By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
It's hard to tell a fanbase to be patient. Especially one that has waited over half a century for a championship. But that's exactly what Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman did on Wednesday when he spoke to the media at the NFL Scouting Combine.
He promised no more quick fixes, no more overpriced free agents, no more disillusionment about being just one player away from contending. He'll take it slow and trust the process.
"We're not sitting here and saying we're one player away — that if we just sign this one guy, that's going to put us in position to just get over the top," Roseman said on Wednesday. "We're going to try to build this piece by piece and be aware of the risk involved in things. That doesn't mean we don't take some risks or have to get through the moment at certain positions, but that's our plan."
It's been quite some time since the Eagles weren't major players in the offseason. Between top-tier free-agent signings and blockbuster trades, the Birds have remained in the headlines during March for the better part of the last decade. But for anyone hoping the team would be writing a blank check for Alshon Jeffery or A.J. Bouye, it seems like Roseman has no problem sacrificing the team's success in 2017 for a better chance of winning a championship in the future.
"You've got to take some short-term pains for that, and hopefully, when you do that, you get the long-term gains," Roseman explained. "You want to do something that so two, three, four years from now that maybe you have that opportunity to add that missing piece, or one piece, you have that flexibility."
Flexibility isn't something the Eagles have a lot of at the moment. According to Spotrac, the Birds rank 29th in the NFL in cap room as of this morning. Considering the amount of money Roseman handed out a year ago, that isn't too surprising. With yesterday's announcement of the 2017 cap figure, the Eagles have roughly $12.5 million of free money.
The motivation behind this change in philosophy is Carson Wentz. For the first time since the era of Donovan McNabb, the Eagles have a quarterback whose future isn't a question mark.
"We're trying to build this thing around a young quarterback and get some continuity," Roseman stated.
The Eagles' investment in Wentz goes far beyond the draft picks and resources they gave up in order to select the North Dakota State prospect with the second overall pick. Doug Pederson noted his decision to block quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo from interviewing for the New York Jets offensive coordinator job was motivated by their need to develop Wentz into an elite passer.
"DeFilippo has a great relationship with Carson and myself, and he is a great coach in the National Football League," Pederson said. "And I felt strongly about keeping him, especially in Carson's second year, the development, the growth process, keeping it intact."
Both men assured the assembled media that there is a lot of work to be done and many holes to be filled on their roster. Roseman even spoke to building a "complementary roster" around the development of Wentz.
2017 will not be the Eagles year; Roseman admitted as much yesterday. But sacrificing one season in hopes of building a roster capable of competing for a Super Bowl for half a decade is a move that must be made for a championship-starved franchise.
"Having that guy and being able to build around that guy, it's a luxury we haven't had in quite some time," Roseman said.
And it's a luxury the Eagles can't afford to squander.
