PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Eagles promoted Howie Roseman to general manager, although coach Andy Reid still has final say on personnel decisions as the team's president of football operations.
The team selected Roseman, its vice president of player personnel the last two seasons, to replace the departed Tom Heckert, who left two weeks ago to become the GM in Cleveland.
The 34-year-old Roseman joined the Eagles in 2000 as a salary cap specialist and later moved to the personnel department. He became director of football administration in 2003 and, three years later, was promoted to vice president of football administration.
"I think the three parts of being the general manager are knowing about the salary cap, knowing about the pro personnel side and the college side," Roseman said. "All of it really comes together."
His new job will be similar to his old one. Roseman will manage the Eagles' college and pro scouting staffs, organize draft meetings and scout prospects.
"I don't think much is going to change here," Roseman said. "It's going to be the same process as we had last year -- setting the draft board and free agency. We'll just keep going."
Like Heckert, Roseman will report to Reid.
"I love Howie's energy and I've loved it since I've been here with Howie," Reid said. "His eagerness to learn and then his ability to evaluate are second to none."
Team president Joe Banner experienced it before he even met Roseman. Banner said he received letters from Roseman "literally every day" before finally hiring him.
"As soon as I met him, I did not interview anybody else. I hired him immediately and went from there," Banner said.
"In the interview, he said his goal was to become the general manager of an NFL team. And I'll tell you, he was bright enough and determined enough that I did not find that humorous."
Roseman, who sent letters to every NFL team, is aware that he lacks the prototypical background of a personnel evaluator. He hasn't coached or played in college or the NFL. Instead, he has a bachelor's degree from Florida and a law degree from Fordham.
"Right out of college I tried to get in the pro personnel side," Roseman said. "That's always been my love, and that's always been the thing that I've really wanted to do, but there weren't really many opportunities."
There was as a salary cap assistant, so Roseman not only helped Banner but also studied film at the same time.
"I was told when I got here: 'Work hard, learn your area and if you show proficiency at it, they'll allow you to grow," Roseman said. "I'm lucky enough that people have allowed me to do that."
The Eagles also interviewed assistant director of pro personnel Louis Riddick and director of college scouting Ryan Grigson for the position.