2015 Eagles: What the hell is going on here?!

SeoulSoxFan

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From PFF:
 
@gingersauce4u Last time Maxwell & Thurmond played together (2013) they ranked 13th & 24th in pass coverage. #Eagles (via @PFF) 
 

 
P.S. Maxwell & Thurmond will handle #1 & #2 WR instead of #2-#4, but that's not a bad combo. 
 

dcmissle

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LondonSox said:
I don't have any problem with the McCoy trade, nor letting Maclin walk at that amount.
Cole is also a move I'm fine with, very surprised how much money he got actually, but I'd always prefer to let a guy go a year too early than a year too late
Can't complain with the money for Graham nor the Maxwell aggression, nor going hard after McCourty (though the seeming lack of a plan b at safety seems a bit worrying)

All of this I agree. There is only one crazy move and it's the latest, and if someone high in the draft wants BRadford this would make a lot more sense. Though EVEN THEN I don't understand how it took Foles AND a 2nd round pick AND a 4/5th round swap. Foles and the swaps or the 2nd round and the swaps fine. All? That seems crazy.
If he really thinks Bradford is his guy, then I don't get it but fine. I can understand paying for your guy, just this isn't who anyone thought his guy was. If he's the guy then why no contract negotiations before the deal? You can't give up all this and then not extend him, if he does well you're over a barrel to pay up big, and if he is hurt sure the trade gets less damaging as some picks come back.

Surely if BRadford is to stay then the contract needs to be extended, and I have no idea how that looks. Bradford is a knee injury from done you'd have to think so can't be a lot of guaranteed money, and maybe Bradford would rather bet on himself, like MAclin did.

I liked all the other moves. OR at least I'm ok with them. I do think the offense needs some playmakers though, you're looking at Cooper, Huff and Matthews at WR and Polk and Sproles at RB and a ? at RG. The D is a safety and CB from looking set. But that's two big holes.
Bradford is the head scratcher; "gamble" is putting it mildly.

It was supposedly about Chip's system, right? That system exposes QBs to more abuse than others, right?

Former #1, #1, yes, but we're talking about a guy with two reconstructed knees, and a shoulder coming out of college.
 

LondonSox

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singaporesoxfan said:
Could Chip think that his vaunted sports science and health methods keep Bradford more healthy than the QB has been?
He absolutely might, but there are a lot of bad knees to look after now!
Further Kelly hasn't actually been running the read option THAT much but Bradford isn't exactly going to help that. I will say if this is and was their plan they sure did a good job with the Mariota noise to distract.

I'd love to know if bradford is more highly thought of inside football circles than by fans who see injury and eh performance, though on a BAD team.
 

Super Nomario

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LondonSox said:
He absolutely might, but there are a lot of bad knees to look after now!
Further Kelly hasn't actually been running the read option THAT much but Bradford isn't exactly going to help that. I will say if this is and was their plan they sure did a good job with the Mariota noise to distract.

I'd love to know if bradford is more highly thought of inside football circles than by fans who see injury and eh performance, though on a BAD team.
I Tweeted this yesterday re: Bradford:
Rams' rank in points since 2010: 26th, 32nd, 25th, 21st (Bradford 7 games), 21st (0 games). Little help for Bradford, sure, but poor results.
 
I expect he'll be more successful in Chip's system, but Foles has had stretches of success there, too. Is the difference worth the draft picks, the money, and the risk? I don't see it.
 

Devizier

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Everything the Eagles have done is defensible to me, except for the Bradford move. The thing is, that Bradford move could be a huge mistake. The lost draft picks are one thing, but isn't Bradford effectively on a $13M one-year contract, fully guaranteed?
 

LondonSox

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Devizier said:
Everything the Eagles have done is defensible to me, except for the Bradford move. The thing is, that Bradford move could be a huge mistake. The lost draft picks are one thing, but isn't Bradford effectively on a $13M one-year contract, fully guaranteed?
It's not guaranteed they can cut him for nothing but you don't give up picks to do that.

Perhaps more importantly no cap charge if they trade him though.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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I think the only way the Bradford deal makes sense is  (A) if they extend him this offseason at reasonable numbers with an easy escape hatch, such that there is upside to have him at a below-market rate if he performs well and (B) if Chip Kelly thinks Nick Foles really sucks.
 
B seems pretty self-evident, rightly or wrongly.  We'll see about A.
 
Bradford may very well be a bust but the market for QBs in their 20s with a perceived shot to be upper tier starters is simply an expensive one.  Alex Smith cost two 2nds, one of which was 34 overall.  Matt Schaub also cost two 2nds.  Bradford has some big red flags, both performance and injury wise, but you can certainly talk yourself into believing that he has more upside than either of those guys.  So if you think Foles sucks and Bradford has some upside to be a legitimate upper tier QB (maybe wrong but not totally insane), then trading Foles plus a 2nd isn't all that crazy.
 
