Gotta Let Chip Be Chip
Posted: March 14th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 346 Comments »Jeff Lurie hired Chip Kelly in January of 2013 to bring his ideas to the NFL. Kelly was a visionary coach at Oregon and led that school to the forefront of college football. Lurie didn’t want to hire just any coach. He wanted somebody unique. He wanted to take a chance on greatness.
Chip delivered good results in 2013 and 2014. His coaching methods and ideas are slowly spreading around the NFL. But the Eagles were still lacking something. Lurie decided that in order for Chip to fulfill his vision, Kelly would need complete control of the team.
Out went Howie Roseman.
And with Howie, out went a conventional way of doing things. We certainly learned that in the past 10 days. Chip does not look at a roster the same as us. He doesn’t look at a wish list the same as us. He is willing to take risks and do what on the surface seems like an insane move.
I wrote a piece recently that talked about some of the wild moves made by Seattle. Some failed, but enough worked that they put together a great team and have a Super Bowl to show for it. You won’t build a great team without taking risks.
Chip wasn’t interested in the Eagles getting better. He wants them to be great. That meant rolling the dice on some moves. If too many fail, this won’t work and Chip will be headed back to college football in the future. But if some of the moves work, the Eagles could have something special.
I’m glad Chip is working his magic. He wasn’t hired to be conventional. He wasn’t hired to be safe.
Interestingly, Joe Banner agrees with me.
VRENTAS: How is Kelly’s mindset different from other coaches and GMs in the NFL?
BANNER: There is a tremendous emphasis put on continuity in the NFL. There is a tremendous emphasis put on people who know how to do what you want them to do. And that is important, but it can become overrated, and then teams become afraid of making moves. I know Chip believes [continuity] matters, too. Anybody in the NFL who has knowledge believes that. But you can take the point too far, and then you get paralyzed. I think Chip saw an opportunity here, with him being relatively still new in his tenure, with a system he is still implementing, to not feel like he was unable to radically change the roster to be more conforming to what he wants he do, and not overrate the importance of continuity. That’s what’s refreshing here. That’s good. It’s smart. More teams should have been doing this sooner. I think maybe you’ll see it become more common now. Not to this degree; this is very significant. But to see more aggressive moves made that still value continuity, but not overvalue it.
VRENTAS: Do you think that stems from his college coaching experience, where you have to retool your roster every year?
BANNER: I think it’s that, but you also hear Chip talk openly about his belief that the only reason you continue to do something the way you’ve been doing it is because there’s a good reason, not just because it’s the way you’ve been doing it. My interactions with him, and my observations of him, are that he tends to look at everything with a new eye, and with a fresh outlook, as opposed to bringing too much conventional wisdom to it. When you are looking at the team with less of an absolute need to have continuity, then you really are open-minded to any move that can possibly make you better. And I think that is a big advantage if they are doing that. Because most teams are very hesitant to do that, and they’ll be able to kind of pick their spots and keep their eyes open for any opportunity.
The fact Chip is making the right kind of moves does not mean they are the right moves. Only time will tell on that front. The Sam Bradford deal has grown on me, but it could still end up not working out. Then you’ve got Mark Sanchez starting and you’re out a 2016 pick.
I think you can really see where there would have been issues between Howie and Chip as you think about these moves. Howie was an aggressive GM, but was also pretty conventional. He also was value-oriented. Chip is not focused on getting maximum return from his deals. He wants his players.
You can certainly fault him for not taking more time and trying to hammer out a better deal. At the very least, couldn’t he have gotten a straight swap of Foles for Bradford? Maybe. It sounds like other teams did have interest in Bradford. We don’t know how many teams had interest in Foles.
Chip didn’t want to take a chance. He made the deal.
Maybe Chip pulled the trigger because he felt QB was too important to take a chance on not working out. Maybe he coveted Bradford so much he legitimately thought it was a good deal. Or maybe Chip lacks the patience to negotiate trades for maximum value and that’s something he’s going to have to work on.
One thing Kelly is doing that will be very interesting to track is adding players with injury issues. He is taking a huge risk on the Sports Science group being able to keep these players on the field. This may prove to give the Eagles an advantage. Or it could be misplaced hope on the part of Kelly.
I don’t think he is seeking damaged goods, but the reason some good players hit the market is that they have issues, and one of them is injuries. If the Eagles can cut down on the injury factor, that allows the team to acquire talent at a reasonable cost.
I’m glad Chip isn’t playing it safe. The whole point in hiring a coach like him is to have someone that will do things differently. Be aggressive. Take risks. Don’t be afraid of the unknown.
If Kelly does fall flat on his face…so what. The Eagles weren’t a player away from winning the Super Bowl. I’d rather be a team trying to do things creatively than to be one of 25 teams all trying to do things the same way. It is that much harder to get to the top when you use the same ideas and strategies as your competition. Go for greatness.
Besides, if things don’t work out we can always give Howie back his GM job and go hire Gus Bradley after the Jaguars fire him.
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Let Chip be Chip. I feel he’s actually been holding back in terms of doing on the field what he really wants to do.
I actually think of Chip as kind of like a Russian doll. You think you understand him and pop! there’s another deeper level below. Then another. Then another. I just can’t think he’s operating out of impatience or a lack of consideration.
You want Russian Nesting Doll comrade, you get Russian Nesting Doll !
I think the same about last year.
But in my opinion, the injuries held him back in terms of what he wanted to do.
And this team improved, we can’t clearly because we still surprise with all these moves.
To me it all is a big bet on the health of Sam Bradford. Really, if that is fine the rest of the pieces have a chance to fall into place.
Yeah, it’s a risk, but not taking the big gamble pretty much renders another Groundhog Day with The Usual Suspects.
Agree with you and ICDogg. If what we were only doing results in above average then change it up. 10-6 with no playoffs or knocked out in the first round isn’t the goal. Everyone agreed change was necessary. Sometimes it takes a long time to change, Chip just did it quicker. Let’s see if it works out. I think Bradford has more talent then Foles. In 2013 before he got hurt I think he was 14 tds with 4 ints. That’s pretty good with not alot of talent around him on O. I think Chip really believes in his sports science, and you can see that in him taking in all of these injury concern players. Here’s the thing. If you don’t believe in what you are doing, then what are you doing? People do the best and create the best things when they truly believe in what they are doing. That’s what Chip is doing. Our lives are our jobs and family. His job is professional football. He is the expert not us. I don’t tell an accountant that I may hire what to do. Why would I tell Chip, or get mad at him when my opinion differs? Now if he showed no improvement in the product then this changes. However before him we were 8-8 then 4-12. We went back to back 10-6 players having their best years ever, including Mark Sanchez setting a franchise record in completion percentage. I’ll take that as progress in a league where progress isn’t easy and alot of teams remain bottom feeders for years.
If nothing else, we will never be bored during the offseason while Chip is in charge.
Omg. How did you spin this positive.
Huge FA and trade splurge and no mention of DRC, Nnamdi, Vince Young and that RB with the goal line pass(I’ve removed his name from memory)?
Has it been a huge splurge? I don’t think so, just uncoventional.
I want to wait another week and see what happens before comparing this group to 2011. Feels very different to me.
Why bother? Seriously. Does FA moves in the past dictate the present? If so, go gamble and play red every time a black number is called. Because past dictates present….
Yeah everyone likes to point out which way has been succesful building a Super Bowl, which way hasn’t been successful, but the truth is its all about the players you are chosing, and you can find the RIGHT players in the draft or free agency…. We can follow a seahawks model or whatever model, but if we don’t chose the right players it doesn’t matter,,,
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Because someone else did things a certain way and failed DOESNT mean that way wouldnt have succeeded had the right players being chosen…
.,,
It’s all about chosing the right players, and that stands for free agency and the draft…. You can build through the draft all you want, but it won’t mean shit unless you drafts he right players
2011 was banner/roseman just taking advantage of weird lockout year. this is chip taking a wrecking ball to a roster he didn’t like very much.
2011 was a desperation attempt by a dying regime.
Now is the beginning of the building blocks for the house that Chip is building.
Ronnie Brown. And he was miscast.
Has it been long enough that we can look back and laugh at this?
HELL NO !!!!
Possibly the dumbest play ever attempted in the history of the National Football League!
The butt fumble wasn’t intended but it may be the most dumbest ridiculous play I’ve ever seen.
You can’t live in fear of something that happened 1 time under a completely different regime. That’s stupid. The difference was that those players did not fit in the scheme. Playing Nnamdi in zone, Asante as slot corner. DRC was soft, seems opposite of Maxwell. Adopting the wide 9 which sounded good on paper, but we didn’t have the defense behind the line to back it up. Add a horrible draft to that off season as well. We haven’t even had a draft yet. This is in no way close to 2011 off season. I keep saying that people have to look at things in context. Saying omg it’s like 2011, we got alot of people via FA and trade is just stupid.
Greg Richards
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2 minutes ago
Ravens signed S Kendrick Lewis. One more FA option off the board. I’d rate the remaining UFA possibilities like this:
1. Dwight Lowery, Atlanta
2. Jeron Johnson, Seattle
3. Jeromy Miles, Baltimore
4. Louis Delmas, Miami(would be higher but major injury concern)
5. Stevie Brown, NY Giants
6. Kurt Coleman, Kansas City
In contrast, there are still a lot of capable CBs left on the market.
1. Tramon Williams, Green Bay
2. Tarell Brown, Oakland
3. Rashean Mathis, Detroit
4. Charles Tillman, Chicago
5. Zachary Bowman, NY Giants
6. Sterling Moore, Dallas
7. Alan Ball, Jacksonville
I have no idea how that lot of CB’s project to safety = but i would want to go in that direction over what we have left at the safety spot getting massively over paid. Safety is a horror show in this league and i would rather try something different for a positive result rather than taking someone worse than Nate Allen.
Thinking more about those players I listed at CB. I think Nolan Carroll’s skill set translates to S. When we signed him last offseason, I thought that would be the plan.
When Kelly first came to the Eagles he said he didn’t need a mobile QB and could take any players and plan his offense around them. Well, now we’re seeing that wasn’t true, or he’s changed his mind. It looks like Kelly is getting players with specific skill sets to play in his system. Interesting change in philosophy.
no change in philosophy. All together now: “What a coach says to the media has nothing to do with reality, necessarily.” If he says he needs/wants a specific type of player he quite possibly decreases leverage in negotiations for said player. There is no benefit to the organization to divulge truth to the media.
Sam Bradford isn’t a mobile QB at all.
