Howie Roseman

The Eagles returned to Cowboys Stadium last night for their first-round playoff game against Dallas, but general manager Tom Heckert did not accompany them. That's because Heckert is about to become general manager of the Cleveland Browns, opening the door for Howie Roseman to replace him. Attempts to reach Heckert yesterday were unsuccessful, but a team source indicated that multiple reports about the general manager's decision to take the job in Cleveland were correct. The source said as of yesterday afternoon that Heckert had not officially notified the Eagles of his departure.

The New Orleans Saints had until 11:59 last night to match the Eagles' offer for restricted free agent Mike Bell, but league sources said they would not do so. The running back, who signed the offer sheet last week, will receive a one-year, $1.7 million contract, with $500,000 guaranteed. "We're cautiously optimistic," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said yesterday. "We're talking to the people from the Saints. It seems like the direction they were going in was to not match.

The Eagles signed defensive end Victor Abiamiri and running back Nate Ilaoa yesterday, leaving quarterback Kevin Kolb as the only remaining unsigned player on the roster as the team prepares to open training camp Friday at Lehigh University. Abiamiri, a second-round pick from Notre Dame, and Ilaoa, a seventh-round pick out of Hawaii, received four-year deals. Abiamiri will compete for a place at defensive end, where the Eagles have five other players with significant NFL experience: Jevon Kearse, Darren Howard, Trent Cole, Juqua Thomas and Jerome McDougle.

The Eagles made a couple of personnel moves Friday, promoting Anthony Patch to director of college scouting and hiring Rick Mueller as player personnel executive. Patch, 33, has been with the Eagles for 10 years. He first joined the team in 2002 as a college scouting coordinator, became a scout and then was named assistant director of college scouting in 2010. Mueller, 44, has worked in New Orleans (2000-08) and Jacksonville (1994-2000). He was the Saints' vice president of player personnel from 2006-08 and director of player personnel from 2000-2006.

BETHLEHEM - The Eagles didn't really need another corner, Howie Roseman acknowledged Thursday when asked how he came to trade for Kevin Thomas from Indianapolis. But Roseman liked Thomas coming out of USC in 2010, before the Colts drafted him in the third round, and corner is one of those positions where you always look for more real players. And maybe most important, former Eagles personnel chief Ryan Grigson is the GM in Indianapolis now, and Grigson needed linebackers. Roseman had a couple of those, former seventh-round draft picks Moise Fokou (2009)

JUST AS FANS started to get good and worked up about the Eagles' inactivity in the early hours of free agency, the team dropped a load of signings on the reeling Twitterverse. Five new Eagles joined the roster, though they weren't the splashy, top-of-the-market guys some fans always seem to want, in the face of solid evidence that trying to build a winner that way doesn't work. The signings reflected what general manager Howie Roseman and new coach Chip Kelly said in the weeks leading up to the opening of the market: The Eagles need players, as they transition from the Andy Reid era to new systems.

ALL THE FANS and reporters yearning to know the identity of the Eagles' first-round draft choice before Thursday's start of the NFL draft should have just called James Evans, of Groveton, Texas. Evans is a rancher with about 200 head of Angus cattle, he said Friday evening, from beneath the brim of a black cowboy hat, something one rarely encounters in the NovaCare auditorium. Evans said he has some horses, too, used to break horses when he was younger. But more important, Evans is the stepfather of Oklahoma offensive tackle Lane Johnson, whom the Birds took fourth overall, their highest draft selection in 14 years.

When Dee Milliner ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds in February, he appeared to cement his status as a top-10 pick in the NFL draft. Though widely considered the top cornerback prospect, Milliner entered the NFL combine with questions about his speed. "Just watch the combine," he boldly told reporters in Indianapolis a few days before he was to run. "I know my body. I know what I can do and how I can run," Milliner said recently during a phone interview. "So I just knew I could go out there and produce.

The past, present and future came together Saturday for one happy Eagles picture. Brian Dawkins returned to the NovaCare Complex to retire as an Eagle and all the bitterness, at least for this moment, was forgotten. The draft, meanwhile, was coming to its conclusion and for the first time in a long time, Andy Reid's selections were near-unanimously applauded by a fickle fan base. And with that the future is as bright as the Eagles coach's Tommy Bahama Hawaiian shirts.

The Eagles worked out former Cowboys running back Felix Jones on Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex. A free agent, Jones was a multipurpose back in Dallas. He ran for 2,728 yards on 569 carries (a 4.8-yards average) and caught 127 passes for 1,062 yards in five seasons. He also scored 11 rushing touchdowns, caught three more through the air and averaged 24 yards on kick returns. Jones returned a kick 98 yards for a score against the Eagles when he was a rookie. The Eagles could be in the market for an upgrade at running back.