The job of national scout might be the most underrated position in the front office. The Eagles lost one of the best in the business.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Patrick Stewart is leaving Philadelphia to take on the role of director of player personnel for the Carolina Panthers. Stewart served as the Eagles’ national scout and joined the organization during the 2018 offseason.
Prior to that, he was a scouting assistant for the New England Patriots where he was part of two Super Bowl championship teams. He is widely considered to be an elite talent in the industry. Jim Nagy, a well-known draft analyst for ESPN, called the move a “significant get” for Carolina and new head coach Matt Rhule.
“Hires like this usually don’t mean much to fans but this was a significant get for Matt Rhule and the Panthers,” Nagy wrote on Twitter. “This is a long-overdue promotion for Pat Stewart. One of the best evaluators and people we’ve ever worked with.”
Stewart has spent 13 years working in NFL personnel departments and worked his way up from area scout to pro scout to national scout. He also served stints at Western Carolina as a graduate assistant coach and at Temple as assistant director of football operations. Simply put, he’s a valuable piece to any franchise.
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Analyzing Eagles’ New Front Office Structure
The Eagles shook up their front office a bit last offseason after the departure of Joe Douglas. After the team’s former vice president of player personnel left to become Jets GM, Philadelphia promoted Andy Weidl into the same role.
Weidl, under the watchful eye of GM Howie Roseman, was instrumental in putting together this year’s draft board and strategy. He had teased his desire to prioritize speed in a pre-draft conference call with reporters.
“It’s become a space game and it’s become a game of matchups and spreading people out, receivers that can win on all three levels early, top of the route and guys that can stretch the field,” Weidl said on April 16. “It’s become a one-on-one league and a space game and guys that can win and guys that can go above the rim and play the football. It’s really evolved into that, I believe.”
This sums up the Jalen Hurts move
“No one in the league, no team knows the value of an insurance policy at quarterback more than we do after what we went through in the 2017 season and what we experienced. It’s adding a good football player” -Eagles Andy Weidl
The Eagles lean heavily on Jeremiah Washburn (director of player personnel) and Tom Donahoe (senior football adviser) in the front office. Anthony Patch (senior director of college scouting), Brandon Brown (director of pro scouting) and Ian Cunningham (assistant director of player personnel) are also strong voices in the personnel and scouting departments.
Remember, the franchise made headlines last January when they handed key front-office roles to three former fan-favorite players. Connor Barwin was appointed special assistant to the general manager, while Darren Sproles and Brent Celek were brought in to assist the team in scouting and evaluation.
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Eagles Lose Top Personnel Executive to Panthers: Report