As reports continue to swirl that new head coach Chip Kelly covets an offenstive tackle, specifically Oklahoma’s Lane Johnson, at the top of round one, Profootballtalk.com offers a new report that hints at an entirely different possibility.

According to the report, the Cleveland Browns are determined to trade up into the top three picks and ahead of the Eagles in order to land a top tier pass rusher. Now, clearly new Browns CEO Joe Banner doesn’t know what the Eagles intend to do, but he certainly has to be more tuned in than some, you know, having worked in the team’s front office.

From PFT:

The thinking is that they want to get in front of the Eagles (fourth) and Lions (fifth) to get the pass-rusher they covet. And since Browns CEO Joe Banner has insight into the Eagles front office from his days there, he has a clear sense of what they need and what general manager Howie Roseman values.

If they’re third, they’d miss out on no more than one of the top prospects there, as the Chiefs are expected to take an offensive lineman, and no one’s clear whether the Jaguars in the second spot go tackle or find a Leo for new coach Gus Bradley’s defense.

Stay tuned.

Remember that whole Jeffrey Lurie and Joe Banner pissing match from last week? You know, the one where Lurie accused Banner spreading negative press about Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. The one where Banner retorted by dismissing his old friend’s claims–even going as far to call them “borderline libelous.”

Well, while Banner or the Browns had no initial comment on Chip Kelly’s new job with the Eagles, Peter King was able to get the Browns CEO to open up about what went down with Kelly.

From King’s MMQB column:

“We removed ourselves from the process. We really liked Chip. He’s intriguing, a very different thinker, and very smart. But you could see he was uncertain what he wanted to do. He may be in Philadelphia 10 years or longer and have a terrific career,” Banner said. “But the fact he committed to Tampa Bay last year, backed out, then seemed all year to be leaning toward going to the NFL, then being so uncertain with us, we just felt it was too big a gamble. If there was no ambivalence, we may have offered him the job.”

Truthfully, Banner’s words may be nothing more than an honest assessment of how his team approached the Kelly situation. Still, in the wake of the growing tensions in Philadelphia and Cleveland, it sure seems like a bit more than that.

We probably should have saw this one coming.

According to CSNPhilly.com’s Reuben Frank, the recent criticism of Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and the Eagles organization hasn’t sat well with team owner Jeffrey Lurie. And there’s one person in particular who has caught his eye–former team president Joe Banner.

Banner, Lurie’s boyhood friend who was tabbed to run the organization in 1994, is rumored to had some less than flattering things to say about his former employer since he was hired as CEO of the Cleveland Browns. And that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Eagles owner.

“I’m very supportive of Howie, and if there’s any criticism coming from afar about Howie, it’s just off-base, and so I will support Howie [Roseman] completely, because that’s not right,” Lurie told Frank. “And, you know, if there are league sources that are really based in Cleveland, that’s not right. We see through it all.”

A recent report by Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports raised eyebrows for its liberal use of critical comments by unnamed sources regarding Roseman. Many believes that those source, at least in part, were coming from Cleveland, if not directly from Banner.

Banner, for his part, not only denies such inferences, but has also gone on the offensive.

“It is always difficult to comment on a quote that may or may not be accurate or in context,” Banner said, via a team statement released through the Browns. “In this case, from the comments which Jeffrey made that were communicated to me, it is necessary for me to make this clear, unambiguous statement. Any implication that I had anything to do with Jason La Canfora’s story is completely false, outrageous and borders on being libelous.”

According to ProFootballTalk.com, Banner and Lurie have been openly critical of Banner in discussions with people around the league.

As best we can tell, there is definitely an undercurrent of hostility between Banner, and Lurie and Roseman. We’ve heard an account from one very reliable source of Lurie and Roseman openly criticizing Banner when talking to people not affiliated with the team. Banner, we’re told, privately believes that some of the criticism directed to Roseman is unfair, but that some of it is fair.

Something tells me that this pissing match isn’t quite over.