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

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Kelly is a smart coach; whether he is a smart GM and a good talent evaluator is still in question. The other issue is that even if Bradford rises to the level of "capable NFL starter," so did Foles in that system - and they gave up a draft pick and money to make the move.

I basically agree. Nobody in this conversation is arguing that it was a good trade.

Edit: Although I actually disagree that Foles is clearly a "capable NFL starter," if that means say in the Top 20ish guys in the league. My guess is that his 2014, when defenses had adjusted to the Chip Kelly offense and he was getting less easy yardage on bubble screens or wide open shots down the field, says a lot more about his likely trajectory going forward than his 2013.

 

[Kull]

I basically agree. Nobody in this conversation is arguing that it was a good trade.

Edit: Although I actually disagree that Foles is clearly a "capable NFL starter," if that means say in the Top 20ish guys in the league. My guess is that his 2014, when defenses had adjusted to the Chip Kelly offense and he was getting less easy yardage on bubble screens or wide open shots down the field, says a lot more about his likely trajectory going forward than his 2013.

 
Actually I did. Put a caveat in there about "continues to improve", but I'll own it. It's said all the time, but it's true - QB is THE most important position in the NFL. Just look around and how many guys were available (at the time of this trade) who had a legitimate shot of growing beyond medium tier starter? Clearly there are other organizations in the league who believe he's worth a roll of the dice. Apparently even a 1st Round pick for a chance to roll those dice. And maybe the Eagles can package him in a move up to get Mariota (who doesn't come with a guarantee either), but if not, Bradford could be the guy who moves the needle and gets this team up to the next level. Gamble? Sure. But unless you have the #1 pick on one of those rare chances when the next Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning are available, it's always a gamble.
 
Edit: Must have been channeling my inner Jeff Lurie while writing that post:
 

"It's not easy to trade the young quarterback that you're developing, who had a terrific year the year before and got hurt this year," Lurie said last week. "But you've got to go on your evaluations. There was an opportunity to do an upside gamble with an outstanding young quarterback who you hope can become healthier throughout his career. It is so hard to get a franchise quarterback, as you know. It sets the ceiling on what you have as a team, and do you want to take upside gambles or not? You've got to make that decision."
 

 
http://espn.go.com/blog/philadelphia-eagles/post/_/id/11216/jeff-lurie-qb-sets-the-ceiling-on-chances?ex_cid=espnapi_public

 

[LondonSox]

I think it's a lot harder to argue about the value of the trade now it's pretty clear the 19th pick is available for Bradford.
Foles and a 2016 2nd for 2015 number 19 overall is a trade that wouldn't look bad (and I still am unclear what happens to the games played for the Eagles clause if he's traded).

19th and 20th picks is going to give you a shot at Mariota if he drops, or if you want to add something to that to get really high (like Kendricks).
I don't think anyone thought the Eagles could get Mariota for Foles, a 2016 2nd and their 1st pick. That's now possible. Plus Bradford healthy is better than Foles for me. IF healthy, giant if.

Clearly several teams in the NFL think Bradford has more value than some of us fans. We don't get to trade they do, hence they're right.

 

[dcmissle]

The world is more interesting with Chip in the NFL.

http://philadelphia.suntimes.com/philadelphia-eagles/7/96/107927/report-eagles-trying-trade-bradford-browns-manziel-picks-effort-draft-marcus-mariota

Hell bent indeed.

 

[LondonSox]

Well I've noted before that not extending Bradford makes him painless (capwise) to trade and I'd say it makes zero sense to acquire him and not extend him if he is your long term plan.
Further the Eagles are not selling his jersey in their shops, which seems weird.

I view it as keeping the option open. If Mariota slips Bradford for the Browns first and then flipping 19 and 20 for Mariota would make it an amazingly affordable cost to move up to get him (2nd round pick in 2016 and foles to move up from 20 to whereever)

IF Cleveland is really serious then maybe the 12th pick is in play, making it even more possible.
IF they get Mariota Manziel might be an interesting option for depth, a second similar style QB for the system. But will Kelly put up with his shit? If he wouldn't cope with Jackson and McCoy...

Until Bradford signs an extension he's on the block IMO. I am not 100% sold on Mariota, but at that cost and in a system we know he can play it's a best case for him and I know I wouldn't want to face a Kelly offense with Mariota and Murray in the backfield and a good line.

 

[veritas]

Tebow Time in Philly
 
https://twitter.com/JayGlazer/status/589919932864827392

 

[soxhop411]

Tebow Time in Philly
 

https://twitter.com/JayGlazer/status/589919932864827392
link to tweet

Yes!!

 

[dcmissle]

Yes!!

I'm pleased you are pleased. But I really want to hear from Soxfan. Then I want to hear from SalPal.