I really don't believe the idea that Bradford is trade fodder to get Mariota.  Any team high in the draft that wants a QB is just taking Mariota themselves to begin with and if they were so in love with Bradford they would have just dealt with the Rams directly, as its been known for a while that he was on the block.  The simple explanation here is that Chip decided trading up for Mariota was too expensive, that he still needed to find a better QB than Foles/Sanchez somehow, and that rolling the dice on Bradford was his best option.
 

soxhop411

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Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 3m3 minutes ago
Eagles HC Chip Kelly said his team was offered a first-round pick this morning for his QB Sam Bradford.


UH…...
 

Ferm Sheller

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soxhop411 said:
Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 3m3 minutes ago
Eagles HC Chip Kelly said his team was offered a first-round pick this morning for his QB Sam Bradford.


UH…...
 
In the CFL draft.
 

LondonSox

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Kelly also explicitly said they weren't trading up for mariota. So bradford the starter with no immediate plans to extend him.

The later part makes no sense. If you are thinking he could be your guy you got to extend. Until there is an extension I think he's moving. Because I hate the other
 

86spike

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soxhop411 said:
Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 3m3 minutes ago
Eagles HC Chip Kelly said his team was offered a first-round pick this morning for his QB Sam Bradford.


UH…...
 
Did it have Jay Cutler stapled to it?
 

dcmissle

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Murray reported to be coming aboard per PFT.

Fascinating offseason for an interesting team. Really enjoying watching this, esp with Sal Pal very close to requiring medication.
 

Average Reds

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dcmissle said:
Murray reported to be coming aboard per PFT.

Fascinating offseason for an interesting team. Really enjoying watching this, esp with Sal Pal very close to requiring medication.
 
If Murray is going to sign with Philly, I'd be shocked if they don't pull the offer from Mathews. 
 
That sort of thing is almost never done by teams, but I don't think Kelly cares.  Deal wasn't finalized and he's having "cold feet" just like Gore did.
 

Ed Hillel

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lol Chip Kelly.
 
Edit - Meaning, that's a ton of money for a Running Back, particularly one with a lot of recent wear and fumbling issues.
 

cromulence

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E5 Yaz said:
 
They signed the best RB on the market. Matthews doesn't have a contract yet. What's so funny about that?
 
Probably the money for a RB who may or may not have been largely a product of his dominant offensive line.
 

E5 Yaz

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cromulence said:
 
Probably the money for a RB who may or may not have been largely a product of his dominant offensive line.
 
Fair enough. But the meme that "Chip Kelly made a move; therefore it must be mocked" is getting tiresome.
 

IdiotKicker

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E5 Yaz said:
They signed the best RB on the market. Matthews doesn't have a contract yet. What's so funny about that?
That RB is a position where you can get 75% of the production for 10% of the cost by using rookies and UDFAs effectively.
 

E5 Yaz

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Chuck Z said:
That RB is a position where you can get 75% of the production for 10% of the cost by using rookies and UDFAs effectively.
 
That, too. See above
 

Ed Hillel

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E5 Yaz said:
 
Fair enough. But the meme that "Chip Kelly made a move; therefore it must be mocked" is getting tiresome.
 
I don't mock all of his moves. I loved the McCoy trade, for example. Just think it's a really bad contract for a running back. I suppose I should have just said that.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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E5 Yaz said:
Fair enough. But the meme that "Chip Kelly made a move; therefore it must be mocked" is getting tiresome.
 
Indeed. Chip has not made a lot of friends and didn't kiss any asses in Philly. Now everyone's labeling his every move as a disaster. 
 
It's all about that Chip, no treble.
 

RedOctober3829

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I think it's a good move to get Murray for 3 reasons.  First off, he saves money at that spot with Murray vs. McCoy while also picking up a cheap option at MLB who has a good chance at becoming a star in Alonso.  Second, Murray has experience in the system Chip runs and flourished in it at Oklahoma.  Third, it hurts a division rival.
 
Everyone who is mocking what Chip Kelly is doing needs to take a step back and look at the big picture.  He traded LeSean McCoy and his $10 million salary for Kiko Alonso on a rookie deal and DeMarco Murray at $8.4 million.  How is that bad?
 

theapportioner

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Murray did run for 1845 yards last year, and only just turned 27. It's not crazy IMO, especially when your passing game has question marks.
 

Oil Can Dan

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Is it $8.4M though?  Not sure it's fair to take the total amount and divide by years.  I think we need to see the specifics before casting judgement on this deal.