Maybe the front office restructuring was less of a power play and more of an agreement. Think about it, Howie ended up in the perfect spot…. Chip plans work, he is vital part of the team that kept the Eagles financially sound and flexible and has intimate knowledge of how Chip operates. If Chips plan doesn’t work, he is isolate from the backlash and rebuilds as Chip goes back to college or elsewhere. Demotion or genius…
I think Sam Hinkie and Chip Kelly are way more similar than the media has realized.
One of the things that stuck out in Hinkie’s post MCW trade press conference was the idea that you don’t get better linearly, or incrementally. You need to build a great team and anyone who won’t be a part of that great team is essentially expendable.
If Eagles fans can recognize a single fact, please recognize this one:
The 2013 Eagles were as good as it was going to get under that personnel and cost structure. Nick Foles surprised everyone and played out of his mind. DeSean Jackson stretched the field. The defense was not great, but serviceable. McCoy was tremendous, the offensive line was tremendous. And that team still lost in the first round. Even if they squeaked by NO, they would have gotten killed by Seattle.
Chip recognizes that this team, as currently constructed, was maxed out. Straight up.
This offseason, he has upgraded QB (if healthy), CB, ILB. WR has been downgraded, and OL is TBD. RB is a lateral move, but I bet by the end of the year we see it as an upgrade.
But Chip wasn’t going to bank on linear improvement, because thats not guaranteed.
GB can say they’re all about linear improvement,but when you smartly draft Aaron Rodgers #22, you have that luxury.
Every team that has won a SB under the “linear” model did it because they have a great QB.
Let Chip reach for greatness guys. Fortune favors the bold.
Let Barnwell and Robert Mays and those guys try to build “smart” football teams from the ground up. Chip doesn’t have time for that.
PS. This is why Nick was guaranteed to be gone. He’s never gonna be a great QB, just doesn’t have the tool set for it.
I think RB is definitely upgraded. Good post.
Great work
Yup agree. The 2013 team caught other teams by surprise and went 10-6 and had no serious capabilities to get to a Super Bowl. In 2014, defenses adjusted and were no longer surprised…only reason we were 10-6 instead of 8-8 is because of special teams (which btw was the first part of team that got completely retooled by chip). Chip saw the flaws and limited ceiling of the team & decided to take action that could improve the eagles considerably/revolutionarily rather than linearly. All such action involves risk. Luckily for us, he’s not risk adverse.
Consensus top players this draft discussion. I am trying to get my head around who i think the top ‘tier’ of players in this draft are.
5x pass rushers – Dupree/Beasley/Gregory/Ray/Fowler
3x wide receivers – Parker/Cooper/White
2x QB – Mariota/Winston
1xDT – Williams
1xCB – Trae Waynes.
Now as a casual draft fan i find it hard to rank OL/DT prospects, so who do we need to add to this list? the reason why i ask is if their are 16-18 premium quality players there is a good chance 1 falls to 20, and our draft plan will be very much grab the best guy that falls. If it is more like the 13-14 players it will mean we miss out and will be picking from that ‘2nd’ tier of prospects, and then we can plan to focus more on fit and need over just grabbing talent.
DL Danny Shelton is there too, I think Malcolm Brown and Aril Armstesd are top 25 players in this class by some may disagree on those 2.
OL Scherff, Collins absolutely are up there and some people have Peat, Clemmings, Fisher in the 20 area
What i am trying to work out is are players like Shelton/Scherff in that same quality grade as the 12 players i listed above. Would you give any of them the same or better grade compared to a Waynes/Parker/Dupree?
Same tier as far as I’m concerned. They’re so legitimately in the discussion to be top 10 picks or at least top 15
I didn’t get any of your top guys, but I like who I got
Your score is: 6249 (GRADE: A)
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 24 (ARI): T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh (A)
Round 2 Pick 20: Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF (A)
Round 2 Pick 22 (DET): Jalen Collins, CB, LSU (A)
Round 2 Pick 23 (ARI): Derron Smith, FS, Fresno State (B+)
Round 3 Pick 20: Ali Marpet, OG, Hobart & William Smith (A)
Round 3 Pick 22 (ARI): Benardrick McKinney, ILB, Mississippi State (A-)
Round 4 Pick 14: Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor (B+)
Round 5 Pick 9: Clayton Geathers, SS, UCF (A)
Round 5 Pick 20: Zack Hodges, OLB, Harvard (B+)
Round 6 Pick 20: Zach Wagenmann, DE, Montana (B-)
Round 7 Pick 20: Vince Mayle, WR, Washington State (A)
Only top tier OL is Scherff.
Shane Ray isn’t top tier
Am I the only one who thinks Chip wouldn’t talk up Sam Bradford abs use him in a sense to get Demarco if he’s planning on moving him in a few weeks
Correct. He wouldn’t do that. Sam Bradford is his QB. He’s not part of a master plan for mariota.
Great column, Tommy. Regardless of the return value of his transactions, I believe Kelly has exhibited a willingness and a resolve to try ANYTHING to gain an edge, and for this reason, I do not think the pressure to get a ring is making his deals more critical to his employment than Howie’s or Banner’s or anyone else’s deals were to theirs. Any fan can be thrilled or pissed at a decision that Kelly makes, but damn few Eagle fans have any grounds to accuse Kelly of not doing his utmost to win. After 14 years of “sticking to the script because we’re close”, it is refreshing to see Kelly shred the script.
And on the subject of return value, Kelly has shown his focus is on keeping salaries manageable. We’re still missing some key parts, but not too many franchises have the resources to absorb a 13M dollar hit AND sign two pro-bowl RB’s. I happen to think that the current RB situation will be short-lived precisely because it appears to not be an efficient allocation of resources. Kelly has reiterated that the desire is to build from the draft, but leaning too far in that direction would fit the definition of “conventional” as Joe Banner used it.
I think the Matthews will only be here one year but will have help keep Marco fresh since he will be here for 3 years. In the end all comes down to Sam staying healthy.
http://mockdraftable.com/player/4977/
Byron Jones is an interesting player – don’t know if his tape is good enough to take at 20, and will be undoubtly gone by 52. Would be an interesting target to trade down for.
There’s limited tape for the fans but his athleticism shows on the field. I think he’s the real deal and with a shaky CB lineup after Waynes, he could be the 2nd CB taken.
Peter’s antics f***ed up the every ones’ cb boards really and Olomu who was considered a top 5 corner blowing out his knees didn’t help. Its so damn murky after Wayne
Peters is still good but I don’t see him as a first rounder anymore. Ifo is too short for my liking.
IMO the rankings are
Waynes
Jones
Collins
Peters
Johnson
Mine are generally the same Waynes, Collins, Peters, Jones, Johnson for me
Peters
Waynes
Jones
Johnson
Williams
Belichick speaks!
Looking forward to Belichick’s breakdown of the off-season after the draft is over.
Including whoever’s in the QB spot
Be shocked if Wayans makes it past 12
Jake fisher will be the pick I’m assuming at this point. His athleticism next to Lane would be bad ass in the run game. I view him as a similar guard talent to Kyle long who I was rely high on, but at RT I like him even more then Long. Day 1 starter at RG/RT of the future is fine value for #20. Frees up chip to snatch Grasu in round 2. Only players I would take at 20 instead of fisher:
1) Oklahoma NT Jordan Phillips
DE arik armstead
OLB bud Dupree
Parker if he fell? Think WR is going to soften up as draft stock with back to back deep drafts – GM’s going to start to think spend pick else where and come around in 2nd/3rd for a WR. Similar to how RB has developed.
I don’t know about everyone else but he’s the kind of kid id trade up for he’s a great fit and you can get him in the teens would love him
Yeah he is the player i want most of all (who is at all realistic) – think he could be in a Maclin like draft situation. Maybe it is just me trying to find a way for him to fall.
Yeah but Cleveland has 2 picks in front of us so it may be a reach for him tonfsll into our laps but I would gladly move up 5 spots or so to nab him, Chip is probably still a little salty he couldn’t get Beckham or Cooks so maybe he will get Parker
best WR in this draft…. be awesome if he got passed the browns, KC scares me too
Yeah I was going to add him too. Really high on him. Best WR in the entire draft as far As I’m concerned
We’re more alike than I thought lol
Wow really on that Fisher train. I think the main guys right now are Collins, Strong, Fish, Collins, based on who I currently think will be there
Fisher is built for this OL. He needs to get stronger though.
I started the damn Grasu and fisher train a year ago, if I can’t be on it, who can?
Have I not had your back on these guys?
yes sir..archives will also back that up…… this is for you Uncle Viking, 5-1 odds that 14 months from now, Deforrest Buckner will become an eagle…if the coaches liked Hart, they will LOVE HIM, as in I dont even care about the 30 other teams, he will be an eagle,… knowing chip will over draft the guys he absolutely LOVES….. you can write Deforrest Buckner down in Pen…
Deforrest Buckner.
Duly noted.
Will monitor.
Signed,
Zio Viking
Well I’ve always been on the Grassu train 😉
i make mistakes, not as frequently as most 🙂 lol but I make them too……. but i dont mind because mistakes provide the most opportunity for growth, and I do try to learn from every mistke I have ever made……
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rewind exactly 2 years ago, you can see my predraft posts, i was pretty convinced that Dion Jordan, Lane Johnson or Jonathon Cooper would be the Eagles 1st round pick…. I had Dion Jordan as the player I thought would be the highest on Chips wish list, if we missed out on him,. Lane was a no brainer, but if the top 2 picks were smart enough to take him, I thought we could trade back a few spots and get the athletic Guard Jonathon Cooper…
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One of the big reasons I thought we would take Dion if him and Lane were available because I knew how good Kyle Long could be, but I figured he would last til it was our turn to pick in round 2, so we would have been able to get Dion and a high quality OL….. fortunately Miami threw a monkey wrench in our plans and we went with Lane, because Kyle Long ends up not even making it past 23, yet no one in any mock draft had Kyle Long as a Rd1 pick…
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so now, im trying to learn from that past mistake two years ago, The Bears new better then anyone with a mock draft becxause long already has a probowl under his belt
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now i LOOK at the mocks and no one has Fisher in round 1… yet I know that as a Guard, he projects similar to Kyle Longs level, but I like him way more then I like Kyle Long as an NFL RT….and Fisher doesnt have the red flags Long had, and his college tape will make teams feel much better then Longs did, since Kyle played sporadically.
