Philadelphia Eagles: Chip Kelly’s Super Bowl Roster
By Dave Wales
Roller coasters, man. They’re crazy.
That’s exactly what life as a Philadelphia Eagles fan has been like over the course of the last two weeks. I explained last week that these crazy turn of events are exactly what we all asked for when crying out for Chip Kelly to be our coach in 2013 and none of that has changed. Some of his decisions have been completely unorthodox and the way he’s building this team for the 2015 season could change the way the rest of the league does things. Kelly has always been an outside the box kind of guy.
In 2014, releasing DeSean Jackson raised a lot of questions but the majority immediately understood why. In 2015, he’s traded away the franchise’s leading RB (LeSean McCoy), the team’s receiving yards leader decided to sign elsewhere for more money (Jeremy Maclin), and he’s cut longtime fan favorites, offensive linemen Todd Herremans and outside linebacker Trent Cole. Both of these guys signed with the Indianapolis Colts while Maclin returned to the man who drafted him, Andy Reid with the Kansas City Chiefs.
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The Eagles roster now looks entirely different than it did last season and we haven’t even hit the draft yet. The defense is going to field at least five new starters, four of which we already know about. They signed Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond to likely play on the outside in the secondary. Kiko Alonso was acquired through the LeSean McCoy trade to play inside linebacker, presumably beside Mychal Kendricks. And, finally, Brandon Graham was resigned to start at outside linebacker for the recently cut Trent Cole. These are the starting changes we’re aware of on the defensive side of the ball — we’re still not sure who is going to fill the second safety position.
Like I said, roller coasters.
When you take a look at the flip side of things and view our offense, it’s being changed drastically as well. Quarterback Nick Foles was traded to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for our new starting Quarterback, Sam Bradford. We’ve signed the NFL’s leading rusher in 2014 away from the Dallas Cowboys, DeMarco Murray and paired him with another new signing, Ryan Mathews, at the running back position. And, it’s likely we’ll have a new X or Y receiver this year depending on what happens in the draft or if Huff is going to step up and fill that void.
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