have a veteran running back. They have a second-year quarterback who commands the locker room. They have made improvements on paper to the pass rush. About the only area that wasn’t addressed with veterans was cornerback. Perhaps the Eagles are learning their lesson on that one.
The Eagles are nowhere near becoming a Super Bowl contender just yet. But remember that a 9-7 record put the Detroit Lions in the playoffs last season, so the distance between being a playoff team and focusing on draft position early is narrow.
Ultimately, next season for the Eagles really isn’t much different than the season before. Expectations shouldn’t be astronomically high. The opportunity to be a playoff team, should really be enough in year two of the Carson Wentz era.
Wentz has some things to clean up from his rookie season to this upcoming season, but the potential was so evident that the next step was to just provide better opportunities to succeed.
That much has been done, in the form of both short-term and long-term solutions.
What is on paper doesn’t guarantee success on the field. But the Eagles clearly put an emphasis on making some mindful decisions rooted in bringing veteran help and providing some path for the future.
The build for the future is far from over. But with the quarterback in place and now some pieces to surround him, the Eagles are in a better position to compete now than many want to believe.