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even as strictly a RG, his athleticism and his experience at our tempo makes him worth the 20th pick next to Lane Johnson… think they would form a potent right side for Demarco to run behind… but I see no reason he cant be just as good at RT. starting G next year, RT of the future is absolutely worth the 20th pick, even if i cant find a mock draft to back up that statement…. Just the experience in our tempo is HUGE!
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1) Knowing he has the athleticism and conditioning to handle playing at our high pace tempo…
2) Just as IMPORTANT is the fact that we Know he can play and practice at our crazy tempo every day and still keep the weight on, which is an aspect of projecting draft prospects that is NEVER MENTIONED by fans or media
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Cant assume that every quality OL prospect can play at our tempo, and cant assume they can all keep their weight where we need it to be practicing and playing at our tempo….
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there are some OL who I like slightly more if im speaking generally without factoring into the scheme they have to play in…. But Im perfectly fine with the talent level of Grasu and Fisher, and i like the comfort of knowing they can handle our practice methods and game tempo, plus we already know their character,.,,
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they are both talented enough that it makes mne want to eliminate the guess work and draft them instead over an OL with a slightly higher grade…
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I think both Grasu and Fisher can start at Guard next year, and I love the versatility of fisher being able to play Tackle and Grasu can fill in at Center if we need him to. people dont want to hear it, but truth is Grasu may become a better Center then the great Kelce two years from now. He is that talented…. but Kelce is elite so no reason to replace him even if someoneone is slightly better….. but there is NO backup Center that we can find that we will want to play at center instead of Grasu if Kelce gets hurt… so id just slide Grasu over at center if Kelce ever needs to miss time and have a guard come in to replace Grasu’s guard spot
wanting to draft Fisher in round 1, is me LEARNING from My Mistake of thinking we could get Dion and still get Kyle Long in round 2 because Long was never mocked as a top 20 player…. wont make that mistake with Fisher,
Al Davis did wacky stuff all the time.
Once upon a time, for about 30 years, he was a genius.
Then he became a know-nothing.
Davis did things his way starting in 1964 ’til the day he died. Didn’t give a damn what anyone thought about him or his decisions.
And Davis built a franchise that had the greatest sustained success in NFL history.
Is Kelly as good as Davis? LONG WAY TO GO TIL HE PROVES THAT.
I think I’d give that title to the Steelers.
Steelers didn’t get good until 1972. That run ended in ’79.
Didn’t get good again ’til mid-90s.
Raiders under Davis: from 1964 – 2001.
Take a look at their respective records.
And IQ of fan bases.
Steelers fans may be morons, but have you seen Raiders fans? Let’s be honest, we’re all morons.
I’ve never had to dispatch any bums from Oakland in Penn State watering holes……………. Pittsburgh fans on the other hand……………..
Powered by roids. Those Steeler teams in the 70s were fradulent cheaters.
The Raiders weren’t?
Not even close to the same level of cheating.
Very interesting comparison.
Here’s how I see it. Why not take big-time risks? You keep the status quo and you’re likely to continue the status quo which is a playoff team or non-playoff team with a sometimes impressive, sometimes not QB that isn’t likely to advance far. Basically the Bengals. So you roll the dice and maybe Bradford becomes your franchise QB. Or maybe he blows out his knee again, Sanchez is what he is, and you have a really bad record. That bad record then becomes your best shot at getting a franchise QB.
Its risky but if Sammy stays healthy k think he’s better than Nick. I would be shocked if Sam is healthy and sucks the dude had a good rookie year and was coming on in 2013 with 21 TDs and 13 INT in a bad offense then had 14 and 4 before the acls started
We’ll see. He was playing above-average right before the ACLs, which is hopeful, and this system should bring out more of his skills. He definitely has much more athletic/physical skill than Foles, but … sometimes the intangibles really aren’t there. Felt like Foles had a good amount of that, with very good results (W-L) even if he didn’t always look great. Bradford likely has a lot more upside so there is hope (and perhaps he fits much better with what Chip wants to do) but he never realized that hope while playing before. I’m sure he will be better in our offense than he ever was in St. Louis, but we haven’t really watched him closely yet to find out what his fatal flaws may be 😉 I can see taking the risk though.
There’s a great scene in the movie, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” where the hero, Randall Patrick McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson), attempts something damn near impossible. Something his peers were afraid to even try. At the conclusion of his efforts, he says, “But I tried, didn’t I goddamnit, at least I did that.” I find that attitude inspiring. Sure seems to me that Chip is at least trying, goddamnit, and I’ll give him a ton of credit for that.
There are some YouTube clips of the whole scene if you’re interested. I figured too long to post.
Dan Snyder tries every year . . . just his decisions turn out badly.
Same with Jerry Jones — between Johnson and Parcells.
Too soon to know what’s going to happen.
The difference is in who’s doing the trying. There’s not much difference between an eight year old child trying and Dan Snyder trying. They both have about the same degree of emotional maturity, and the same ability to delegate or admit what they don’t know.
“The difference is in who’s doing the trying.”
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Why?
Because Kelly’s a “football” guy?
That sounds like conventional wisdom.
Seriously, seems a bit early to pull out the firecrackers and barbecue to celebrate winning the next SB.
Kelly has no track record.
Not to say Bradford won’t put up numbers (if Sanchez did, Bradford — if he’s upright — must be able to).
But we don’t know anything about anything of the so-called puzzle that Kelly claims to be piecing together.
Just sayin’ . . . at the moment, we’re in the pre-roasting stage.
It’s not a matter of Kelly is more capable than other people. It’s more a matter of Snyder being more incapable than other people. His decision making seems like “going for it”, but it’s not, actually. It’s just mindless reaction, constantly snapping up the prettiest prizes without any regard to how they might work. If you were to put them on a continuum, With Chip on one end, and “conventional wisdom” in the middle, Snyder would be on the opposite end, over in “do dumb shit that sounds great but shows a complete lack of basic human awareness” end of things.
“It’s more a matter of Snyder being more incapable than other people.”
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Ok . . . you got me!!!
I would say the difference is with every Chip Kelly move it’s something he’s thought through. It’s part of his philosophy, and something he believes in.
Snyder and JJ are businessmen. They are just acting like businessmen throwing around cash to fix everything. They build rosters like an 8 year old playing madden.
I’m just sayin’ that Chip is all-in, and that I admire him for that. I also think he has an underlying vision of what he wants his football team to be like. We may not agree with him and he may fall on his face. I see this as different from others, especially from Snyder, who seems to chase after whatever shiny object is dangled in front of him without any consistent vision.
PPK:
What’s your son think about all this activity?
ACViking – My 12 year-old is now on top of the world as a result of your asking. Very classy of you. Thank you.
Here’s his take. He thinks Chip made a ballsy but mistaken move getting rid of Shady, and was lucky that Murray came up for grabs. He also loves that we are sticking it to the Cowboys. He thinks taking Bradford is too big a gamble. He said Chip has an idea set in his mind that Bradford is going to play better than he actually will.
PPK . . .
Please tell your son he’s wise beyond his years.
Great break-down. Very credible.
And a very interest on Kelly – Bradford. Too soon to argue against.
raising that kid right i see….
Hero?
Yup. Even if you don’t like the character, in both the novel and the flick he is definitely placed as a heroic agent.
Mmmmmm……. juicyfruit
Cool.
Can someone well me why we havent signed Cecil Shorts to a team friendly 2/3 year deal already? He is 6 ft tall, has the speed and all he does is catch quick timing passes and create yards between the zones after the catch. I know he is no elite talent but he seems like exactly the kind of receiver that could have a career year in our offense. Also, as far as I know, he is a high character kind of dude.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-azabHyMzw
His name has been tossed around by a few folks here.
Right. So. Any particular reason we wouldn’t sign him? Is kind of what I am getting at. Anyone knows what he is asking or if there has been any talks at all? If I were him, I’d be dying to come to this team and catch a boat load of catches. I mean, we have a dynamic offense that gave four different receiver a career year the last two years. And his main competition for targets on the outside is a wr whose primary skillsets are blocking and using substantial amounts of hair conditioner.
he is a slot WR, we have plenty of slot weapons….. need an outside WR. I would actually love to see what Cecil can do in this offense but it makes no sense when we have a big hole at outside WR
I am curious about this. What makes you think he cant play outside? He is 6.0, over 200 lbs and runs pretty neat routes from what I understand. Looks like a hands catcher too. He may not win a lot of jump balls, but neither did Maclin..
Even if we wanted him, we want to let this market settle down, week 2 is where you can start picking over the bargin bin. a 1 year prove it deal could be very attractive for both parties. If he is healthy he could come here 1 year and get PAID.
We don’t have a lot of cap room left. There are still teams out there with a lot of cap room. Guys like Shorts are hoping for big $ deals. If/when it gets to a point that cap room league-wide has dried up then I’d expect our situation would be attractive and a WR might sign a 1-year deal with us and hope Chip’s offense gives him stats and he can cash in next year. We’re not to that point yet.
Yeah we are around 7 M right? Were really tight and until Sam and/or Meco get new deals we will kind of have to sit on our hands
Wow, ok. I never imagined he would go for a deal in that range. I figured he would be more in range for the deal we made with Cooper. Around 5,5 mil a year or so. Guess we will have to wait and see.
I think my favorite thing about Chip is his indifference towards conventional wisdom. I believe he prefers actual wisdom over conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is just a shorthand for “we do things this way because that’s how they’re done.”
I deal with this with people all the time with software. Why is that certain thing done that way? Because that’s how it’s done, is often the answer, with little to no regard for why it’s done that way, or how anyone ever started doing things that way. If you understand the “why”, you can look intelligently about whether or not it still applies to the current situation. If it does, it’s actual wisdom. If not, it’s useless habit.
The story I always tell people to show how this works is this: a woman is preparing to cook a pot roast for her husband. He watches as she preps it by cutting a slice off of each end before putting it in the roast pan. While it’s cooking, he asks her, “why do you cut the ends off?” She realizes she doesn’t know, makes up some weird reason, and finishes with, “that’s just how it’s done.” She learned the recipe from her mother, so of course there must be a good reason. After letting this gnaw at her for a couple of days, the woman calls her mother up and asks, “why do you cut the ends off a roast before roasting? Does it do something with the flavor? Something to do with juices?” Her mother says, “oh, we only ever had a very small roast pan. We had to cut the ends off to fit it in the pan.”
Good point, great story.
So, you think we are going to sign Pot Poast?
(Great perspective.)
It’s going to be a training camp battle between him and Trash Can.
Here’s what new and different.
We’re 5 days into free agency, and the Eagles — the team of Banner and Roseman — have just $3.05 million in cap space remaining (includes $5M for draft pool).
