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Just a day after pulling the trigger on one of the more shocking trades of the day in the NFL, sending Nick Foles to St. Louis in exchange for Sam Bradford, Chip Kelly made an announcement regarding Philadelphia's future at the quarterback position.
On Wednesday, Kelly said that the Eagles would not be sacrificing the future of the franchise in next month's NFL Draft in order to get Marcus Mariota.
"Let's dispel that right now," Kelly said. "I think that stuff's crazy. You guys have been going with that stuff all along. I think Marcus is the best quarterback in the draft. We will never mortgage our future to go all the way up to get somebody like that, because we have too many other holes we have to take care of.
"We're not mortgaging our future for any particular player. That's just not philosophically what we think is the right thing to do, that you're going to package 20 picks to move up from 20 (in the draft) to some other spot. We have not had any discussions (about such a trade)."
Of course, anyone who knows Kelly is probably taking this statement too seriously. Would you expect him to say, "Yes, we will trade up in the draft for Marcus." All this stuff happens behind the scenes and is one of the few things coaches can usually keep under wraps pretty well. But if you remember when LeGarrette Blount was suspended for the entire season after the Boise State incident in 2009, Kelly eventually went back on that.
@seanlarsonATQ and LeGarrette Blount is suspended for the entire season. Chip is always forthright with the media.
— Matthew Wiens (@Matt_Wiens) March 11, 2015
Obviously it's two completely different situations, but just because Kelly says something today, it doesn't mean it'll be true tomorrow.
If Sam Bradford can stay healthy, I think the Eagles would be better off with him at quarterback than Mariota. But that is a mighty big "if." Bradford hasn't played a full season since 2012 due to tearing his ACL twice. Kelly didn't bring Bradford in to be a backup, but maybe this is all part of his master plan that he is keeping under wraps. During his press conference, Kelly showed off his wits while shooting down the theory that the Bradford trade was all part of a bigger plan.
Chip: "We didn't bring Sam in here to be a chip (for another player). I'm the only chip here." #chip
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) March 11, 2015
Kelly also said the Eagles were offered a first-round pick for Bradford this morning, but didn't disclose who the team was that offered up their pick. If it was a team like the Titans or Jets, then I fully believe the Eagles have no intention of going after Mariota.
Nothing will be set in stone however until April 30 when Mariota learns of his NFL fate. So until then, let's all just keep speculating. It's more fun that way.