The Philadelphia Eagles dealt with a restructuring of the front office and now head coach Chip Kelly has power over personnel and after that promotion, the team could look at a trade up in the draft for Marcus Mariota, as Kelly reportedly is not sold on Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez long term and this comes as LeSean McCoy needs to restructure his contract or risk being with another team in 2015.
The Eagles won 10 games this season, but it wasn't good enough to make the playoffs and now the team has pressure for next season after shaking up the decision making process. According to ESPN.com, Kelly now in charge of making personnel decisions, while Howie Roseman went from general manager to executive vice president of football operations, but he has not power over personnel. Many have called what happened a power play, as the Eagles dismissed Tom Gamble, who was considered a "Kelly guy" in the front office.
The Eagles had Roseman and Kelly in their respective positions before, with Gamble as a sort of buffer between the two and owner Jeffery Lurie. Now Kelly can build the team more in his image and that could mean some big moves. The team has expressed interest in bringing McCoy back, but they could trade or release him if he does not restructure his deal. Adam Schefter at ESPN tweeted last week after the news that Kelly could look into making a trade to get Marcus Mariota in the draft. Making that move is unlikely, but after working with Mariota at Oregon, Kelly likely would love to have him in his offense in the NFL.
This season McCoy did not get as many redzone snaps as he has received in the past and many times Darren Sproles and Chris Polk entered the game in spots where McCoy usually would be. Kelly clearly likes McCoy and he is one of the best backs in football, but he also has a cap number near $12 million. McCoy will be making a $9.75 million base salary this season and if he stays, a restructuring of that deal is likely.
The Eagles went 10-6 this season and finished second in the NFC east division and now they are looking to make some moves to try and get back to the playoffs next year. The Eagles were one of the best offensive teams in the league, ranking in the top 10 in passing and rushing yards per game, but the defense was not great, allowing over 260 passing yards per game. The Eagles ranked 31st in the league in passing yards allowed and that is one area where they need to improve.
Mark Sanchez ended up leading the team in passing and while he had a solid season, he did not do enough to give Kelly confidence that he can take over. Foles was having a solid year as well before he got injured, but he threw more interceptions this year than all of last season and that was troubling for Kelly. There were reports earlier in the season that Kelly was not "sold" on Foles long term and since he did not draft Foles, Kelly could look for other options on the market or in the draft in 2015.