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/cap/
Pretty interesting stuff.
Draft pool won’t cost 5M
I hate this “includes $5M for draft pool” nonsense. You don’t need $5M to sign your rookies. Only the top 51 count against the cap right now and when you slot in a rookie their base salary cancels out that of another player in the top 51. So while the sum of the individual cap hits of the players(or the team’s “rookie pool”) may total $5M the net cap affect of the players on a team’s cap is really just the total of each of their’s prorated signing bonuses. That is typically closer to $3M.
Honestly it probably won’t even be 3 probably closer to 2 ish
Yeah, at one point I started to add up what the net cap hit of the 2014 rookies was but then I just got lazy and settled on $2-3M.
Thing is that the draft picks will push people off the 51 roster, so you really only need the first picks contract value worth of cap space.
They leave 5 for the case of trade up – since that is about what you need for a top 3 pick. But yes we will be only needing about 2mil of that for picks – so we have about $6mil of cap.
No trading into top 5 I hope
Okay.
The Eagles have $8 million in available cap spaced.
So much better, eh?
All I’m saying is, DIFFERENT TIMES
Closer to $6M. Still not a ton. It’d be nice to have some room to extend Kendricks.
GR:
The cap-hit in 2014 for the Eagles 2014 draft class was about $4.5 million.
Not sure what you’re saying about the $3M.
Yes but you have to remember that only the top 51 are counted so those rookies pushed guys off the roster. The Eagles didn’t lose 4.5M I’m space because some dudes who previously counted were taken off
Got it . . . “net” of player moves.
In the meantime, though, through training camp, I think NFL teams still have to remain cap compliant.
Yeah so you’re right about them taking up close to 5 M but we won’t need 5 M in cap to sign them but I’m hoping we carry over 5M + anyway because of Kendricks
Only top 51 players from a cap standpoint count against the cap until final cuts.
GM Belichick.
Thank you.
So what’s the point of the “set aside” for the draft pool?
The rookie pool is not really necessary now. It was a holdover from the old CBA. It was used then to make teams fit their rookie contracts within a certain pool so that they didn’t pay their rookies too much and more money was left over for the veterans. Under the new CBA, each draft pick has an automatic corresponding financial slot so the rookie pool is somewhat useless.
Sorry . . .
What I meant is what’s the point of using the draft-pool dollars to lower the available cap dollars?
You do need the cap room to sign the players, but people forget that other than the first and maybe second rounders the other guys either won’t be on the 51 or will be net neutral on the 51. Like others have said, it’s really closer to 2-3 million net. People just get confused and add the sum rather than the net.
Yeah but they push like $3m worth of the top 51 off the roster. you have to look at it as contract cost – player it replaces, not just the cash value.
Other than the first or second round guys the cap hits are so small that the players they are effectively replacing are roughly equivalent.
I.e. If we draft a ILB in the third round. He’s going to have around a half million dollar cap hit. But he’s effectively taking the place of Acho, who has a cap hit of $585k so from a cap space standpoint it didn’t affect anything.
Temporary. Few players will be traded away, Bradford will get 20mil guaranteed spread out over a few seasons, and if we need money to sign someone, Meco and possibly Celek know they have to restructure. Curious to see when it’s all said and done if we roll over any money like we do every year
I don’t Brad will get that much guaranteed on his new deal
HE has a 1yr deal for 13mil, you have to give him MORE Guaranteed money to even entice him into taking an extension… if he already getting 13, `15mil to get locked into a long term deal is not enough…. dont see how you can get it done under 20mil
He knows he wouldn’t get anywhere near that if he got cut…so there’s always that
he knows we wont cut him now…. need to give him a realistic incentive to give up a 13mil pay day this year, but with his injury history, i assume we can get something done at a decent price to give him a little more security in exchange for him giving us some cap space…. I dont think anything less then 20 will get it done, and if we arent comfortable with that,, then we have to bite the bullet and pay him 13, find cap space elsewhere…..but considering practically every QB, WR and RB who plays in chips system has a career year, dont know how smart it would be to let him play out this year, risk inflating his stats and be in a similar position as we were with Maclin this offseason…
…
guys like Maclin and Bradford with that type of injury history, they almost have no choice but to take the highest offer they can get knowing it could be the last NFL contract they get if they get hurt again/…..
…
so if chip believes in this kid and believes in the doctors who cleared him for us, I would prefer we work something out now, even if its only a two yr extension…….. this kid has had crappy weapons, and a new Offensive coordinator every year… one thing we can count on is chip will make the game easier for Bradford than it has been since he entered the NFL, hopefully we can keep him healthy. because if we keep this kid healthy, It can pay off in a monster way….. there are some really respected scouts who have him as the best QB prospect nbehind Andrew Luck…
I thought he would be great coming out. He’s had rotten luck for sure, but he hasn’t done a damn thing to earn $13M other than a great college career. We could ship him to the Browns for their 1st since they obviously have no idea what they want to do at QB.
And if we’ve learned anything after this week, no one is untouchable.
chip certainly didn’t use Bradford to trick Demarco Murray into signing with us,,,,
…
I’m sure plenty of players are untouchable, but not the ones we just added, and most likely not many of the ones that were added since chip arrived…
Well I think he will be nice to us lol, also I don’t think it will we long term just 2 or 3 years max and if the dude gets injured he will get cut so then that 13M isn’t so guaranteed I think his restructure will be a quasi pay cut like 3/30/12 he seems open to it
We traded Nick FOles and a 2nd round pick for him…. I assume he knows we aren’t going to cut him this year
Right, you of all people here definitely knows whats going to happen over the next couple weeks.
Preach on.
49ers sign CB Shareece Wright and re-sign CB Chris Cook
WR Stevie Johnson visiting Patriots
WR Dwayne Bowe visiting Browns
Everybody in the NFC West is now wide open.
Niners 4-12.
Still Seahawks division they’ll win by 2+ games
At least.
Everyone is leaning towards drafting WR high but there’s some later round guys (that probably will rise) that can be very productive players for us.
Chris Conley
Antwan Goodley
Nelson Agholor
Tre McBride
Deandre Smelter
Kenny Bell
Rashad Greene
Will Greene be that late?
I see him as a 3rd rounder
He’s too small, won’t be able to block in the NFL.
He’s 5’11 180 and runs a 4.53. He’s a nice complimentary receiver but he’s not a 1 or a 2. He’s fringe top 100.
Of this group, Conley’s the most likely to show up at NovaCare having fully digested Kelly’s offense and with a notebook full of questions . . .
The way JMatthews did.
He’s set the template for how to do an interview with the Eagles.
The same way super agent-for-coaches Bob LaMonte invented the story his clients would tell about “I’ve been piecing together this notebook of how to be a HC since I was 3 years old.”
That would be the smart thing to do since we get WRs paid.
Coates as well. Very high character individual. Would you rather have Cooper who can…… Block or a guy who destroys cbs when blocking and is so many more times of a RAC threat? Plus he has the deep speed.
Sorry to break it to you but Coates isn’t very good as a WR.
Lol, sorry to break it too you but he is a shit ton better than Cooper. What don’t you like about him? His deep ball? Ok, well he’s not going in the first, everyone out of the first has weaknesses. He is a tough kid with good character and amazing physical talent. Have you watched him play or just know he struggles with the deep ball, hence he is shit?
You need focus and hands to play WR. Don’t get so butthurt when I point out facts.
No, it’s annoying when when you say, so and so sucks and then provide no evidence to support your point. I admit he does have problems with the deep ball but to discount him as a receiver entirely is ignorant.
No proof? Have you watched him play besides watching his highlights?
Yeah, have you? His physical skills are incredible. Only dropped one pass at his pro day. As I said several times already, I realize he struggles with drops on the DEEP ball sometimes not the intermediate or short and for every drop he has an incredible catch. He is inconsistent. Once again, I’m not advocating a first rounder and some of the WR you listed above have inconsistent hands too. In summation, as stated before, he is worth a late 2 early third (which is what you were talking about above) and has the explosive physical game you would want, while having inconsistent hands on the DEEP ball and to discount him completely is ignorant.
I get your argument since he’s basically baby TO if he reaches his potential. That’s if he reaches that potential. Other than that, he’s pretty much Stephen Hill.
Yes but I would add, Coates’ RAC potential is SOO much more than Hill.
Kelvin Benjain had bad hands too… Doubt too many people would pass on him these days if they had a chance at drafting him
Ehh I still would if he was in this draft.
Even in the second round?!?!
Depends on who else is there. Cooper has really made me sour about bad hands.
Cooper is a hot stack of poo but you are telling me if you had a choice between Cooper and Coates, you would take Cooper?
I’d gamble on Coates. Cooper is on my shit list until he gets 1000+ yards a year.
Coates has inconsistent hands but several other borderline elite qualities but we should probably just take him off the board…….
No thanks… I see value in him if he falls far enough
A couple days ago, there was talk about the worst trade ever by the Eagles x2, as well as, let Maclin walk.
What is your biggest emotional loss as an Eagles Fan…
mine… Dawkins
Dawkins. I’ve cooled down so much from my in the moment ranting
Dawk is the only one that still gets to me.
White and Brown, for different reasons obviously.
During the Eagles/Pats Superbowl run… “Bring it home for Jerome” was one of our chants.
Reggie White. Not even close.
I beg to differ
I don’t. I’m 100% with him – and it’s not even close with me either.
Could be generational.
And Reggie was in his prime and earned every dollar in Green Bay.
Dawk haunted us more than he helped Denver. I missed him when he left, but I didn’t have to vomit watching him play almost as many years for some a-hole team other than ours.
born in the early 70’s. Reggie was a great loss, I believe it was the first year of free agency. Who owned the team… was it still Braman?
Then you have me by a few year, but yes Braman owned the team. And Tom Gamble enabled that departure.
Yes, and if you ask nice, maybe ACViking can tell you a story of how shitty an owner Braman was. Let’s just say we’re lucky we’re not fans of the LA Eagles and leave it at that.
I think it was going to be the Phoenix Eagles.
God, I think you’re right. And that is so, so much freaking worse. I have an inverse erection now, the exact opposite of what happens when you’re aroused.
That is known as an “Eli” I believe.
WELL PLAYED, SIR.
Yes. That was about the only thing that softened the blow… deep down we knew that Braman wouldn’t step up and pay him what he was worth, so we knew it was coming. I don’t think Braman even made an offer or counteroffer. I think White was later quoted as wishing Lurie had bought the team a couple years earlier. Green Bay had been terrible for decades at that point but that signing (and of course getting Favre) was the start of turning that franchise around, and he did get his ring (though he was fading by then).
