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Risky Business: Checking In On Chip Kelly’s Offseason Moves

By Anthony DiBona

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“They want you to cook the dinner; at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries. Okay?”

That’s one of the greatest quotes in NFL history and it’s from legendary coach Bill Parcells. Following his unceremonious divorce with the New England Patriots, Parcells famously said that in regard to not having enough control over the team’s personnel decisions.

This offseason, we found out that Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly wanted to go shopping for the groceries as well. Although he has said that it was owner Jeffrey Lurie’s decision to give him full control over all personnel decisions, that’s tough to believe. Kelly has always been known as a man with a plan that marches to the beat of his own drum, he doesn’t really care what anyone else thinks.

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But once Kelly was awarded full control of the team, he made some questionable decisions. He was criticized by almost everyone after each and every single move he made. Why in the world did the Eagles hand over so much responsibility to a “college guy” that’s only been coaching in the NFL for two full seasons? The answer is simple. Kelly knows what he wants to make for dinner, but he needs the right ingredients. Yet it’s a family recipe…and he doesn’t give that information out to anyone.

Kelly wasted little time making the changes he deemed necessary. He released multiple long-time Eagles that he felt weren’t worth keeping around on their current contracts. Both Trent Cole and Todd Herremans were in Philadelphia for their entire careers before Kelly let them go. Then came Kelly’s first controversial move that shocked the NFL world, he traded the franchise’s all-time leading rusher and face of the franchise, running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for inside linebacker Kiko Alonso.

The move was met with a whole lot of skepticism and rightfully so, Kelly had traded arguably the team’s best player for a third-year linebacker coming off a major knee injury. But so far, the move has seemed to pay off. Kelly essentially traded McCoy for not only Alonso but star running back DeMarco Murray as well. Since the trade freed up so much money, Kelly was allowed to make a couple more moves in free agency, including signing the former Dallas Cowboy. Alonso is also progressing faster than he even thought himself and is participating fully in the team’s OTAs.

Following that major shake-up, Kelly made another shocking deal. He traded the team’s starting quarterback Nick Foles and a 2016 second-round pick to the St. Louis Rams for quarterback Sam Bradford. Yet again, Kelly traded another player recovering from a major knee injury. This seemed to be a reoccurring pattern throughout the Eagles’ offseason once Kelly gained control of the team.

Bradford has all the talent in the world but just can’t stay healthy, but Kelly thought it was well worth the risk. He realized the team wasn’t going far without a legitimate quarterback and Bradford can be exactly that, if he can stay on the field. But that’s a big “if” yet Kelly believes in the team’s training staff to get Bradford ready for the upcoming season. So far, Bradford is progressing rather well and remains on track to be the team’s starting quarterback in 2015. If he can stay on the field, acquiring a potential franchise quarterback for Foles and a day two pick could look like a steal for Kelly.

Then there were two signings that were blown way out of proportion. First, Kelly went out and signed arguably the best cornerback on the free agency market, Byron Maxwell, to a pricey 6-year, $63 million contract. While many believe the Eagles and Kelly overpaid for Maxwell’s services, the team couldn’t go into 2015 without addressing their secondary in a major way. Maxwell is a perfect fit for their defense with his size, versatility and attitude. It’s rare that a player that fits your team that well at a position of need is available and Kelly did whatever it took to get him in midnight green.

Lastly, there’s the harmless signing of quarterback Tim Tebow. “OMG TIM TEBOW!?” was the original reaction from many fans and the media across the globe, yet it wasn’t nearly as important as many made it seem. Tebow was brought in as competition for the third quarterback spot on the final 53-man roster. Matt Barkley has been a disappointment in Philadelphia and the team needed to bring in competition to push him in the offseason. Why not bring in a versatile quarterback that’s known to have one of the highest characters in all of professional sports? Tebow may not be a great quarterback, but he’s a damn good person and that’s what Kelly cares about first and foremost.

Tebow has yet to really impress the media during the team’s open OTA practices but he’s making strides. Either way, it was a cheap signing for added competition in camp. Of course everyone overreacted because it’s Tebow but Kelly knew what he was getting himself into. Once again, he doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

At the end of the day, all Kelly cares about is the Philadelphia Eagles winning football games and that’s all it has ever been about. Now that he has the keys to the soccer mom van and can go shopping for the groceries on his own, only time will tell just how good his super secret recipe will be.

Next: Philadelphia Eagles: Is The Secondary Ready?

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