After Losing Multiple Scouting Executives, Eagles Bring Back Joe Douglas

After losing multiple scouting executives, Eagles bring back Joe Douglas originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Joe Douglas, who left the Eagles to become Jets general manager in 2019, is coming back.

The Eagles have hired Douglas to a senior scouting position six months after he was fired as Jets general manager. The news was confirmed by a league source after being first reported by the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.

Douglas was fired on Nov. 19 with the Jets sitting at 3-8 on their bye week. The Jets went 30-62 in 5 ½ years with Douglas as their G.M. and haven’t reached the playoffs since 2010.

Douglas and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman remained close after Douglas left. They worked out three trades while Douglas was with the Jets, including one that returned Joe Flacco to the Jets in 2021 and the deal that sent Haason Reddick to the Jets in April of 2024.

Roseman and Douglas were seen together on the field at the Linc before the Eagles-Steelers game on Dec. 15, a month after Douglas was fired by the Jets.

The Eagles didn’t comment on the hiring, but Roseman spoke very highly of Douglas when he hired him the first time.

“Bringing Joe here with his insight, with his leadership, his ability to lead the draft room, his ability to put the free agent board together, we think he’s going to be a huge addition for this staff,” Roseman said.

Douglas spent most of his scouting career with the Ravens under legendary general manager and Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome. He was with Baltimore from 2000 through 2015, winning two Super Bowl rings, before spending the 2016 season with the Bears.

Roseman hired him as the Eagles’ vice president of personnel in May 2016, and he spent three years here, winning a third Super Bowl ring in 2017, before leaving for the Jets six years ago.

The Eagles have lost several key members of their scouting department in recent weeks, continuing a trend that has seen a huge amount of turnover in the scouting office as the Eagles’ success creates demand for the people that helped build their roster.

Senior director of college scouting Anthony Patch and senior director of scouting Brandon Hunt were both hired by the Raiders, Patch as senior personnel executive and Hunt as vice president of player personnel. And national scout Jordon Dizon left last week to become the Broncos’ director of player personnel.

In recent years, top scouting department executives including Andrew Berry, Catherine Raîche, Ian Cunningham, Brandon Brown and Andy Weidl also left the Eagles for promotions.

Douglas was with the Eagles during a stretch when the Eagles did not draft particularly well, taking players such as Derek Barnett and Andre Dillard in the first round and Sidney Jones and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in the second round, although Roseman had final say on draft weekend. But they did draft players such as Dallas Goedert, Josh Sweat and Miles Sanders during that span and won a Super Bowl in 2017 after a flurry of offseason veteran additions.

Douglas, 48, is a native of Mechanicsville, Va., and was a four-year starter as an offensive lineman at Richmond.