Once Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly gained control of the team’s player personnel department, one thought crossed the mind of pretty much everyone around the NFL world.
Would the former Oregon head coach seek out the possibility of moving up in the draft to select Heisman winning quarterback Marcus Mariota this upcoming April?
The links are obvious. Kelly coached Mariota at Oregon. The two have a great relationship. And above anything else, Philadelphia is said to be in the market for a starting quarterback.
So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that a report surfaced Tuesday indicating that the Eagles are “plotting several draft moves” to grab Mariota.Â
From No. 20, it’s certainly not going to be easy,” a source told NJ.com on Tuesday. “It’s probably going to take moving up twice to do it. There’s going to be some wheeling and dealing involved.
That might be the understatement of the year. Moving up from the 20th pick to the top spot, which is likely what it would take, may cost the Eagles their entire 2015 draft class as well as a high-round pick in 2016 and a veteran or two.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are currently in possession of the first pick, are also in need of a quarterback with Mike Glennon and Josh McCown struggling big time in 2014. It remains to be seen if the Buccaneers would bite on a deal that includes Nick Foles as a potential package. That would enable the team to find a potential franchise signal caller while adding multiple picks in both 2015 and 2016.
The likelier scenario here would be Philadelphia finding a way to move up into the top-10 then being able to offer a package to Tampa Bay from that slot. It’s not plausible to believe that Tampa Bay would move all the way from the first spot to the second half of the first round.
In any event, this report does indicate that Kelly is interested in acquiring his former pupil at Oregon. It just remains to be seen whether this is even possible.
Photo: CBS Philly