The Philadelphia Eagles have Chip Kelly in charge of personnel and that could mean major changes in 2015, as he may try to trade for Marcus Mariota after his disappointing championship game performance to take over for Nick Foles and this comes as LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin and Mark Sanchez may not be returning next season.
Kelly took over personnel decisions for the Eagles after a change in the front office and now he has the power to draft players, sign players and trade for players. According to ESPN.com, Kelly took over after Tom Gamble was let go and the Eagles "promoted" Howie Roseman from general manager to football operations, giving him control over business decisions. Many around the NFL described all this as a power play by Kelly, as Gamble was one of "his guys" and now he has the chance to fully shape the team in his image.
No coach in the NFL has as much say in how his offense operates on the field as Kelly and now he will be able to build the roster a bit more in his own image. Kelly came in and inherited Nick Foles and while Foles has been solid over the past couple years, Kelly reportedly is not sold on him as a long term option. Foles was injured this past season and that left Mark Sanchez to take over, but Sanchez is likely leaving in free agency after starting for half the year. Kelly drafted Matt Barkley, but he has not shown anything to Kelly to think that he could be the starter in 2015.
Maclin is the top name to watch in free agency for the Eagles, as he had a strong season after coming back from an injury. Maclin signed a one year deal and he could be looking at around $10M per year as a receiver after making 85 catches for 1318 yards and 10 touchdowns. McCoy reportedly will be back, but he needs to restructure his contract and if that doesn't happen, he could be let go or traded by Kelly. The Eagles could be in for some major changes in 2015 and Kelly could start to make some outside the box moves.
SB Nation brought up the idea of Kelly trading up for Mariota and while it likely would cost a nice package of draft picks, it could be worth it for Kelly to get a quarterback that he thinks can fully run his offense. The team moves fast like Kelly did at Oregon and while Mariota did not look great against Ohio State, he had a fantastic season in 2014 while winning the Heisman trophy.
The loss in the championship game was actually huge for the Eagles or any team looking to trade up for Mariota, as that may have pushed Jameis Winston to the top of the draft board for most teams. Winston is considered to be a prospect with a higher ceiling but less baggage, but after the way Mariota and Oregon looked in the national title game, Winston now could be the pick for the Bucs. Trading up to number two or if he slips to numbers four or five is easier than number one and that could bring some teams out of the woodwork for Mariota.