This was, Eagles Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman said over and over late on Thursday night, a “no-brainer.” The Eagles had Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell as a Top-10 player on their 2025 NFL Draft Board, so to see him still out there at 10, and then at 15, and then at 20, well, Roseman couldn’t resist.
He tried moving up from No. 32 in the first round, to no avail. And then, with the Kansas City Chiefs on the clock at No. 31, the Eagles sent the 32nd pick and a fifth-round selection (No. 164 overall, one of four Eagles’ fifth-round draft picks on Saturday) to take Campbell, born in Southern New Jersey and a standout player with the Crimson Tide whom both Roseman and Head Coach Nick Sirianni raved about minutes after making the selection.
“Excited to have him. Real excited to have him,” Roseman said of the Eagles’ first first-round draft pick on a linebacker since Jerry Robinson from UCLA in 1979. “Wasn’t really something we anticipated. Understand some of the other teams may have reasons for taking other players, but for us, this was a real easy pick. Really explosive player. He can play inside, he can be an edge rusher, just really feel fortunate to bring him back home to Philly.
“This was a Top-10 player on our board, we do not have any long-term concerns with his health. We look at the draft as a long-term opportunity for our team. We have a lot of confidence that this guy is going to be here and play at a really high level for a long time, and so when you’re in a draft and you’re picking at the end of the first round, you have an opportunity to get a Top-10 player on your board, a guy who can affect the quarterback, a guy who can affect the passing game, for us it was a no-brainer.”