But losing him was like the Giants losing Lawrence Taylor or the Texans losing JJ Watt (maybe after a couple more years), in an era where we weren’t used to players changing teams as much.
Jerome Brown would be hard to match for its suddenness. He and White were looking like we’d have an unstoppable pass rush for years (and while we did pretty good without him… would have been amazing with him).
Sorry, but there’s no comparison. Letting Dawk go hurt, but it made sense. Denver paid way more than he was worth, even though he did better than expected.
Reggie leaving was unexpected, unwanted, indefensible, you name it. It was such a big deal that the landscape of the entire NFL was changed in the aftermath. There was no justification, no good reason, no solace.
And Dawk is one of the greatest players at his position of all time, but Reggie was simply one of the greatest players of all time, at any position. No one has EVER come close to what he was. If you don’t think so, chances are you never watched him play.
Jerome Brown without a doubt, but of players that were released/traded:
DeSean Jackson. We haven’t seen many “best ever” Eagles during our lifetime, especially at a glamor position like WR. Jackson was well on his way to the top of the Eagles’ all time receiving list and would have probably topped Carmichael’s numbers in five fewer seasons.
I’d say Jerome Brown affected me the most in a sadness way, and Jackson affected me the most in a pissed off way.
Diccsean:
2012 – 2 TDs
2011 – 4 TDs
2010 – 6 TDs
2008 – 2 TDs
Jaccson was far from the most productive Eagle. Doesn’t matter how many shiny flashy catches he made. Too few of them were in the endzone.
I miss Dawk, Reggie, and Jerome. I also missed Keith Jackson. He was unbelievable.
And while we’re still on the topic of that Eagles team, Eric Allen was another favorite of mine before he left for the saints and raiders.
Losing my favorite coach in the history of Philly sports, Jim Johnson RIP… The next saddest day will be when Vinny Curry is no longer an eagle..
how abt this draft??
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 32 (N.E.): Jake Fisher, OT, Oregon (B)
Round 2 Pick 20: Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State (A)
Round 2 Pick 23 (ARI): Marcus Peters, CB, Washington (A)
Round 2 Pick 24 (PITT): Jordan Phillips, DT, Oklahoma (A)
Round 2 Pick 25 (CAR): Ali Marpet, OG, Hobart & William Smith (B-)
Round 2 Pick 27 (DEN): Nelson Agholor, WR, Southern California (C+)
Round 2 Pick 30 (G.B.): Byron Jones, CB, Connecticut (C)
Round 2 Pick 32 (N.E.): Hroniss Grasu, C, Oregon (B+)
Round 3 Pick 20: Josh Shaw, CB/FS, Southern California (A-)
Round 3 Pick 22 (ARI): D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida (C-)
Round 3 Pick 25 (CAR): Sammie Coates, WR, Auburn (A)
Round 3 Pick 28 (DEN): Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor (B-)
Round 4 Pick 14: Kurtis Drummond, FS, Michigan State (D+)
Round 5 Pick 9: Clayton Geathers, SS, UCF (A)
Round 5 Pick 20: Jake Ryan, OLB/ILB, Michigan (B+)
Round 6 Pick 20: Zach Wagenmann, DE, Montana (B-)
Round 7 Pick 20: Antwan Goodley, WR, Baylor (D)
lol, that’s a Sam Hinkie second round right there.
Strong! And no scramble trash at QB!
Strong and Smith buddy! And he threw in Coates for me.
You picked up six second round and three third round picks by dropping 12 spots in the first round? That seems… a little disassociated from reality….
Lol, I think he knows.
So not the point!
Make it happen, Chip!
That’s filthy lol
I’m still waiting to see what he does in the draft.
I am happy with the overall result, but cognizant of the fact that the approbation of this offseason is predicated on the signing of one player: DeMarco Murray. Take away that one signing and everyone is still in “Chip Kelly is fucking up” mode.
Take away the one trade (primarily Foles for Bradford) and not many people are questioning anything
Maybe, but to paraphrase Didinger before the Murray signing: “In two years, the Eagles went from the team with the top offensive weapons in the league to the team with the worst.”
I still think people would be upset about that, even without the Bradford deal.
if you have faith in chips ability to do anything at the NFL level,. personally I would trust him the most with being able to find WR’s and RBs that can succeed in his system….
To me, Didinger is the most overrated media guy out there. People talk about Didinger with reverence, “Well, the mighty Didinger said this, so it must be taken into account…”. Maybe I’m not old enough, but I have never seen one piece of quality journalism from Didinger.
Can’t expect an old man who is an NFL historian to side with chip.. He is exactky the type of old boys NFL network who we hired chip to be different from, so he is the wrong person to look to for an understanding of what chip is doing…
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He is ok at looking at film and being able to tell fans what happened, he is a very good NFL historian, but other then that he is completely over rated…
..
His understanding of draft prospects is terrible. There is NO REASON why anyone should listen to a single word he says about draft prospects, and he is horribke at thinking ahead and trying to accurately predict what will happen..
…
But with Chip kelly as our coach, a guy who won’t do it the way it’s always been done, it renders Didinger pretty useless..
With our qb situation we were never tops. And I like other wr’s more too. I just don’t think this is true.
We didn’t have the top offensive weapons in the league two years ago and we don’t have the worst offensive weapons in the league now.
When you speak of weapons, you don’t count the QB. The QB is the one that uses the weapons.
That said, I think the sentiment is valid: LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin were arguably the best combination of offensive weapons in the league. McCoy is one of the top RBs in the NFL and Maclin, the #2 receiver, was just signed for 11 million a year as a #1.
On the flipside, when Didinger made his comment, Cooper/Huff/Matthews with Sproles/Polk were arguably the worst combination of offensive weapons in the league.
You could still argue that the Eagles have the worst group of wide receivers in the league. Obviously the situation at RB has changed.
Teams with worse offensive skill position groups than us:
Raiders
Ravens
Panthers
Browns
Vikings
Rams
Titans
The release of Shady made sense if the plan was to go cheap at RB. Trading Shady and then immediately signing injury prone backs for more money is defensible but still a head scratcher
But if the plan was “we need to get a guy to hit the holes and not dance around behind the line of scrimmage” then you can set aside that head scratching inconsistency in the plan. If it wasn’t about the money, but the style, you can go cheap or you can go expensive: you are looking for the best value for the style you want to play.
Add in a successful signing of Maclin and McCourty, and we’re singing a different tune as well. You can’t say we didn’t go all in on those two, within reason. Not Chip’s fault McCourty took less to stay in NE, or that KC WAAAAAYYYY overpaid Maclin.
Had we got them both I don’t think Demarco or Graham are Eagles and doing the Bradford trade might’ve been a little trickier too
I think the plan was Maclin, Maxwell, McCourty, Gore, Matthews (plus whoever else). Just my guess. I do believe Chip when he says they didn’t think Murray was an option at first. And I also agree with you, that with McCourty and Maclin signed, Murray would have been harder, if not impossible. I don’t think it would have impacted the Bradford deal either way. No matter what happens, I fully expect Bradford to be renegotiated.
Yeah I think that was the plan but that plan is way more expensive and because McCourty wanted to go back it was impossible. Still getting Murray and Graham with Thurmond as a bonus is alright and I too expect a new deal for Bradford soon
It’s funny, I’m OK with Maclin leaving, though it hurts, but I’m still pissed about McCourty. We could technically have all this plus him, and then we have a top notch defense. Maybe we ditch Matthews. That would be a very good team.
No matter what, this all hinges on whether SB stays healthy. If he does, this is a better team, with no question about it in my book. With or without McCourty or Maclin.
But damn, with McCourty? This defense would be freaking amazing.
Yeah you’d probably be losing Walter and Matthews. Maybe you’d have to dance a little to get Graham but boy would be filthy on D but that bastard wanted to go player in NE lol. Maclin should never make 11M for us we will draft a dude
I think Devin Smith would be exactly what we need. Speed, hands, etc. DJax without the bullshit. Someone like that lets everyone else do better. Especially with a healthy Bradford, who can put the ball where it needs to be.
See my mock above I absolutely am in favor of him, maybe even in round 1 if we trade back
I know we signed a bunch of guys with past injuries, but Injuries are such a major part of this game that I don’t view us as any more of an injury risk then any other team, and any past Eagle team.
…
We can put together the healthiest 53 players in the league and going into the season i would still risk injuries as one of the important factors that will dictate whether we contend or not….I’m not worried about this years teams injuies more then I ever worried about tpast eagle teams staying healthy going into a season…Injuries are such an important part about how these seasons unfold that I’m ALWAYS concerned, every single offseason im worried about the next years injuries, so for me, nothing really changes….. Heck we went into last season knowing how important Maclins healthy would be on our season after losing Desean and only having Coop and two rookies to count on
…
The defense will be so drastically improved, that while I wish we had McCourty, I’m not losing sleep over it….like two, three defenders away from a truely elite defense. But yes McCourty would have been perfect…
…
But the lack of interest in the safety market after missing out on McCourty who was the most expensive safety available makes me think they are in the middle of concocting a trade to fill that posituon, knowing how crappy this safety class is..
,,.
I also don’t view Wolff, Reynolds and Jaylen Watkins as chopped liver. Just because rookie didn’t provide instant gratification, doesn’t mean we can rule him out
Only one I’m super worried about is Bradford he’s the most important player on the team and I pray that he stays healthy
Pretty damn excited to see what Chip can do with SAM and Marco.. Bradford is a real talent… I like that a ton of time is passing since Bradford got injured, they really took the time with his injury. Reaaly excited to see what Chip can do with a kid with such a talented skill set. if this kid goes on to have a healthy career as the franchise QB if the Eagles it could go down as the crowning Moment of Chips NFL career….. It’s really a BIG BALLS, swing for the fences type of move. Of course, I would love to have a lessor level of bust potential, but like Chip said, you don’t even have a chance at getting a talent like this had he never been injured,,, hopefully our trainers/sports science, and the OL we build around him can allow him to have a long healthy Eagles career… Fortunately he is a pocket passer, rather then a guy getting over an ACL like RG3 who is NOTHING without his ability to run the ball. not only is a QB more at risk taking hits from NFL beasts when a QB runs a lot, but running QBs overcoming knee injuries also are at risk of re injuring themselves with all the cutting they do, running with the ball, avoiding NFL defenders..
..
