The Philadelphia Eagles gave Chip Kelly full control of roster moves and player personnel and his plan for the franchise is slowly starting to take shape. First the head coach traded away LeSean McCoy. The second move has come in the form of a quarterback, just not the one everyone was expecting. While most NFL sources have linked the Philadelphia Eagles to Marcus Mariota, Kelly selected Sam Bradford instead, noting a quarterback in the draft is not an option.
The Eagles surprised many on Tuesday by trading away Nick Foles, a 2015 fourth-round draft pick and a 2016 second-round draft pick for Bradford from the St. Louis Rams. This was not the trade everyone was predicting Philadelphia would do. It was expected that the Eagles were preparing to deal up in the NFL Draft to acquire Mariota and re-team Kelly with his former Oregon quarterback. The move seemed to make sense. NJ.com reported if Mariota fell to the No. 6 pick in the NFL Draft, Philadelphia would deal up with the New York Jets and grab the quarterback. Now, Kelly is denying the idea.
In a teleconference following the trade for Bradford, Kelly stated, "I think Marcus is the best quarterback in the Draft. We will never mortgage our future to go up and get someone like that." According to CSNPhilly.com, he went as far as to say, "Let's dispel that right now" when asked about his interest in the quarterback. So for now, the Philadelphia draft deals quiet down, but likely will not disappear until Kelly truly does not move up in the draft.
Trading multiple picks to acquire Mariota after dealing picks to get Bradford seems highly unlikely for Philadelphia considering how many other moves they must make. Instead they will move on with Bradford, Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley. Sanchez returns on a two-year deal while Bradford is set to enter the final year of his contract which will earn him $12 million. The Eagles will not get Bradford signed to another deal this offseason. Instead the quarterback likely has one year to prove he can be a starter after two straight ACL tears and missing the entire 2014 season.
The Eagles gave up a lot for a quarterback that could essentially be a one-year rental instead of giving up a lot for a quarterback that could be developed for the future. Starting Sanchez in 2015 is certainly not the flashy option, but is Bradford much better. Kelly has something in the works that might just mean Philadelphia fans need to be patient.
