Eagles GM calls a known NFL pundit a massive conspiracy theorist

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman wasn’t happy with Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.

New Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, formerly the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, admitted that the tampering by folks in the desert was “a mistake”. Gannon has since apologized for his transgressions, hoping that the public would move on.

“It’s a mistake that we made, and the league rectified it and we’ve moved on,” Gannon said.

The teams traded draft picks and made amends. The NFL wanted fans to move on. Of course, that’s not how sports media works, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio lingered on the subject a little longer than some in the league office might hope:

"“So why are they hiding the truth? One potential explanation is that the circumstances surrounding the hiring of Gannon could potentially strengthen a claim that Brian Flores could make regarding Arizona’s failure to hire him for the job, in retaliation for his pending litigation against the league and multiple teams. Another potential explanation, as Chris Simms identified it on Wednesday’s PFT Live, is that the truth would spark a groundswell that would force the NFL to finally revolutionize its hiring cycle.”"

Eagles GM calls Mike Florio a conspiracy theorist

Florio argued that evidence suggests a cover-up to avoid huge changes to the NFL’s hiring process. He suggested that the integrity of the game was at stake, because if Gannon was speaking to the Cardinals during his Super Bowl prep, it could serve as a distraction of sorts.

"“The official story is that the Cardinals self-reported the ensuing violation. I still don’t buy it. I believe the Eagles conducted an internal investigation, and that they quickly found digital footprints showing that Gannon had been, for example, lining up potential members of his coaching staff and/or working on an outline of the points to make during his day-after-the-Super-Bowl presentation to the Cardinals.”"

When approached by Florio about this theory, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman wasn’t thrilled.

There was no ill will in that interview, just some good, ol’ fashioned ribbing by both sides. Roseman’s deflecting, however, does suggest there’s something we don’t know.