 

[singaporesoxfan]

Brought in for tryouts on 3/16, rose again after Easter.

 

[bankshot1]

Tebow Time in Philly
 
https://twitter.com/JayGlazer/status/589919932864827392

Because Sanchez and Tebow worked so well together.

 

[soxfan121]

I'm pleased you are pleased. But I really want to hear from Soxfan. Then I want to hear from SalPal.

 

 

[LondonSox]

I don't get it. I mean depending on the deal (I assume it's negligible) he's a camp QB body who maybe can challenge for the 3rd QB spot because he can do other stuff I guess. But that's a pretty damning comment on Matt Barkley.
BUT IT'S TEBOW.... he comes with a media circus and so much bullshit. I mean I don't' think it's co-incidental that BB and Kelly have both thought to see if they can find a way to use him.

If it's on a guaranteed deal or more than tiny money I think it's insane. I'm willing to wait for the draft at this point and see how the rest of the team comes together but Kelly dude, either he's courting/ trolling the sports media or he's got some great vision.

 

[Ed Hillel]

[youtube]http://youtu.be/zMK9FKMG3Nc[/youtube]

 

[BrunanskysSlide]

Tebow should take a long hard look at Edelman's career path and start re-thinking his strategy before it's too late for him.  This tryout with the Eagles may be his last chance with a NFL team.  He should be telling them that he will play any position they want if QB doesn't work out and also make sure his agent lets other teams know the same.  The guy has insane natural abilities and if he had been willing to give up his dream of being QB a few years ago, I bet he could have already had a few years of NFL team-time, even if only on special teams somewhere.  In fact, I wonder if BB would have kept him in a multiple fill-in spot role if he wasn't so adamant about being a QB.  Personally, I've always been pulling for the guy.  Despite the annoying outwardly religious stuff, he's  positive influence in the NFL and on the youth watching. 

 

[Three10toLeft]

Tebow should take a long hard look at Edelman's career path and start re-thinking his strategy before it's too late for him.  This tryout with the Eagles may be his last chance with a NFL team.  He should be telling them that he will play any position they want if QB doesn't work out and also make sure his agent lets other teams know the same.  The guy has insane natural abilities and if he had been willing to give up his dream of being QB a few years ago, I bet he could have already had a few years of NFL team-time, even if only on special teams somewhere.  In fact, I wonder if BB would have kept him in a multiple fill-in spot role if he wasn't so adamant about being a QB.  Personally, I've always been pulling for the guy.  Despite the annoying outwardly religious stuff, he's  positive influence in the NFL and on the youth watching.

I'd be pretty shocked if Tebow didn't full realize this already. It seems pretty obvious that he doesn't have much interest in playing anything besides QB. He's got a pretty cushy job as the face of ESPN's SEC network, and I'm sure that job is still waiting for him if/when this experiment doesn't work out, and he'll be able to slide right back in to that.

 

[soxhop411]

Delete

 

[soxhop411]

View attachment 971

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

Tebow should take a long hard look at Edelman's career path and start re-thinking his strategy before it's too late for him.  This tryout with the Eagles may be his last chance with a NFL team.  He should be telling them that he will play any position they want if QB doesn't work out and also make sure his agent lets other teams know the same.  The guy has insane natural abilities and if he had been willing to give up his dream of being QB a few years ago, I bet he could have already had a few years of NFL team-time, even if only on special teams somewhere.  In fact, I wonder if BB would have kept him in a multiple fill-in spot role if he wasn't so adamant about being a QB.  Personally, I've always been pulling for the guy.  Despite the annoying outwardly religious stuff, he's  positive influence in the NFL and on the youth watching. 

 
Apparently Tebow has been working on Tom House to fix his throwing motion:  http://www.businessinsider.com/tim-tebow-throwing-coach-tom-house-2015-4.  House swears he has been "fixed" and recommended him to Kelly, according to this article.

Maybe House can teach him how to throw a cutter too so that he could be the answer to the Sox's starting pitching problems.

 

[LondonSox]

Bottom line his competition is Matt Barkley... Who the dolphins looked at and decided on signing Freeman instead.

Which btw reminds me RE all the freak outs and Kelly is a moron articles mention everyone passed on tebow last year. Well yes and so was Freeman. Where's that outrage.

If tebow didn't come with a bizarre circus no one would blink.

 

[Skeesix]

So now we're talking about Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow and Matt Barkley.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJBIQp1KQM0

 

[glennhoffmania]

This isn't at all stupid:
 

 
Even though he's the fourth or fifth quarterback on the Eagles depth chart, Tim Tebow is being talked about like a madman.
 
He's also being recreated in salty dough form thanks to the Philly Pretzel Factory. An image of a pretzel Tebow-ing started circulating on the Internet Monday and CBSSports.com confirmed with the company the pretzel is real.
 
