When we wrote last week that the firing of Eagles V.P. of player personnel Jason Licht might signal the further ascension of V.P. of football administration Howie Roseman, we didn’t realize that Roseman would land in the same job that Licht had occupied.

But that’s exactly what has happened, per a club announcement made earlier on Friday.

“Roseman, 33, will work closely with [coach Andy] Reid and [G.M. Tom] Heckert in all aspects of the player personnel department,” the official release says.  “He will manage the college scouting staff, organize and run draft meetings, and scout the top college prospects throughout the country.  Roseman will continue to play a large role assisting Reid and Heckert with unrestricted free agency and roster moves throughout the year.”

Said Reid:  “Howie has demonstrated a sharp eye for talent evaluation along with a knack for creative draft and free agent strategies.  Both Tom and I feel Howie will be an excellent addition to the Philadelphia Eagles personnel staff.”

As a practical matter, the move represents a rare instance in which a cap-and-contracts guy has crossed over into a football role.  Usually, the two don’t mix — and there’s a natural rivalry between these categories of team employees. 

The cap guys are the bean counters, the Moneyball aficionados.  They want to quantify anything and everything.  The football guys often make decisions based ultimately on the feeling that develops in the gut based on looking a man in the eye and feeling the grip of his handshake.

The fact that Roseman will now be a football guy is as remarkable as Mike Tannenbaum’s elevation to G.M. in New York.  In fact, Roseman’s move might be even more impressive, because at the end of the day Tannenbaum still relies on Terry Bradway to do the bulk of the actual football evaluations.  Roseman, though third banana behind Reid and Heckert, apparently will have an active role in scouting and personnel decision-making.

The end result could be a formidable two-specialty front-office employee who will become a household name (at least in football households) for the next three decades.

Then again, maybe Roseman realizes that cap guys might no longer be as critical to the operation of a football team if/when there’s no salary cap, and thus he’s expanding his skill set in order to remain marketable.  Either way, it’s a smart move for Roseman and, if he truly has the chops to evaluate players, a smart move for the franchise.

The team also has extended the contract of Heckert.  It’s a move that surely will surprise some league insiders who believed based on Heckert’s candidacy for the G.M. job in Atlanta (and the endorsement he received from owner Jeffrey Lurie) that Heckert was on the outs in Philly.