Keep SAM well protected in the pocket, Ball out quickly behind a top offensive line, only running when the defense doesn’t respect you, at wish poïnt, pick up 10 yards and slide…
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can ABYONE think of if SAM is good at sliding off the top of their heads? If he can slide, that will put him ahead of any QB we had since before VICK… it’s amazing how poor our QBs have been at sliding… The SUMMER OF SAM should be very interesting,,
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Never been a sanchez fan, never got carried away with him last year during the good times but I do recognize him as one of the best 3 back-up QBs in the NFL, and while I will NEVER buy him as a quality starter, I do think we haven’t seen his best in this offense yet.,, I assume another year in this offense, more continuity throwing at our WR’s will provide a better mark sanchez then what we saw last year. I do think he is good enough to keep him in the playoff hunt if he has to play a 5 game stretch… But If SAM misses more time then that, we are screwed..
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Hopefully years of bad injury Karma got it out of his system and he is ready to really start to fullfill his true NFL potential. If that happens, good chance Chip will end up smelling like roses.. If Mariota had 2 ACL injuries under his belt, he would have nothing on Bradford
My concern is I don’t know if Bradford will have that “Clutch Gene” I know Nick has, that give us a chance to win at the end of every game no matter what happened in the first half…. that’s my biggest question outside of the injury,.. But in terms of QB talent/skillset, Bradford is an upgrade to my beloved FOles in most areas…….. I’m just afraid that he won’t have that clutch gene I love in Nick…I don’t have any reason to think that he doesn’t, but I haven’t seen it the way I always saw it in Nick… No matter what ever happened in games, Nick always made me feel like we would be ok in the 4th…. Hopefully Bradford can compare in that Regard…. But it’s been a long time since I really paid much attention to him…I. In the middle of downloading the torrents of his ram games, curious to go back and see him for myself
Dr. Andrews was consulted.
Yea he’s great for sure but he was also consulted on RGIII as well. There’s only so much even a brilliant surgeon like Andrews can determine with an MRI or even a direct look with a knee scope.
McCourty chose to stay with his Super Bowl-winning team! He turned down several other teams.
Yes, I’m well aware of what he did. He was calling Belicheck to tell him he was joining the Eagles, but that jackass talked him out of it. He ended up staying there for less. My point is that the Eagles were all in, and did everything they reasonably could. And I praise the for that. The result is not as we would like, but there was a plan, and well executed; it just didn’t work in the end for reasons outside their control.
You are right Re McCourty and plan. But Chip better has a plan B. We can debate Bradford, Murray all we want. But I don’t get the plan at Safety – at all. There are bascially no FA left.
Chip better has a trade up his sleeve, or he better has two draft prospect in the 2nd or 3rd round (because you can never count on getting one) he really likes. Because that hole at Safety, it’s as big as it gets in the NFL. There is no player next to Jenkins who you can feel even OK starting.
I’m not ruling out Watkins or Wolff, but it’s a really, really bad idea to just give them the job. They have to earn it.
Couple of things. Great read. Really enjoyed it.
….
Why do people say Chip is “trying”? You know, if this doesn’t work, he’ll try something out. Is he putting on a blind fold and just trying darts? I thought Chip charts everything. If Chip sees a pattern(say, an offensive play) isn’t quite getting he job done, he tweaks. He’s not out there saying “ok, let’s try a deep pass” Well, that didn’t work — anybody an to try a screen? Success and fail are different than “trying”….
….
Also — why do people keep saying “well, if Chip fails, he’ll go back to college”. I don’t think that’s the case. I mean, if he wants to sure. But I think I can say with confidence that if Chip was fired today, his phone would blow up with messages about jobs in the nfl.
…..
Finally — this is just my personal opinion — Chip is not here to build a dynasty(as people have said in the past). Chip is here to win the SB. Maybe multiple SB’s. But, according to Chip, the NFL is a yearly process. I think that’s he approaches it. So far he’s proven, that even after a successful season, he’s willing to blow up the team and start anew — and ANYBODY on that roster can be a casualty. Chip knows that what worked this year, may not work next year and he’s going to adjust accordingly. That’s why people keep saying “I don’t understand Chip”. That’s because we’re programmed to expect a normal process. That’s not Chip. (for normal, go see what the Rams do each FA season.). Chip looks to improve everything and anything he can.
If he gets fired, it’s because he’s turned the team into a 3-13 quality of players (or several years of < .500). The phone won't be ringing much if that's the case, but yes, at this point it's likely another NFL team would give him a chance.
He might turn them down(as Oakland and Redskins come to mind as teams that’ll intercept his car leaving the novacare…lol)
I think he’d go back to college.
After what you hear him say about recruiting, I highly doubt he would. The NFL is pure football, and I think that appeals to chip a lot more. As does the salary cap, which essentially levels the playing field. The difference between strong college teams has to do with a lot more than ability of the coaches and management. In the NFL, that’s all it is. As level a playing field as you can get.
Why? He’s been there, done that.
So had Saban and Spurrier.
Highly doubt he gets fired. more likely we get to a SB first. This O starts putting drives together with the tempo and big backs pounding away, what D is going to hold up to that for 60 mins. plus throw Sproles in for his few plays and the TE we’re not going to need great WR’s, Can’t wait to see it.
I agree that Chip Kelly would be the most sought after coach in the league if he was fired, but I doubt anyone would be giving him player personnel control if he fails here.
If he does fail spectacularly, I wouldn’t even want to see him fired here. I’d want to see him stay on as coach with someone else in charge of player personnel.
Even if he fails spectacularly this year I would like to see how he reacts while maintaining control. He seems to constantly evolve and sometimes failure is the best catalyst for growth as long as you have the right mindset and a drive for self evaluation.
But lets be honest. If everything went straight up dumpster fire, he’s still probably going to win 6 or 7 games.
Or 10 games. Last year was pretty bad, starting Qb out, O-line out generally, coop regressed, the secondary.
I think one defense this year we’ll find out if it’s talent or scheme that’s the issue.
It’s not scheme. Everything on defense we run is fundamentally sound. It’s not like it’s the wide9 where it has some great inherent flaw. I think improved coaching and talent in the secondary will make a world of difference. A few more of those third downs early in a drive turn into punts and not first downs, and suddenly the defense is getting more of a break, the offense gets another chance to pound on some fronts and gas opposing D’s with pace.
Everyone is trying. The alternarive would be to always win then you wouldnt need to try. Even belicheat tries new things always tweaking them.
It was the right hire by Lurie…daring to be great is the right course even if it fails. Better to have tried to be great than be satisfied with being good or less…what is still open for question IMO is was it the right decision to give Chip total authority, but it certainly makes logical sense since, otherwise, Chip’s impact can be blunted or re-directed….I hope to heaven it works out with a SB win, just once before my time is up….
Still work to do…we still need a better S to replace Allen and several OL to replace Herremans and possibly Mathis (and get better depth since Peters and Kelce both have injury histories) along with several WR…
It is amazing that we’ve let Jackson & Maclin go for no return and yet Cooper is still here and making more $$ than he is worth…that needs to be fixed even if both Matthews and Huff pan out…we need a deep threat, right now if I’m a DC I would play man and put 8 in the box daring Bradford to beat me…Chip needs to have answers to that this season, he cannot let that shut us down again
If Bradford is that good our weapons are goid enuf. I hope.
The issues I have with the injury signings is that we don’t seem to be getting the players at a discount. Shady was incredibly durable and we traded him for two backs that can’t stay healthy for more guaranteed money than shady would have ever had. We went from Foles, who admittedly has his own injury history, for a QB with a much worse injuey history that has 13 times the salary. At this point, I’d rather have Shady and Foles and $15 million to spend on upgrading our Oline and secondary.
Funny you say that when Murray and Matthews combined got less guaranteed money than Shady
No they didn’t. Not even close. Shady got 16. Murray alone 18. Mathews 5.
Lol Shady got 26.5 where are your numbers coming from
Wow. I was sure it was 16 and then I checked it with Over the Cap and I read 16. Turns out, I somehow only read the first year money (which is 16m).
You’re right. And I’m happy about that, because that makes Murrays contract more reasonable.
You’re actually right. LeSean got much more guarantees from his new contract than I thought and what Dom is stating. What I’m talking about tho (not sure about Dominik) is the guarantees for us if we kept McCoy on his current deal. It’d be zero dollars guaranteed with much smaller cap hits after this year vs $23mil in guarantees and a similar cap hit moving forward. So again we were s bit off, even with the two new signings to replace McCoy we still realize about $4.5mil in cap savings this year. However, their total cap hits in years 2-3 of the deal will still exceed what was McCoys projected cap hits going forward. So we save $4.5mil this year but spend even more cap space in 2016 and 2017 and are locked in with guaranteed money and large dead space hits that we didn’t have with McCoy. Overall the move is fairly lateral from a cap space prospective which makes it seem silly to include the added cap space from moving McCoy in the discussion of the trades benefit. It’s clear that Kelly just didn’t like McCoys style. The question then becomes is 3 years of being locked in to Murray, Matthews and Kiko better than 3 more years of McCoy, not is Murray, Matthews and Kiko plus $12mil in cap space better than McCoy. If Those three stay healthy I think the answer is likely to be that it was a great trade off.
Not to mention that Shady had no more guaranteed money on the contract he had in place with us and his cap hit dropped significantly after this year for the final two years of his deal. But don’t let facts get in your way.
Bradford and no deep threat is really concerning. Our QB has rarely thrown the ball further than 20 yards downfield his entire career and we have no one to stretch the field deep. If I’m a defensive coordinator I stack the box w at lest 8 I play man against Cooper and Huff and I blitz the A and B gaps where we have no guards all game long. We had the best O in the land with Foles, Jackson and McCoy. Now we’re hoping we get back to number 1 and beyond with Bradford, Cooper and Murray. The personnel moves seem lateral at best and cost substantially more than just standing pat. While hoping all our injury riddled replacements hold up. Seems like a losing formula to me.
Draft.
Ok
The draft would still be there if we had Jackson, Foles, McCoy and Maclin
Then we would have no money.
How so? McCoys cap hit this year was $12mil. The Murrary/Matthews signings actually exceed that and we now have even more money slotted for RB than if we stayed still. Not only that but the money with the new signings involves a lot of guarantees which McCoy no longer had. Further McCoys cap hit dropped significantly after this year in the final two years of his deal. DeSean’scap hit is about $7mil per year which is about $2.5 more than Cooper. Maclins cap hit is about $11mil per year. All together that’s about $13.5mil minus the extra $2mil or so we’re spending on our RBs, so about $11-12mil in extra cap hits. However, Bradford counts about $12mil more than Foles against the cap. So if you do the math, we could have an offense of Jackson, Maclin, McCoy and Foles or one of Cooper, Huff, Murray and Bradford for the same exact cap hit. I think it’s reasonable to question whether we’ve really improved at all with those moves.