"We just sent a whole box of Tebow Pretzels down to the Eagles," Philly Pretzel's Director of Marketing Adam Terranova told CBSSports.com.
 

 

 

[AimingForYoko]

[youtube]http://youtu.be/zMK9FKMG3Nc[/youtube]

I came to this thread specifically for this. Thank you.

 

[Dogman]

That was pretty fucking good.

 

[crystalline]

I really hope Tebow sticks. The Eagles will be fun to watch this year.

 

[DanoooME]

This isn't at all stupid:
 
 

 
These guys make some great pretzels, but fuck that noise.

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

These pretzels are making me thirsty!

 

[LondonSox]

I'm going to wait for the draft.
 
Still no extension for Bradford, he's not shown in the season promo and his shirt still isn't for sale in the pro shop.
I really wouldn't be shocked with anything at this point.... Bradford, Sanchez and Tebow.... Mariota, Manziel and Tebow I have no idea.The later would be interesting!!! (but not sure what you do with Sanchez in that case)

 

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

I'm not going to rule out that ESPN slipped some money into Chip's pocket an asked him to sign Tebow. It's a long boring two weeks before the draft but now ESPN gets to talk about Tebow! So many hot sports takes!

I'm kidding, I think.

 

[MentalDisabldLst]

Bill Barnwell does his best to take this seriously.

 

[simplyeric]

These pretzels are making me thirsty!

Eh, what can you do?

 

[LondonSox]

Reports that the Eagles have not even discussed a contract extension with Bradford. He's not expected to stay. The Eagles are going to get Mariota. I can't believe it but nothing else makes a lot of sense.

 

[dcmissle]

PFT linking to report that Eagles doing "all they can" to go from 20 to 2. I don't doubt it. If I'm Tenn, I hold out for an RGIII package. They may get it.

 

[E5 Yaz]

PK writes late Wednesday night that Eagles might try to ship Bradford to Cleveland for one of their No. 1s as part of a package to move up for Mariotta

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

PK writes late Wednesday night that Eagles might try to ship Bradford to Cleveland for one of their No. 1s as part of a package to move up for Mariotta

Pretty sure that's been a rumor for weeks and long before PK decided to get on the bus.

 

[LondonSox]

I don't think there has been a more wildcard team for a draft than the Eagles this year. They could move up, down, stay.
they could trade multiple picks, picks and players, none of the above.
 
Until Mariota is off the board every single pick is going to be holding your breath to see if they act. 
 
I think that they aren't sure they can get him. They have a plan and a list of assets and if the opportunity is there they'll act.
 
If not they extend Bradford pick up some talent and get ready for next season.
 
Of course if the Bucs take Mariota first then all this crazy goes away immediately

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

Eh, what can you do?

Go park the cars while Sid is on vacation I suppose.

 

[LondonSox]

So sounds like they had a pretty good run at the Titans. I don't believe some of the more insane offers, as I just can't understand why the Titans would reject some of the reports.
 
That said it's done. Bradford is the QB, look for an extension to get done in the coming weeks.
 
I think they look oline (they need a guard maybe two and eventually a Peters replacement - though I think Johnson will be a stud so it's likely a RT not LT), they could clearly still use secondary help. 
with no move of Curry or Kenricks the front 7 looks good, but I wouldn't be shocked with a player trade.
 
I wouldn't be shocked at a QB late as they clearly don't rate Barkley. If Fisher is there in the 2nd I could see that being a nice pick. 
 
But yeah some oline some secondary and some depth. The team if Braford is ok looks interesting, the WR core is SOOO young but lot of talent ( Matthews, Huff and a new Rookie with Coooper are the top 4), they are set at RB but never rule out a late flyer. 

 

[Van Everyman]

Peter King insists that the offers were never made:

The Eagles, as Kelly said Thursday night in Philadelphia, never offered players as part of a package to obtain Mariota. In fact, The MMQB learned Thursday night that Kelly never offered the widely rumored packages of either three first-round picks or two first-round picks and Sam Bradford, in an attempt to obtain the second pick of the draft. I can tell you this much is true: The Titans basically scared off suitors because they continually told teams they wanted to take Mariota, and it would take a stupid offer to obtain the pick. In the end, Tennessee GM Ruston Webster and coach Ken Whisenhunt stuck to their guns.

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/01/marcus-mariota-tennessee-titans-nfl-draft/

Which tells me that they probably were.

 

[DanoooME]

Quote from Kelly in the local paper:
 

Kelly called the reports "false."
 
"We didn't offer any players. We didn't get into any discussions," Kelly said. "It was just really a steep price. It's like driving into a nice neighborhood and looking at a house and saying, 'That's really nice,' and they tell you the price and you turn around and go the other way. So we didn't walk in the front door and take a look around.
 
