Jalen Carter Jan 9, 2023; Inglewood, CA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs defensive lineman Jalen Carter (88) against the TCU Horned Frogs during the CFP national championship game at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles made one of the more surprising moves of the 2023 NFL Draft by moving from No. 10 to No. 9 to select Georgia defensive tackle, Jalen Carter.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman recently sat down with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk to discuss what went into the selection of Carter and the trade with the NFC rival Chicago Bears.

“I think when we looked at it, I think one of the things just going back and you know, me personally made a lot of mistakes here throughout the process in the draft process and looking back and sometimes, it’s about getting cute with picks and not really going and getting the outcome that you desire as opposed to kind of being a little bit more conservative,” Roseman told Florio.

Carter faced pre-draft concerns about how much, exactly, he loved the sport of football. Other draftniks wondered if the perceived lack of dedication would make him struggle to maintain his weight.

That’s not a concern for Roseman, who feels that Carer landed in a “good environment.”

“And so, for us, where we were in the draft at that moment, we felt like that was the right thing to do to get Jalen here. Obviously, we know the story and the background behind Jalen. And we don’t feel so confident in our abilities to know that we can make everything right, but we do feel like in this specific situation that we have a good environment. We do think Jalen loves football. He wants to be great and so we’re excited to get him here and obviously work from there.”

Roseman also discussed his thinking about trading with the Bears.

“I think you’re left your own devices in those situations, and you’re putting yourself out there when, I mean there are situations where you’re trading for nothing, right?” Roseman said. “I’m not saying it was in this situation necessarily, but you’re doing it and you have to be comfortable with the outcome either way.

And so, you have to be comfortable with the outcome of, ‘Hey, I traded a fourth-round pick’ and understanding that could be a good player for your team a year from now, but at the same situation being OK with not getting the player and who is next. And so, you know, that’s not to say we wouldn’t have been OK staying at 10 and taking another player, we just felt for us and our team and where we were that Jalen Carter was the right selection for us.”

The Eagles won’t mind sacrificing a fourth-round pick if Carter lives up to his potential.

[Pro Football Talk]