You can only put so many on the field at the same time. We need 1 WR. I expect Huff to replace Cooper sometime during the year.
I expect him to replace Cooper in training camp.
I’m pretty sure our offensive mastermind could figure out a way to design an offense with 1QB, 1RB and 2WRs. And, still have enough creativity left over to get Matthews plenty of snaps in the slot and couple plays a game for Huff as the 4th WR.
McCoy costs about as much so well cancel him out, cutting Desean saved 16.75 M pn this years cap plus Mac got 11 M so that’s 26.75 M extra even if you take the difference of Brad and Foles off that is still 15 plus its not like you wouldn’t have to extend Fole s next year anyway so you’d be down 15M and have to give Foles over 13 a year anyway it would cost way more money
Chip is obsessed with offense, doubt we ever see him improved our team at the expense of his beloved offense,,, scoring less the 30pts for chip is a fate worse than Depth,… I find it very hard to believe that our offense will just be average next year…I’m skeptical of a few of the mans decision but we do have to respect that every skills player he had these past two years had career years in this mans offense……. Once we solidify our OL, I assume the offense will be fine….we aren’t seeing the complete vision of the offense yet.
…
Personally I would prefer transitioning to the next era of young Eagles by keeping the Vets until the youngbucks prove that they can no longer be kept on the bench, but chip went with the straights rip the band aid off and start building approach…. Last year Wasnt ab rue indication of the types of weapons Sproles and Ertz will be in our passing games, doubt too many WR will work much harder then the Pope this summer, I would expect him to take a giant step forward this year. I expect Huff to be able to show more this year as well. The game was too fast for him, felt like he tried to do too much Everytime he got the ball. things will slow down for him soon and that’s when we should see an explosive, physical, Tôugh WR this city should really take to…
..
Look forward to seeing what a stacked arsenal of young chip kelly weapons look like…
..
Expecting a Monster year 3 out of ERTZ.,, our OL shouldn’t be in shambles like last year to where we can’t run the ball and need Celek to stay in and block so much… Less Celek blocking, More ERTZ.. I love Nick FOles, but never loved how he threw the seam passes, Bradford should be an improvement in the seam throws and it should really weaponize ERTZ for a big year..
Phillip Dorsett is like DeSean and Hilton and he’s a slightly better leaper than Desean
Dorsett is more like Hilton.
Paris Hilton
Is Dorsett any relation to Tony? Also, for those who think a wide receiver needs speed:
“Dorsett also ran track at Miami. He competed in the 60-meter dash and posted a best of 6.80 seconds, the fourth fastest time in that event at Miami.” Wiki.
Just because he didn’t throw those passes doesn’t mean he isn’t capable. He had a weak OL that didn’t give him time & a conservative OC.
Bradford is a million times more talented than Foles. If he can stay healthy is a question, but He could be great!
If you’re playing man cover 0?
Huff will break plenty of tackles, Coop will break an occasional tackle, Matthews will run a drag route and beat your slot back in a foot race. You have no free safety. One missed tackle, one blown angle. Buh bye now. That’s 6.
They don’t even have to do it often. They do it 5 times over the course of 80 snaps? That’s 35 points.
Good luck keeping up.
I can’t wait until September.
Buh but you do agree we need OL upgrade?
I’m a former offensive lineman. I am always for investing high picks at that position. We will have plenty of options at 20.
I’m pretty sure teams can put 8 in the box regularly without playing man cover 0 all game, but if that’s the straw man you need to make your argument sound good and make my point sound absurd, go with it.
If we are in our base package with 3 wide 1 TE and 1 RB. You said 8 in the box with man. Please explain where your deep safety is coming from.
Ok…touché. If we go 3 WR I’d man up on the outside and play 7 in the box against our 6 blockers and ignore Bradford who might, after twin consecutive ACL tears to the same knee, be the only QB in the league slower than Nick Foles.
What makes you think we’re going to break camp in August with the same WR corps?
Very true! I no the roster isn’t set yet but, one, I can only judge and choose to be concerned about things as they stand now and, two, with the FA market all but dried up were still looking at a WR corps of Cooper, Huff, Matthews and maybe a Rookie, with 1-2 huge needs at G (not sold on our backups after last year), a clear need at safety and a potential need at CB, all that pretty much have to be addressed in the draft since we only have $7mil of cap space left.
I think another issue Chip is trying to solve is the red zone dumpster fire the team has been. It’s not just that the new RB’s don’t dance as much, it’s that they should also be more effective in the red zone. It’s a game of inches (per Al Pacino), and being effective in the red zone is absolutely crucial.
1. Jake Fisher
2. Devin Smith
3. Cedric Ogbuehi
4. Eric Rowe
5. Darren Walker
5.Tony Washington
6.Clayton Geathers
7.Jesse James
No idea if this is super unrealsitic
Those first two picks would make me very, very happy.
Nooooo Devin Smith
Hmm why not?
I don’t mind it but what do you know of his blocking ability? You know Chip loves WR who can Block.
With this backfield they may not have to throw so blocking may be the most important quality of a WR.
**sarcastic**
Because if I’m spending a 2nd round pick on a WR I expect he can do more than run in a straight line down the field faster than the CB.
But what if he does that really really really good?
He’ll just get cut after a year and be linked to gangs.
Than hes a poor mans Mike Wallace
But Smith has sweet hands
he also excells on STs. Not a sa returner but gunner.
What happens to carry over money, Is it a use it or lose it? Or did we burn that up too?
You carry it over to the next year so 17M of the money we have this year cam e from last year and we would be over the cap without it. Let’s say we carry over 5M this year we would have 5M more on our cap next year
Okay, understand that. Thank you.
You can carry it over indefinitely but every team has to use 90% of the cap over a five year period (cap floor) and the league as a whole has to use 95%.
“Besides, if things don’t work out we can always give Howie back his GM job and go hire Gus Bradley after the Jaguars fire him.”
Ha-ha, although, originally being a “Gus Bus”-er, I could actually go for that if this all blows up in Chip’s face (but, after the DeMarco signing, I have a good feeling this is actually somehow going work out in the end).
“Besides, if things don’t work out we can always give Howie back his GM job and go hire Gus Bradley after the Jaguars fire him.”
;~D. Good one.
Boxing bores me,,, spoiled by UFC and dUtch and Tai Kickboxing…. But Sergey Kovalev is a Monster.. I’d watch him box any day, no dancing around, just go out there, stalk his prey and beat them down. Didn’t like watching him whoop on old man Bernard, but he put it on Pasquale tonight who showed a ton of heart and toughness in his own right, really hope these two rematch, I want to see these two durable, heavy hitters go at it again….. Just in time to catch Showtime Pettis vs. Rafael Dis Anjos, #HYPE
I was thrilled when the Eagles hired Kelly and continue to be. However, the move that settled the fanbase down rankles me the most: signing DeMarco Murray.
I thought Kelly was properly signalling through the McCoy trade that over investing in the RB position was unwise. I thought he went too early to Gore, but Mathews was exactly the right play. Undervalued because of his injury history, but right one cut running style for Chip’s office. You have Mathews-Sproles-Polk and plan to add a cheap but very good RB in the deepest draft class in years.
Instead the shiny object appears and we have to get Murray also. If he would be willing to sign for 5/yr, then ok, you waited and a true bargain fell to you. But 8.5 per/21 mil guaranteed. You’re paying for his ceiling — that his fragility, fumbling, non-contract year, all magically maintain last year’s value. You’re paying a premium for the value position in the NFL.
When you upgraded the QB position with a reasonably calculated risk with Bradford, that should have ended the Murray thoughts right there. It doesn’t matter that they played together — it matters that their combined cap hits were more than the snake could swallow with needs at S, WR, & G looming.
The impact of drying up cap space was immediate in shopping Mathis, whose sin is that he is paid relatively well. He is still excellent, and dumping his salary would be an inane way to improve the running game, in particular after prematurely cutting Herremans without a successor in place.
During all of this courting and sorting out of Murray and Mathews, the one reasonably priced FA Safety Rahim Moore signs elsewhere (3 yr/12 mil). I’ve seen it rationalized that Undlin knew him best from Denver, so they passed. That’s it, or was it because they were distracted by overpaying at RB they didn’t focus and couldn’t afford to spend more. You’re telling me that Earl Wolff who fell out of favor or Nolan Carroll is a better option than Rahim Moore at that price.
I believe the cap space Murray ate will have a greater negative ripple effect than his contributions on the field will produce. I was impressed with press conference and he seems to have good character, but his words and Kelly’s persuasive confidence do not compensate for a bad move.
Somewhere in the middle of your complaining, this. From a whole year ago:
***July 28, 2014 ***| BY PAUL DOMOWITCH,
LATE LAST MONTH, with his attempts to get the Eagles to restructure his contract going nowhere, Evan Mathis had pretty much decided he was going to hold out of training camp. “Probably won’t see you on the 25th,” he said. Even as recently as Wednesday, Drew Rosenhaus, the agent who represents the 32-year-old All-Pro left guard, indicated that Mathis still was considering being a NovaCare no-show yesterday.
And yet, he played all last year, recovered from an injury, and ended up in the Pro Bowl. There may be no market for a salary increase for him and the player trade market is always so poor, that the best place for him is here. It’s the best place for the Eagles instead of having to fill two holes at guard, they would only have to fill one in an area crucial to their run game.
I thought Evan said he was just joking?
Cap space doesn’t win Super Bowls. Players do. Ones that other teams have to be concerned with playing against are important to all teams that aspire to a championship.
What was the biggest improvement on the Cowboys last year from the previous year? It wasn’t their defense. It was their running game. A lot of that, yes, was that line of theirs, which is exceptional. But DeMarco Murray was the heart and soul of that offense and they will be hurting without that kind of guy on the team. And we gain that kind of guy.
No, cap space does not win championships. But allocating premium cap space to positions of scarcity (Safety) over positions of surplus (RB) can.
Another area of “optionality” the DeMarco deal limits would be the possibility of using 2015 cap space to launder Bradford’s cap hit, and therefore make him more valuable, in a package to acquire Mariota.
