Chip Kelly says Eagles won’t ‘mortage future’ for Marcus Mariota
By Josh Sanchez
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly met with the media on Wednesday and dispelled rumors that he will trade up in the NFL Draft to land Marcus Mariota.
Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles have taken a ton of eat, following trades that sent running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Nick Foles to the St. Louis Rams.
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In return, the Eagles got two players who were coming off of torn ACLs — linebacker Kiko Alonso and quarterback Sam Bradford.
Most people believe the trade for Alonso was made so Chip Kelly could bring back one of his Oregon guys, while trading for Bradford was believed by some to be an attempt at getting another trade chip for a move up in the 2015 NFL Draft to acquire his former Oregon quarterback, Marcus Mariota.
However, on Wednesday, Kelly met with the media and explained the recent moves while dispelling the rumors that he was targeting Mariota in the draft.
On the trade for Sam Bradford:
Kelly said it was "essential" to get Mark (Sanchez) back. The deal with Bradford is that if he never tore his ACL he'd never be traded
— Dave Spadaro (@EaglesInsider) March 11, 2015
On the deal for Kiko Alonso:
Chip Kelly says he traded for Alonso because he was worried about having guys at the position who are coming off of injury. What?
— Johnny Two Hats (@Johnny_2Hats) March 11, 2015
On potentially trading up for Marcus Mariota:
Chip Kelly says he thinks Marcus Mariota is the best QB on draft, but wants to "dispel" rumors. Says he won't mortgage the future.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 11, 2015
That is some interesting stuff from Chip Kelly.
It is hard to know what is going on in his mind, but it is clear that Kelly is a firm believer in his system and he wants players on the Philadelphia Eagles roster who he believes will be able to max out their talent in his system.
It will be interesting to see what happens next in the Chip Kelly era.
Next: 2015 NFL Free Agent Tracker: Best Available Players
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