 

 

 

[dcmissle]

Quote from Kelly in the local paper:
 

 

What is he going to say? I'd lie too.

I love how PK sucks up so Chip will keep dishing. What a tool.

 

[Super Nomario]

 
Quote from Kelly in the local paper:
 

Kelly called the reports "false."
 
"We didn't offer any players. We didn't get into any discussions," Kelly said. "It was just really a steep price. It's like driving into a nice neighborhood and looking at a house and saying, 'That's really nice,' and they tell you the price and you turn around and go the other way. So we didn't walk in the front door and take a look around.

"... and then we went back to our crappy house, aka Sam Bradford."

 

[dcmissle]

"... and then we went back to our crappy house, aka Sam Bradford."

So telling you the price is not a discussion?

And everyone needs to understand how narrow and formalistic the word "offer" is when used in its legal sense.

I really like Chip. I'd be doin' what he's doing right now -- lying.

 

[LondonSox]

Yup the guys you were going to trade now are important members of the team so better lie.

 

[LondonSox]

Like the Rowe pick a lot. Saw some mocks having the Eagles take him in the first.
The trade sounded weird but I'm told the two fifths for the move up and a sixth are very close to those draft values.

The hicks pick though. I mean best player available I guess, they had him as a second round pick so... But they now have Kendricks, Ryan, alonso hicks and several backups.
I think alonso and Kendricks could cover some outside but that's a lot a lot of resources.

For day 3
Oline oline oline.
Back up qb maybe a depth rb (but I think not really needed tbh)
NOT a ILB

 

[soxhop411]

Holy fuck chip

@PressACWeinberg: Chip Kelly: Evan Mathis has been available for trade for two years and there have been no offers. #EaglesDraft

 

[LondonSox]

Holy fuck chip

@PressACWeinberg: Chip Kelly: Evan Mathis has been available for trade for two years and there have been no offers. #EaglesDraft

Fwiw I follow a lot of Eagles stuff and this hasn't been reported anywhere I've seen.
He has said he hadn't received any offers so there was nothing to discuss in regard to moving him. But that first part would be news. It's also been a year since the rumours he was available have been around not two. He was extended two offseason ago.

 

[LondonSox]

Given how much the Titans seem to have wanted for MAriota, overall I think passing was a smart move. There's a non zero chance that the Titans can't use him and he's available for a song in a few years anyway! (Manziel....)
 
I hated that they weren't able to address the oline. I don't think it's a day 1 issue as long as Mathis stays. But the line is getting old bar Johnson.
In the next year or two you need two guards, one if Babre/ Tobin work out this year. And a year or so past that you need a tackle, Johnson > LT new RT. Kelce at C isn't an immediate issue.
 
Given the issues in the secondary trading up to get Rowe was probably a good move.
I would have been tempted to take a CB in the first and then Fisher at G in the second (who dropped all the way to Eagles 2nd original pick). Address WR later. But I think they drafted two really good players and potential starters in the first two picks so....
 
The Eagles clearly were hoping to get a oline in the fourth but like last year a run on the best oline available started right before the eagles and they traded back to stockpile for next year. Hard to argue with that, if the guys they wanted were gone and there wasn't a scenario of if we don't pick a guy for the line we are toast, then put yourself in a better position for that next year.

 

[Super Nomario]

Given the issues in the secondary trading up to get Rowe was probably a good move.
I would have been tempted to take a CB in the first and then Fisher at G in the second (who dropped all the way to Eagles 2nd original pick). Address WR later. But I think they drafted two really good players and potential starters in the first two picks so....

I like Rowe - he's a rare player that's both high ceiling (if he can be an effective press CB) and high floor (because he can shift to safety if CB doesn't work out) - and one of my favorite sleepers was JaCorey Shepherd of Kansas, the Eagles' sixth-rounder. He's a converted WR that made a ton of crazy on-the-ball plays like this one:

 
More at: http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/nfl-draft/2015/04/30/dave-archibalds-cb-prospect-rankings/

 

[Valek123]

Chip can't be super pleased with the latest interview with LeSean McCoy on ESPN.com.
 

 
 
You told The Philadelphia Inquirer in April that Chip doesn't "like or respect stars." What was the problem with you and Chip, and how did that relationship end?
The relationship was never really great. I feel like I always respected him as a coach. I think that's the way he runs his team. He wants the full control. You see how fast he got rid of all the good players. Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest. That's the truth. There's a reason. ... It's hard to explain with him. But there's a reason he got rid of all the black players -- the good ones -- like that. [Editor's note: The Eagles declined to comment on McCoy's statements.]

 

[ivanvamp]

It would be great if McCoy would me man enough tell us what that "reason" is that Kelly "got rid of all the [good] black players."  
 
(on another hilarious note:  how funny is it that McCoy is basically saying that all the black players still left on the Eagles must not be any good)