Since Kelly obviously thinks differently than most, maybe he also does not buy into the “RB is a position of surplus”. Are RBs that can have very special years that Murray had, found easily in a draft or free agency or from other team’s practice squads? There seems to be quite a bit of draft misses with RBs. (trent richardson, ryan mathews..) Some teams have had a knack in finding rbs (old school Denver) and some teams (Bills) cant seem to draft one after multiple first round attempts (hence trading for one of the few proven elite runners).
Maybe Kelly as a talent evaluator views Bradford and Murray as very special talents, worth the trade and worth the money. But then this goes against the “Kelly cares about culture more than talent” narrative.
Nicely expressed. I am not sold that Chip went into FA targeting DM, actually he said he didn’t. But I thought the quick signing of Matthews was insurance, if his 2nd runner was going to end up being Polk or Tucker. This current arrangement looks temporary to me. Chip could keep both guys for a year and then unload one for a draft pick, or he could do something along those lines by the draft. I am not concerned about a ripple, because it is still early.
I concur. And if Murray would have been willing to sign for 5, that extra 3.5/yr is Rahim Moore. That would have made more sense to let the market come to Chip.
The casual observers and ardent fans joked that the best thing that happened to the Eagles was Frank Gore turning them down. I fear that the worst thing may be McCourty turning them down, which gave Kelly a false sense of cap surplus that he invested in excitement, rather than true team need.
the contract is really a 3 year 18 million dollar contract and can get out after 2 years easy.
I think they are eyeing watkins to play S.
Well clearly Kelly didnt thought McCoy was to expensive, just that he didnt fit what he wanted and he went out and got the two best backs out of shotgun from 2014.
Couldn’t agree more
Colin coward made a good point that since chip kelly has been in the league these are the top 4 offenses: GB, Denver, Philly, NE. That’s Aaron rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Vick/Foles/Sanchez. I know special points teams scored bunch of points but again look at the QBs! And its not like NE and denver specials teams are garbage. It’s a small sample size but one more season of a high scoring team and I won’t even sweat offensive moves. The man knows what he’s doing on that side.
How are you evaluating the offenses? Raw stats don’t mean much if they’re including historic special teams production and non-repeatable defensive touchdown, let alone account for pace. 2013 O was excellent, 2014 no more than average.
Even an average offense with the injuries and QB play is noteworthy.
all of those stats count, the STs TDs, chip preaches STs more then most coaches and goes out gets players just for STs, and takes more practice time for it then other teams.
Why does matters in terms of total points scored by the team?
Remember every ST or D score actually take away an offensive drive.
Best to look at advanced stats that account for context. In Football Outsiders, we ended the year ranked 13th in offense (incidentally, 1st in ST). At Advanced Football Statistics, we ended 12th in O. Last year, we were ranked 3rd and 4th respectively. Both sites describe a drop from top-5 to average, but people still talk as if our offense was good this year. I just don’t see it.
$7,572,185
is that howie’s salary or remaining cap space?
cap space per OTC
seems like we’re done in fa, unless we make some more room.
I hope we make more room and still don’t do anything in FA I like se carryover
Bradford extension + Meco “restructure” could net the Eagles a ton of money back vs. the cap.
I win.
20: R1P20
OT
T.J. CLEMMINGS
PITTSBURGH
52: R2P20
CB
BYRON JONES
CONNECTICUT
84: R3P20
OLB
HAU’OLI KIKAHA
WASHINGTON
110: R4P14
WR
KENNY BELL
NEBRASKA
137: R5P9
WR
TRE MCBRIDE
WILLIAM & MARY
148: R5P20
C
GREG MANCZ
TOLEDO
180: R6P20
S
ANTHONY HARRIS
VIRGINIA
212: R7P20
DE
ZA’DARIUS SMITH
KENTUCKY
Bell and McBride? Make it happen Chip.
terrible
I would be very happy with that draft. Only guy I dont like is Kika. Don’t see anythung special about him at all. On the other hand I love Tre McBride.
Kikaha has a good first step, relentless motor, and good hand usage (high school judo champ), and solid size.
Dig it, but I don’t recognize the format of that draft. What site are you using?
And a minor question, is Byron Jones the CB equivalent of Mike Mamula simply due to his combine work or is was he that good at covering guys at UConn?
He was a good player. 4 year starter. DJ said he had a 2nd round grade on him prior to the combine
I’ll take that as valid then.
What I’ve read on the dude on sites that I like are here
http://www.drafttek.com/2015-NFL-Draft-Prospect-Rankings/Top-College-Cornerbacks-2015-Draft.asp
(he was 14th CB and 103 overall)
and
http://walterfootball.com/draft2015CB.php
But Walter didn’t update post combine, so I guess the info is dated.
Jones has the tape. Daniel Jeremiah got tipped off about him and had him top 50 before the combine. The quick hips and feet that make people rave about Quinton Rollins are equally present for Jones, except Rollins runs a 4.57 and Jones probably runs low 4.4s or better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_QyaJ0-E8
It’s Fanspeak. I’m using the NDT scouting board.
Round 1 Pick 23 (DET): T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh (A)
Round 2 Pick 20: Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State (A)
Round 2 Pick 22 (DET): Derron Smith, FS, Fresno State (B+)
Round 3 Pick 20: Ronald Darby, CB, Florida State (B)
Round 4 Pick 14: Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor (B+)
Round 5 Pick 9: Leterrius Walton, DT, Central Michigan (B+)
Round 5 Pick 20: Jamil Douglas, OG, Arizona State (B+)
Round 6 Pick 20: Zach Wagenmann, DE, Montana (B-)
Round 7 Pick 20: Deon Simon, DT, Northwestern St. (D)
Interesting analysis on the recent Eagles trades.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2015/trade-cost-benefit-analysis
Very interesting read. Pretty much confirms what most of us see from the outside looking in: McCoy trade made a lot of sense even if it was shocking. It makes little sense in light of the Murray/Matthews signings since we’ve now committed even more money to the most easily replaceable position in sports with two aging injury risks with large guarantees. And, the Bradford trade is almost certainly a loss when you account for the massive difference in cap hit for him vs Foles.
Either the cap hit was a point in our favor for McCoy / Alonso and against us Bradford – 5th / Foles – 2nd – 4th or it has no significance.
But it can’t be only analyzed in our favor.
Very true. The cap implications are a definite positive with the Kiko for McCoy trade, but become much less a positive when we turn around and use that positive by handing out even more guarantees to the RB in order to replace McCoys production. The cap implications are a clear negative with Bradford for Foles and only become a non issue if Bradford is significantly better than Foles in this offense which is a definite possibility although no sure thing at all.
I think the Foles vs Bradford glosses over too fast on how how fast Bradford could potential make up the difference in 20 AV if Bradford really is the player Kelly think he is
That is the big “if” in all of this. If Bradfords injuries were just freak accidents and he’s just been struck by lightning twice and the chances of it happening again are no more likely than with any other QB AND he finally reaches the Andrew Luck potential that we all know he has, then Chip is a genius and we might end up with multiple Super Bowls and the only discussion we’ll be having a decade from now about this offseason is how big of a statue should we erect to Chip in South Philly. I’m super excited to see it play out. This is why football is the greatest show and entertainment available. But count me as someone who’s more skeptical than not that this all works out.
reading different sources and comments it’s interesting that some think Bradford has more talent than Foles but others think Foles is better. Looking at highlights it does seem to me that Bradford gets the ball out with less wind up, but I’m not smart enough to make an informed opinion. Then there seems to be so much else (footwork, decision making) that are hard to evaluate. I thought Sanchez had a nice throwing motion too (just seems to come out fast), but clearly there are limitations to his game.
Obviously we know what Chip thinks but what’s the opinion here?
What I heard Greg Cosell say is that Bradford developed some increasingly skittish traits in the pocket over the past few years due to some poor blocking in St. Louis that interferes with one’s ability to get a read on his true passing abilities.
Hope we can clean up the blocking part to get a good look at it either way.
didn’t Foles do the same? I thought all his back foot throwing, run back 10 yards crap wasn’t there in 2013. And Foles distributed the ball pretty well in 2013, granted with a historically healthy OL and great running game.
“…run back 10 yards crap wasn’t there in 2013.“
Was there in the last minutes of the 1st half against N.O. Cost at least 3 points. Everyone, including me, says he left the field with the lead. But he moved the Eagles out of FG range, and took away those three points needed at the end.
yeah remember the bad sack he took.
Yea those tendencies were there in 2013, just a lot less pronounced due to the oline play and Foles’ ability to make plays inspite of that bad habit. Last year it just got exaggerated and started happening more frequently and he started paying the price for those mistakes. In all it looks like 2014 saw Foles play more like the 2013 Foles from the NO game than the HOFer we saw against the Raiders and Bears. I think Chip had to decide which Foles was the outlier and I think it’s pretty obvious that he saw a lot more Cowboys, NO, Minnesota Foles coming out in the future than Raiders, Chicago Foles.
We faced better defenses in 2014 and so tougher coverages plus pass rush were problems for Foles. I honestly did not think Foles could win Playoff games and neither did Chip.
I know it’s an unpopular meme to discuss because it’s been beaten to death and Maclin put up even better numbers than DeSean, but I think in addition to the good points you make about better defenses, better coverage and increased pass rush with our backup oline, I still think that the offense missed DeSeans speed and playmaking ability. While he didn’t cause teams to drop 2 safeties 20-30 yards deep in 2013 like teams started doing in the later Andy Reid era, he most certainly created additional space and struck fear into safeties and defensive coordinators and provides significant play making ability that simply was not replaced. Cutting Jackson was, in my view, a move that made us a better team culturally and had its benefits on the field, but also made simultaneously made us take a step back offensively and made us a much less scary offense for teams to defend. I agree with not paying Maclin $11-12 mil per year. That’s way overpaying for a guy who’s a top notch WR2 but will never be a top WR1. So it, like the Jsckson move, was probably the right move, but ultimately I think people are discounting the effect that that loss of talent wil have. I expect there to be a dip in offensive production that we can only hope at this point will be mitigated by Huff coming into his own, better QB play from Bradford and a hopefully healthy offensive line that doesn’t include players like Tobin, Molk or Kelly.
IMHO, Bradford is a much better QB. Faster release, better pocket awareness, incredibly good footwork, and most importantly faster, better decision making. Regarding his actual passes, he’s been compared to Troy Aikman in velocity and accuracy.
For me the big things to watch are whether his fear of getting hit affects his decision making and ability to read coverage schemes. And of course, his health is BIG. I’m hoping that Chip’s sport science metrics and strength conditioning regimen reduce his chance of injury. Seems to me like a Joe Namath situation where his damn knees will determine his success with the Eagles. I’m cautiously optimistic.