Dave Spadaro

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."

Said Sirianni: "We think he is a versatile player who can do a lot of different things. Obviously, the main thing that you see is the energy that he plays with, the speed that he plays with, and relentless effort that he plays with, and that fits on defense."

Campbell dealt with a shoulder injury last season, but the Eagles have thoroughly checked his health and cross-checked the situation and they feel more than comfortable adding him to a very, very talented linebacker room that includes All-Pro Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean, and Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. As Roseman and Sirianni said, Campbell can play on the edge and inside, and the Eagles will determine his role once he makes his way to Philadelphia and starts studying the defense.

Bottom line: The Eagles are thrilled to have Campbell, to see that he stayed undrafted and to have had the opportunity to execute a trade to jump up one spot and improve Vic Fangio's defense.

The idea that the Eagles don't value the linebacker position? Can that be put to rest now, please? Baun signed a huge new contract prior to free agency and now the Eagles made linebacker their first-round draft pick, so the past is, well, history.

A young defense just got younger Campbell, who played his first three years of high school football at Timber Creek Regional High School in Erial, New Jersey, about 20 minutes away from Lincoln Financial Field, just turned 21 years old and a whole lot more talented.

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"We felt this was one of the best players in the draft," Roseman said. "This is a guy who was recruited from IMG (Academy in Florida, where Campbell played in his senior year of high school) by Alabama as a hand-in-the-dirt edge rusher, they had some injuries at Alabama, they played him off the ball. You see his explosiveness and his speed. He's got speed, he's got power as an edge rusher. He was trained as an edge rusher. And he's got the versatility to play off the ball and blitz from depth and play in space and impact pass coverage as an off-ball linebacker."

He's the complete package, say the Eagles, added to an extremely deep front seven the team has assembled.

For his part, Campbell is thrilled. He was in Green Bay, waiting for his name to be called, and his excitement was visible from the moment he picked up the phone and saw the 215 area code calling.

"They're a great organization. Very great coaches, great staff that makes sure the team has great value so we can win. Win regular-season games, win playoffs, and most importantly win a Super Bowl," Campbell said. "I'm just ready to be the best version of myself each and every day and compete. Be that dominant force at wherever the coach wants to put me at honestly."